The Autism & Low-Incidence Coaching Team: SLPs

Showing posts with label SLPs. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

A-LIST Spotlight: Speech and Language Pathologist America Swartzel from New Lebanon Local Schools

America Swartzel is the speech pathologist at Dixie Elementary and Middle School in New Lebanon. She is always so positive and knows how to engage with her students. We have seen America connect with some of the most challenging students and facilitate meaningful use of AAC, encouraging implementation across settings. We also love that she educates herself on the perspectives of neurodiverse individuals to make sure her goals and strategies are respectful of their unique differences and abilities. America is a great team player and demonstrates the ability to collaborate with others to support shared goals. We are excited to feature America today on our A-LIST Spotlight! Read below to learn more about America and the supports she implements for her students.

My name is America Swartzel and this is my 13th year at New Lebanon Local Schools, where I service all three buildings–grades 1 through 12+. The 2023-2024 school year was a big one for me, as I was honored to be selected as part of the A-List and was named Teacher of the Year in my district! My true passions in this field lie in the areas of Autism and AAC. When working with my students, I strive for neurodiversity affirming therapy practices. This is an area that is constantly evolving and it is crucial for us,as clinicians, to listen to Autistic voices and to have a willingness to change and grow our skills accordingly.

My number one goal with my Autistic students is to build strong relationships. I do this by ensuring that my sessions are child-led and as sensory friendly as possible. Although my therapy space doesn’t allow for all of the sensory items I would like, I am never short on fidgets, squishies, and visual sensory toys like bubbles and spinners. I offer those items, as well as physical input (deep pressure, rocking, etc) to my students freely during every session. My students know that sensory items and activities are not something that they need to work for–we never work to meet our sensory needs!

I think it is so important for kids to understand their brains and to embrace the differences that make each one unique. Some of my students have really enjoyed learning about the Autism spectrum wheel. We discuss each section and then they color in a blank wheel based on how they view their own Autistic characteristics!

Because most of my students have varied special interests, I try my best to incorporate their interests into as many visuals as possible. Here are some of the visuals I have made for my students.

A visual schedule for a student who loves dinosaurs:

I have one student who speaks so softly in class that it is very difficult to hear her. Since she loves The Little Mermaid, I created this visual to help her teacher communicate when she needs to speak at a higher volume. Although the student was apprehensive to use a visual at first, she was fully on board once her favorite princess was added.

For students who struggle with anxiety, a simple visual like this one can promote self-advocacy skills without drawing a lot of attention to themselves. Again, incorporating their preferred interests helps with buy-in from the student.

This was a picture book that was created to help students transition from elementary school to middle school. The students took the picture books home over the summer after touring their new school. They were able to read the book as many times as they needed so that they could have visual reminders of what the upcoming year would look like and, hopefully, help ease their anxiety about the transition.

Being student-led does not mean that you have to let a student make all of the demands and run the entire session. I have a couple of students who would do nothing but scroll through YouTube clips or play the same iPad games if I would let them. Learning what they really enjoy in those clips or games is key. I try to use toys or visuals from their interests in ways that do not involve being on the device, but mimics the same type of play. Busy Books are great therapy toys for this and there are tons of characters available to suit lots of interests.

Another trick is to make finger puppets using cut up gloves and printed, laminated characters from YouTube or games that the student enjoys. This “dancing doll” finger puppet was created for a student who absolutely loves the dancing doll character from the Starfall iPad game.

I still like to honor those requests to be on the iPad, but I save the actual device time for the end of the session. One of my most used visuals to help with this transition actually came from my very first ACT professional development session! This countdown strip is my go-to visual for nearly every session and helps in situations where I want to honor a student’s interests or requests without allowing them to take over the entire session. Personally, I prefer to use this countdown exclusively for elapsing time and not for individual tasks completed. When I first introduce this countdown tool to new students, I always start with the time going by very quickly, pulling off a number every few seconds. I gradually increase the time between numbers being pulled each session. This teaches my students that they strip means that time is going by and that they will eventually get what they want when the “one” is finally pulled off. I always use a second timer with an alarm (usually a visual timer) to end their favorite activities. This has helped my students to maintain a more positive attitude about the countdown strip and not to associate it with ending a fun activity.

