To ensure that the student understands what is being asked, an important first step is to remove any extraneous auditory stimuli. Questions should be direct and use simple language. Provide the student with up to 30 seconds of wait time to allow them to process the question before responding. Use visual supports such as question word flashcards or signs to cue the student.
 |
| Taylor Ruef Stevenson Elementary, Mad River |
Not knowing the response to a question can often lead to anxiety for students. They may freeze and be unable to respond at all. Sometimes they will echo the part of the question unsure of what to respond or in attempt to process what is being asked. Furthermore, many students with autism have associative thought patterns so it can be challenging to come up with a direct answer to a question. They may scroll through several possible responses or sometimes they reply with an answer that is related to the question but not entirely correct. Dr. Temple Grandin provides perspective:
 |
| Forbes |
Therefore, when teaching students how to answer questions, it is important to provide possible responses using pictures, word banks, or multiple choice options.
 |
| Emily Ottmar Stevenson Elementary, Mad River |
Use Color Coding
Students with associative thought patterns may have difficulty retrieving response options because the information isn't clearly organized in their minds. Dr. Temple Grandin provides additional insight into this process of thinking:
 |
| Forbes |
To assist these students, use color coding to help them with organizing information as it is learned and later when it is needed for retrieval. Color code information according to the associated question word and/or part of speech. Many teams refer to the color coding systems used in a student's communication device. There are two main approaches to doing this, the Modified Fitzgerald Key, and the system developed by Goossens,’ Crain, & Elder.
Modified Fitzgerald Key
- Blue: Adjectives
- Green: Verbs
- Yellow: Pronouns
- Orange: Nouns
- White: Conjunctions
- Pink: Prepositions, social words
- Purple: Questions
- Brown: Adverbs
- Red: Important function words, negation, emergency words
- Grey: Determiners
 |
| Fitzgerald |
This system is commonly used with LAMP Words For Life and Proloquo2Go.
Goossens,’ Crain, and Elder
- Pink: Verbs
- Blue: Descriptors
- Green: Prepositions
- Yellow: Nouns
- Orange: Questions, negation, pronouns, interjections
 |
| aacintervention.com |
This system is used for Unique Learning Systems and News-2-You.
There are a variety of ways to color code symbols depending on the level of support needed to help the student efficiently locate the symbol.
 |
| PrAACtical AAC |
In the examples below, each question word has an associated color. Pictures responses are arranged according to their corresponding question word. When the student is asked a question, they are directed to first find the corresponding question word and then to select one of the provided responses.
 |
| Brittany Bush Spinning Hills Middle School, Mad River |
When first teaching question answering skills, start with concrete examples that can be referenced to provide immediate feedback. Use pictures and/or books. Have students select the answer and then provide assistance with going back to the picture or within the story to find the evidence supporting the answer. This can be done with beginning learners using the concept of making the answer "match" the picture/story.
 |
| Carrie Prickett Jane Chance Elementary, Miamisburg |
Next, students can begin creating their own color coded resources to refer to later. The class can create wh-question walls (similar to a word wall) by sorting thematic vocabulary by question word.
Have students create their own word banks while reading by using a color-coded board. After reading, students can refer to the word bank when answering questions about what they read.
No comments:
Post a Comment