Communication Corner-- Providing Feedback

Imagine how frustrating it would be if you were not able to clarify your request or give feedback about how you feel. This is an essential functional communication skill that needs to be directly taught and today's focus of the Communication Corner.

One example is a student who was working to earn a walking break. The teacher could not understand why he was becoming increasingly upset when he was so close to earning his walk. Suddenly, the student pulled away from the teacher and opened his communication book. He pulled out the picture of “outside”. The teacher knew he wanted to go for a walk, but she did not understand that because it was the first warm day of spring, he wanted to take his walk outside.  Because he was able to eventually communicate this,  a crisis was avoided.

Consider other ways your students can give feedback and clarify their messages. Maybe the blue beanbag chair is bigger and feels better than the red beanbag chair. They may not be able to explain the differences between the two beanbags, but if you teach them to identify colors, they can indicate which one they prefer.

During snack, a student may feel extra hungry and wants 4 cookies, rather than the traditional 2 cookies.  They might prefer the crackers from the red box more than the ones in the yellow box.  If you give them a big piece of cake and they are not hungry, they may prefer a small piece.   Teaching descriptive words can help your students clarify what they want and avoid frustration.

Teach your student to communicate if they like or don’t like something.  Teach them to give feedback to peers. Giving praise to others is an important part of relationship building. Give your non-verbal students a way to support, compliment and cheer on their peers.

When upset, even verbal students may not be able to use words to express their needs in the moment. Teaching students to use a picture choice board of things that are typically upsetting can provide a communication support during a crisis.

Or they can provide communication visual supports to express feelings or to express pain or discomfort using a body chart.

Angie Kleinhans
Stebbins High School, Mad River

Therese Garison
Helke Elementary, Vandalia

Chloe Rothschild

Consider the words that are most important to the student. If they have sensory sensitivities you may want to teach the concepts of loud/quiet, tight/loose, warm, cool, wet/dry, light on/light off, or fast/slow.  It helps to teach descriptive words in opposite pairs. Teach word pairs in structured hands on activities before expecting the student to use words or pictures in natural situations.  Once the learner understands the concepts, they will more likely be able to use the words or pictures for functional communication.  One example is a student who is offered regular breaks outside the classroom with a peer. This time is often spent playing games on an iPad. The peer is very talkative.  Most days, the student enjoys this interaction, but on days when he feels dysregulated or stressed, he may want to request a quiet break with no talking.

For more ideas on strategies for Functional Communication Training check out our previous Communication Corner posts:

Escape

Protest
Attention
Requesting Items or Activities

Organization Station-- Multisensory Morning Work

Arrival is a busy time in many classrooms. Students are busy unpacking their backpacks, checking in for the day, and adjusting to a new school day ahead. Teachers are busy taking attendance, collecting homework and paperwork, and getting everyone settled. Sometimes when students come in at staggered times due to different transportation drop off times or some eating breakfast it can make this morning time especially hectic.

Many teachers use the strategy of assigning morning work worksheets for students to complete as everyone is transitioning and finishing up various stages of their arrival routine. This can be an effective routine for many, but what happens when you have a student who is resistant to paper-pencil tasks or who struggles with work demands first thing in the morning? Starting off the morning with a worksheet can sometimes lead to some interfering behaviors which is not ideal for building positive behavior momentum each day. We have found that multisensory morning work tasks are often more engaging and lead to fewer interfering behaviors which gives teachers one less thing to juggle. Check out the ideas in today's Organization Station below for multisensory morning work ideas we have seen throughout the Miami Valley.

In this self-contained classroom, each student has a bin of individualized multisensory tasks that they can take back to their desk to work on each morning.

Brittany Bush
Spinning Hills Middle School, Mad River

This classroom uses a drawer system with tasks that can be taken back to the students work area. Students rotate tasks throughout the week and the rotation is communicated to students through the numbers on the pocket chart. Staff knows what to assign from the reusable dry erase chart also pictured. 

Brittany Sword
Valley Elementary, Beavercreek

Multisensory morning work can also work in a general education classroom. For this class, each table of students rotates tasks as shown in the rotation schedule. Many of these tasks are practice activities related to their math content.

Kathy Timmerman
Fairbrook Elementary, Beavercreek

Like the example above, this general education classroom rotates tubs between tables of students.