Another way that I have been trying to build stronger relationships with my students is by learning more about gestalt language processing and tracking my students’ gestalts so that I can figure out what each one means in certain contexts and then use those utterances to expand language. I created this tracking form to help with this task and keep them in my students’ files.

I have also recently discovered a fantastic website that has been a great help with learning gestalts. Getyarn.io is a website that allows a clinician to type a student’s gestalt phrase into a search box. The website then generates a list of possible sources for that phrase in video clips. Here is an example: I had a student who kept talking about “the Bob Barker treatment.” I used getyarn.io to find the exact video clip from which the phrase originated–Shrek 2! The student was so excited that I was able to figure out what he was talking about! This is such a nice tool for clinicians to use in the moment instead of having to wait to ask caregivers after the communication attempt has passed!

Because we focus on a ton of self-advocacy skills, I also work really hard to help grow my students’ vocabularies. Using the various wheels of emotions is a great tool for teaching shades of meaning in emotional language.

I also try to make sure that my students who struggle with figurative language learn a new word or phrase each week. I created an Idiom of the Week poster that changes every Monday to help with that task!

I hope you have found some good tips and tricks to try during your next speech therapy session!

Best Blog Posts for Social Skills

To start this school year, our team is compiling some of our best examples of supports we have seen in our districts and featured in previous blog posts. Today we are highlighting all of the Best Blog Posts for Social Skills.

Click on the hyperlink under each heading below to be taken to the related post on that topic.

Stay on Track
Be Flexible
Excel at the Expected
Be Kind
Listen to Others
Positive Thinking
Respond to Others
Effort
Good Mistakes
Finish Later
Waiting

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Best Blog Posts for Communication

Click on the hyperlink under each heading below to be taken to the related post on that topic.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

A-LIST Induction 2024

We are so excited to end this school year by introducing our newest members of our Autism & Low-Incidence Coaching Team’s “A-LIST”. Our A-LIST stands for Autism-Low Incidence Support Team and is comprised of a regional network of select professionals who exhibit “best practices” in serving the needs of students who have autism or other complex, low-incidence disabilities.Our A-LIST began in 2012 in an effort to recognize outstanding individuals who had exceeded the high expectations of our coaching process, and who represented the best that our region had to offer to students with disabilities. Only a fraction of the educators we coach each year are nominated. The A-LIST truly represents the BEST professionals in our region.

The goal of the MCESC Autism & Low-Incidence Coaching Team is to build the capacity of our region’s administrators, teachers, intervention specialists, related service providers, and paraprofessionals to serve children with autism and other complex disabilities. The A-LIST serves a critical role in that mission by maintaining a multi-disciplinary network of outstanding practitioners across all 6 counties we serve. We often refer our coaching teams to our A-LIST members for practical, “in the trenches” perspectives, advice, and occasional modeling of best practices.

Mackenzie Harris

Mackenzie Harris is an intervention specialist at Primary Village South in Centerville City Schools . We love Mackenzie's use of structured work systems, reinforcement, and many visual supports. When addressing behavioral challenges, Mackenzie is a co-regulation queen and always has a binder of data ready to be analyzed. Mackenzie has embraced the coaching process and has done a great job collaborating with the ACT team and her school-based team. Mackenzie's students are lucky to have her and we are lucky to have her as one of the newest members of our A-LIST team!

Nick DeGrazia

Nick DeGrazia is a student services supervisor and school psychologist for Northmont Schools. This year he took on the additional role of student services supervisor and has embraced it. We have worked with Nick over the years and appreciate his active involvement with referral classes and students. Nick is invested in getting to know his staff and students. Nick is also a great support to our team by asking insightful questions and offering support in helping the classroom teams implement ACT team recommendations. The students and staff in Northmont are lucky to have Nick as a leader!

