Teaching Life, Social, and Community Skills to Tweens with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Presenter: Christina Whalen, PhD, BCBA-DVice President, Director, Vocational & Life Skills Academy (SARRC)

Consulting Assistant Professor (Stanford School of Medicine)

Pre-Teens and ASDs

• “Tweens” – Ages 10-13 years• Middle School – challenging time in life for ALL children (and their

parents)• Paucity of research and service models for this age group• Shortage of inclusion programs and opportunities to interact with

typical peers• Decrease in activity opportunities in middle and high school

(becomes more competitive)• Increase in anxiety and depression for children with ASDs at this age• Greater expectation of independence for children at this age• General education teachers have limited knowledge of ASDs, bigger

issue when student begins to have MANY teachers (i.e. changing classes)

Common Middle School Problems

• Self-esteem• Academic pressure• Drama/Bullying – peeks in middle school years!• Temptation/Peer Pressure• Disappointment/Rejection• Organization• Problem Solving• Dealing with Conflicts• Emotion Regulation• Perspective Taking/Theory of Mind• Self-Management• Health, Fitness, Hygiene• Puberty!

Research

• Children with ASDs spend more time in solitary activities, less time in cooperative activities with peers, and more time in reactive aggression than those with no special needs or those with dsylexia (Humphrey & Symes, 2011)

• ASD teens have less experiences with friends outside of school and are 3-5 times more likely to never get together with friends than peers with other disabilities (Shattuck, Orsmond, Wagner, & Cooper, 2011)

• Children with ASDs spend less time and engage in fewer physical activities than their peers (Bandini, et al., 2012)

• Children with ASDs tend to have lower social network salience and receive fewer friendship nominations across the school year than their peers (Locke, Kasari, Rotheram-Fuller, Kretzmann, & Jacobs, 2012)

• Teens with ASDs are much more likely to experience bullying than typical peers (those with some conversational skills are more likely to be bullied than those with no conversational skills, and those in general education settings reported more bullying than those in special education classrooms) (Sterzing, Shattuck, Narendorf, Wagner, & Cooper, 2012)

Skills to Build Independence

• Functional Life Skills• Social Understanding and Skills• Conversation Skills• Coping Skills/Emotion Regulation• Executive Function Skills• Health and Fitness• Self-Advocacy• Hygiene and Appropriate Dress• Self-Management• Career Interest and Skill Building

Inclusion

• 86% of teens with ASDs take at least 1 special education class, while only 62% take at least 1 general education class (IES report, 2007)

• Typical teens spend more time with peers, while those with ASDs spend more time with family (Shattuck, Orsmond, Wagner, & Cooper, 2011)

• What do Middle School children think about autism?• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9-l19CKISg

Transition Into Middle School Strategies

• Start preparing ASAP (school year prior)• Make the schedule fun and usable for YOUR child (e.g. photos, color-

coded, map, etc.)• Teach them to use a combination lock before starting school• Organization system that works for YOUR child (e.g. 1 binder instead

of 8 notebooks)• Ask for 2nd set of textbooks to keep in home• Participate in a social skills program• Have a meeting with all of the teachers if possible before school

starts• Prepare a daily log for your child to complete if he/she has trouble

telling you about their day• Go on a tour of the school and practice walking to each class, video

tape this!

Target: Foster development of social and communication skills

5

Creates social opportunities with multiple clients, with regard to each individual ability level. Creates social opportunities between 2 clients.

4Creates social opportunities with multiple clients.

3Makes initiations with clients on appropriate topics.

2Engages in interactions with clients when prompted.

1

Peer engages in some interactions with clients but interacts mostly with other peers/ staff.

0Peer does not interact with clients.