Megan Kelly
Beavertown Elementary, Kettering

Need more ideas for smoother morning transitions? Check out our morning routine post here:

Organization Station-- Morning and Afternoon Routines

Regulation Rendezvous-- Exercise

Exercise is an evidence-based practice for students with autism spectrum disorders. It has been identified to improve behavior, increase school readiness, improve academic outcomes, and improve motor skill development. Exercise is defined as an increase in physical exertion for a minimum of 10 minutes that occurs on a regular basis. The physical exertion is measured by an elevation in the participant’s heart rate and an increase in core body temperature as evidenced by sweat production. Exercise often begins with a warm-up activity, followed by the exercise activity, and finishes with a cool-down activity.

Many different activities are considered to be exercise. Some examples include jogging/walking, yoga, swimming, resistance training, etc. The key is to identify an exercise activity that the individual with autism will be willing to actively complete. Today's Regulation Rendezvous features ways we have seen exercise incorporated into classrooms around the Miami Valley. 

Some classrooms have exercise equipment that students can use during sensory breaks or at scheduled times of day.

rock wallEric Bostick
Beverly Gardens Elementary, Mad River

scooterboard with backrestTabitha Eaton
Main Elementary, Beavercreek

stationary bikeJennifer McGowan
Smith Middle School, Vandalia

treadmill
Carrie Prickett
Jane Chance Elementary, Miamisburg

If you have a student who likes to pace, jump, crawl, or use a scooterboard during their exercise break, it can be helpful to provide a path as a visual support so they understand the expectation in that area and to decrease distraction in other areas of the classroom. 

Therese Garison
Helke Elementary, Vandalia

Studebaker Preschool, Huber Heights

Other effective visual supports include exercise routines, choice board, or exercise dice. 

Brittany Bush
Spinning Hills Middle School, Mad River

Allyson Rudnicki
Tipp High School, Tipp City

Jackie Vollmer
Driscoll Elementary, Centerville

Edison Elementary, Dayton

Carrie Prickett
Jane Chance Elementary, Miamisburg

If students are scheduled to engage in a work task after exercising, we recommend having them  complete a calming activity such as dots and squeezies, deep breathing, or a cool down stretches to help calm their bodies in preparation for work. 

ALIST Spotlight-- Ann-Marie Small, Driscoll Elementary Centerville

Recently we held a panel discussion at the Regional Center focused on team collaboration between classroom teachers and SLPs. Ann-Marie Small was one of our SLP panelists from Driscoll Elementary in Centerville City Schools and after hearing all of the wonderful things she does to facilitate her student's language development we just knew we had to feature her on our ALIST Spotlight! Check out the post below to see how Ann-Marie uses AAC, Core Words, and Organization to help her students find their voice.

AAC
The first step to helping students find their voice is providing them with the necessary Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) supports that meet their individual needs. During her weekly Speech Group, Ann-Marie makes sure all of her students set up with their AAC ready to go.

Each week the group focuses on a different Core Word so each AAC support is prepped with the needed words before hand.

To help with AAC preparation ahead of time, Ann-Marie provides a clipboard for the classroom staff to add needed vocabulary words to throughout the week. Then during her AAC programming planning time, Ann Marie grabs the clipboard and is able to quickly get materials prepped.

Ann-Marie also shares with staff and families the Core Word of the Week through handouts and door displays.

Core Words
To start the Speech group, Ann-Marie has students practice the core word of the week through using the AAC supports and reading a story. This lesson's word was "find" so students practiced telling one another to "find the elf" in the book and telling the group when they "found" the elf.

The next part of the lesson was practicing the use of the core word in the context of an interactive activity which related to the book. Students had to "find the elf" throughout the classroom.

They even had the chance to take turns hiding with the elf for classmates to find them!

Repetitive practice and finding using fun, engaging activities to practice new words is a great way to help students generalize. Ann-Marie also offers opportunities to review previously learned words through books in her cozy reading corner.

Organization
Planning so many engaging activities for students each week requires a lot of organization and a lot of materials! Ann-Marie does a great job of storing materials so that they are readily accessible at a moments notice to engage students and to support learning of new concepts.

 

To keep students on track towards meeting goals it is important to have organized progress monitoring as well. We love how Ann-Marie uses color coding, shipping labels, and reinforcement charts to keep her data organized.

Thank you so much to Ann-Marie for allowing us to join her Speech Group to see all of the wonderful supports she uses for students. We are excited to share these great examples with our other teams!