America Swartzel

Katie Wood

When coaching in intervention specialist Katie Wood's classroom at Primary Village South in Centerville, we have loved her calming environment, use of the structured work system, how her classroom team facilitates the use of AAC, their use of visual supports such as student schedules and the reinforcement system, use of technology to engage students, and her ability to manage and delegate to your paraprofessionals. Katie has truly embraced the coaching process and shows strengths with mindful reflection, remaining open-minded, collaborative problem-solving, and has done a nice job of implementing strategies with fidelity. We know Katie will be a valued member of our A-LIST and have actually already been visiting her classroom with other teachers since we know there are some great examples for them to see!

Todd French

It has been a pleasure for our team to work with school psychologist Todd French at Northmont City Schools over the past couple of years! Todd does such an excellent job of advocating for his teachers and his students. Additionally, it is refreshing to see a school psychologist who is so involved and truly knows and supports his students on a day-to-day basis. Todd is a wonderful partner to our team and the coaching that we do. We appreciate his involvement in our meetings and your partnership. Northmont is certainly lucky to have Todd!

Heidi Horner

Miami County ESC Intervention Specialist Heidi Horner at Nevin Coppock Elementary in Tipp City has been nominated to our A-LIST because when you visit her classroom you immediately see so many evidence-based practices in place! Throughout her coaching experience with the ACT Team, Heidi has always been willing to listen to constructive feedback and take new ideas and make them her own. On top of all of that, what we admire most about Heidi is her positive attitude and ability to collaborate with her classroom staff and the families she serves. She always has her students at heart and will not stop until she meets their needs. Heidi is always actively problem-solving and we have also been impressed with her initiative to support students in an individualized way, ensuring that she and her staff are meeting their needs. Heidi's leadership style and approach to teaching should be celebrated and deserves to be recognized! Congratulations, Heidi!

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Communication Corner: Scripting

You may have heard the word scripting when referring to a student who repeats lines from a movie, commercial or conversation. A script is a word, phrase, or sentence that the student has learned and repeats. Sometimes the scripts being used appear non-functional without any clear meaning for the current situation. Other times the script is being used to communicate. When struggling to communicate, your student may rely on familiar scripts to express themselves.

The National Professional Development Center (NPDC) on Autism Spectrum Disorder has identified Scripting (SC) as an evidence-based practice for autism intervention. We have recommended the use of scripting for many of our students with autism or low-incidence disabilities. Scripting intervention can be used with students of all ages. Typically, we recommend scripting for students who are verbal and are able to learn a script. Similar to practicing a script for a play, the student is taught to use the script to meet a specific communication or social need. The script is then practiced in a structured setting before using it in a natural setting. Typically we recommend scripting for students with verbal skills but you can use scripting with AAC users as well. Scripting can be used to improve requesting, protesting, getting help, and interaction/play skills. Scripting works well when embedded in a schedule or social routines. Today's Communication Corner features a variety of scripting examples for students of all ages and ability levels!

Things to consider when creating a script:

The social-communication goal of the learner
The learner’s language level and ability to imitate
The learner’s reading level/ how the script will be presented
How the use of the script can be reinforced

Examples of scripts:

Written script

Scripts can be written on a piece of paper or index card. We had one teacher who would write the script directly on the student’s desk with a dry erase marker. Below is an example of a script written for a student who had lots of anxiety when people got too close or touched his things. It is important to proactively practice the script before expecting the student to use it in a real situation.

Technology

Older students who carry a phone can store scripts on a notes page or as text messages. Just like a script for a play, the script can include cues for voice, facial expressions, and body language. In this example, a student was learning how to join a table at lunch. The script was practiced many times during role-playing, but it was added to her phone as a quick in-the-moment reminder for the natural setting.

Laminated sentence strip

Sentence strips can be cut and laminated. They can be all text or include supporting pictures. They can be given to the classroom staff to be worn on a lanyard and presented when needed to cue the script.

List of options

For some students, you may have a poster of script options. Providing error-free options for comments and greetings is a great way to expand language and help the student sound more natural.