Peer Mentors

Life Skills Interventions

• Goal is to increase independence• Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS)

(Partington & Mueller)• Teach skills using:

• Token systems• Self-management• Video modeling• Peer modeling• Pivotal Response Training (PRT)

AFLS Modules

Self-ManagementBasic CommunicationDressingToiletingGroomingBathingHealth, Safety & First AidNightime Routines

Basic Living SkillsModule

Meals at HomeDishesClothing and LaundryHousekeeping and ChoresHousehold MechanicsLeisureKitchenCooking

Home SkillsModule

Basic MobilityCommunity KnowledgeShoppingMeals in PublicMoneyPhoneTimeSocial Awareness and Manners

Community SkillsModule

Classroom MechanicsRoutines and ExpectationsMeals at SchoolSocial SkillsTechnologyCommon KnowledgeCore AcademicsApplied Academics

School SkillsModule

Sample AFLS Data Sheet

Life Skills Video

Social Skills Interventions

• PEERS (Program for the Enrichment & Education of Relational Skills) Program (UCLA – Laugeson, et al.)

• Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT) (Ingersoll, Walton, Carlsen, & Hamlin, 2013)

• Cognitive Behavior Therapy (Koning, Magill-Evans, Volden, & Dick, 2011)

PEERS Targets•How to use appropriate conversational skills•How to find common interests by trading information•How to appropriately use humor•How to enter and exit conversations between peers•How to handle rejection, teasing, and bullying•How to handle rumors and gossip•How to be a good host during get-togethers•How to make phone calls to friends•How to choose appropriate friends•How to be a good sport•How to handle arguments and disagreements•How to change a bad reputation

PEERS Outcome Measures

Conversation Probes1. First 1 minute (0-1 minute)– members can discuss any topic they desire.

Facilitator says: “During the first minute you can talk about anything you want. You can start now.”The one minute starts as soon as this instruction is given and ends when the minute has past.

2. Second minute (1st-2nd minute) – members discuss object provided by the facilitator from the bin (randomly selected).Facilitator will randomly select an object from the bin, put this in the middle of the table, and state, “Now you will talk about (name of object). You can start now.” The one minute starts as soon as this instruction is given and ends when the minute has past.

3. Third minute (2nd-3rd minute) – members discuss a general topic as provided on a card by the facilitator (randomly selected from the envelope).

Facilitator will randomly select a card from the envelope, show this to the participants, put this in the middle of the table, and state, “Now you will talk about (topic on card). You can start now. The one minute starts as soon as this instruction is given and ends when the minute has past.

4. Fourth minute (3rd-4th minute) – members discuss feelings denoted by a picture provided by the facilitator (randomly selected from the envelope).

Facilitator will randomly select a card from the envelope, show the picture to the participants, put this in the middle of the table, and ask, “Please talk about the feelings you think this person has (or these persons if the picture shows more than 1 person). You can start now.”The one minute starts as soon as this instruction is given and ends when the minute has past.

5. Fifth minute (4th-5th minute) – members hold a mock phone call. Facilitator will hand the telephones phones to the participants and state, “Now pretend that you are having a phone call with each other. You may begin now.”The one minute starts as soon as this instruction is given and ends when the minute has past.

Tween PEERS Outcomes

PEERS Behavioral Observation Videos

PEERS Structured Conversation Videos

Self-Management

• Facilitates independence• Improves stimulus generalization• Improves self-awareness• Improves observational skills• Improves discrimination skills• Decreases need for parent, teacher, or clinician

intervention• It is a “pivotal” skill that can help build other skills

• Prioritize behaviors and begin with high frequency behavior

• Prepare the specific system to be implemented• Teach the learner to use the system• Implement the system with support• Promote independence with the system (fade

supports)• Begin to use system for new target behaviors

Self-Management Procedures

Communication Zones Thermometer

Alone Zone Calming Zone Talking ZoneHow I Feel:

How I Act:

How I Feel:

How I Act:

How I Feel:

How I Act:

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A(T)BC’s for ________ Date: ______

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PowerWorks®

• Local YMCA’s and SpoFit

• Cardio• Zumba• Free weights• Swimming• Circuit training• Yoga• Team sports• Karate• Cycling• Hiking• Nutrition/Health• Social Rules and Safety• Self-Management

Outcomes/Video

Conclusions• There is an increasing need for programs

for children in Middle School

• Programs need to focus on building independence and social development

• Programs should have an inclusion model for more social learning opportunities

• Research is needed on what interventions are effective for this age group

• And, for the record, TWEENS ROCK =)

Christina Whalen, PhD, BCBA-D

602-218-8223

cwhalen@autismcenter.org

Contact Information

www.autismcenter.org