Open-ended script

The script can be open-ended. Often, a sentence starter can facilitate a request and the student is able to verbally complete the sentence.

Jamie Minnish
Prass Elementary, Kettering

If the learner struggles to come up with the specific word to complete the sentence, you can provide a menu.

Sharon Kolberg
Walter Shade Elementary, West Carrollton

Options for non-readers

If the student is unable to read, use pictures or a voice output button to provide the script. If you choose to cue the script verbally, keep in mind that verbal prompting is not the same as scripting. Scripting is a proactive intervention that focuses on teaching a specific script in advance, then cuing use of the script in the moment.

Ann-Marie Small
Driscoll Elementary, Centerville

Jennifer Jette
Vandalia-Butler High School, Vandalia

Replacement scripts and calming statements

By teaching functional scripts you can help to reduce the perseverative use of unexpected scripts. If a student is saying “stinky cheese” when they don’t like something, teach a functional script such as “I don’t like that” or “no, thank you”. You can also teach a script that can help calm a student about something that causes anxiety and results in perseverative questioning. In the example below the student would become anxious when his favorite para went to lunch. He would use unexpected scripts or perseverate on questions about where she was. By teaching him this script and giving him the sentence strip in the moment, he was able to change his thoughts and feel confident that his para would return soon.

Rylie Jarrett
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Dialogue script with peer

A script can be developed to include a peer. For example, Sarah is learning to work with a peer mentor, Mary, during inclusion. Sarah is learning how to ask for help. Here is a script created for the girls: Each girl has a script card with their lines highlighted in yellow:

Additional Resources

For more information on scripting and other evidenced-based practices, go to the Autism Focused Intervention and Resource Modules (AFIRM)

AFIRM Scripting Module

Christine Reeve has a site called Autism Classroom News and Resources. She covers scripting in her series, Applying the Research:

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Communication Corner: Initiating Requests

Many classrooms offer choice boards and prompt students to select an item. This is a great communication support, but this does not always lead to the student learning how to initiate a request for functional communication. Some students become very prompt dependent. It is important to teach initiation. It may be with a verbal word, a sign, a picture or a voice output device. Regardless of the mode you are trying to teach, take some time to help your students request without a prompt. Today's Communication Corner has some great examples of how you can facilitate initiating requests in your classroom.

Entice instead of Prompt

To facilitate a request without prompting the student, you must entice them. This starts with knowing what is highly motivating for the student. Interact with the desired item, within view but out of reach. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a great process to use for developing initiation. The process starts with teaching the student to hand a picture of the desired item to the communication partner in exchange for the item itself. Initially, the focus is on the initiation of the exchange so there is no need for the student to discriminate between pictures. There is no prompting, only enticing, watching and waiting. As soon as the student reaches for the desired item, a silent physical prompter can be used to guide the student’s hand down to the picture to then give to the communication partner (the one with the desired item). Only then does the communication partner provide a verbal model of the request (remember, there is no verbal prompting). By exchanging a picture for a tangible item, the student quickly learns the power of a picture. Even if you do not plan to use PECS as a communication mode, this is a great process to develop the foundational skills for communication such as joint attention, communication exchange and of course, initiation. You can use pictures, photos or even objects/wrappers to represent the desired item.

Object PECS
Christine Scarborough
Tecumseh Elementary, Xenia

Activity Board

Jackie Vollmer

Driscoll Elementary, Centerville

If the student demonstrates picture discrimination you can begin presenting more options. If your student is not able to discriminate, you will need more intensive training using correspondence checks and error correction. You can learn these procedures at a PECS training from Pyramid Educational Consultants. They are currently offering online workshops. Click on the image below to access an overview of PECS from the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders:

Choice Board
Pam Ellender
Mad River Middle School, Mad River

I want... Strip
Angie Kleinhans
Stebbins High School, Mad River

I want... Strip
Brittany Bush
Spinning Hills Middle School, Mad River

As you continue to introduce additional pictures, create a book to provide your student with a central location to access all their pictures. Make sure the student has the ability to visually scan across all pictures. It is beneficial to create a color-coded communication pages with pictures arranged by category. The student will need direct instruction and modeling to learn how to navigate to the desired picture. By having the ability to access a communication book or device, your student can initiate any request (not just what you are presenting on a specific choice board).

PECS book
Karyn Smith
Tri-Village High School, Tri-Village

Wh-Flipbook

Model and Shape the Behavior

When teaching a picture exchange, the physical prompter shapes the behavior by waiting for the student to reach for the item then physically guides the student’s hand down to take the picture for an exchange. PECS also uses a shaping process with its 4 step error correction procedure to develop picture discrimination. You can use shaping for other modes of communication. For example, if the student is producing sounds or word approximations, you can reinforce a purposeful attempt to verbally request the item. Continue to model and expect a little more each attempt to shape the behavior closer to the desired outcome.

Some students communicate with sign language. They may struggle with the fine motor skills necessary to produce a variety of fringe words such as specific food items or toys. Consider focusing on simple core words to request such as “want”, “more”, or “go”. These core words can be modeled repeatedly across different activities.

If the student is unable to speak, sign or physically exchange a picture, consider other ways to access communication. The behavior can be shaped using simple cause and effect to get highly motivating objects or activities. For example, every time the student hits the button or gazes at the picture, the adult engages him in a motivating activity.

Switch and Eye Gaze Board AAC Supports
Ann-Marie Small
Driscoll Elementary, Centerville

An important part of shaping the initiation of communication is modeling. Modeling is different than prompting. It shows the student what to do rather than telling the student what to do. Modeling is something you do all the time to immerse the student in the behavior that is expected. Modeling is particularly important for students using a nonverbal mode of communication. Look at the difference between modeling input between a verbal child and a child using a device:

Verbal communication- a typical 9-12 year old has been exposed to 36,500 hours of verbal language (Korsten, 2011). It takes approximately 1 year for a child immersed in verbal language to begin speaking.
Communication device- If a 9-12 year old child is only provided a model of communication using the device twice a week for 20-30 minutes, it would take that child 700 years to gain the same exposure to his mode of communication that a verbal child experiences (Korsten, 2011). We shouldn’t expect a child to immediately learn how to use a device with limited exposure.

For more information, click the image below for an awesome resource from Saltillo:

Modeling is important! You can model using the student’s device, a similar app on your iPad, or print a copy of the core page.

Wall poster matching AAC device
Allie Clements
Schnell Elementary, West Carrollton

The video below does a great job illustrating the importance of modeling language and use of AAC.

Teach Navigation and Traveling

If a student is communicating using a device or picture exchange, it will be important to teach traveling to get the message to the right person. Be sure that the device or book is kept in a location where it can be quickly found by the student. Add a strap to make it easy to travel with across the environment. You may need to directly teach the student to independently get the device or book, take it to the communication partner and get their attention to hear or see the request. We often see teams focus on only training in a structured environment sitting across the table. This is not functional. Taking the time to directly teach and reinforce the student’s ability to travel and persist to make their request, will go a long way!

If the student is using a device, make it easy to carry and use on the go

AAC on-the-go
Carrie Prickett
Jane Chance Elementary, Miamisburg

Reinforce or at least acknowledge the Request

In the beginning, it is extremely important to acknowledge and reinforce all attempts to initiate a request. Once it is clear that the student knows how to spontaneously request, you can limit or delay the request. Use a visual tool such as a countdown or a visual contract to communicate clear expectations.

Visual Countdown

Visual Contract

"Closed" Sign for Free Play Area
Angela Crum
Parkwood Elementary, Beavercreek

Collaborate for Consistency and Generalization

Eventually, your student should be able to initiate functional communication across the day. To make this happen, collaboration between team members is critical. Make sure all staff members working with the student know how to model, entice, shape and reinforce the target communication skills. Determine the best way to share target vocabulary, student progress and tips for facilitation. Some teams have the ability to talk on a regular basis while other teams communicate using email or a shared Google document. Visuals for staff can be helpful such as a wall poster with tips or sticky notes for more specific reminders.