1 / 36

Our Personal Perceptions

Our Personal Perceptions. Our impact on Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. &. Things to think about…. …And to reflect upon. Why have a philosophy for how we think about behavior?. How we think about the behavior determines how we feel about it.

arleen
Download Presentation

Our Personal Perceptions

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Our Personal Perceptions Our impact on Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder &

  2. Things to think about… …And to reflect upon.

  3. Why have a philosophy for how we think about behavior? • How we think about the behavior determines how we feel about it. • How we feel about it determines how we respond to it (what we do). • Our thinking is compromised when faced with stressful situations. • A well thought out and understood philosophy can prevent reactive and ineffective responses.

  4. Think of a person you work with. • On your worksheet, answer questions 1 – 4. • You will be thinking about this person as this session progresses.

  5. Personal Perceptions • What are my beliefs about students with ASD and their skills? How do my beliefs and perceptions impact my interactions, teaching, and expectations?

  6. Gentle TeachingA Philosophy for Working with Aggressive Students based on Relationship building

  7. Some of the ways ASD effects a person’s behavior? • Inflexible thinking • Thinking may not appear “logical” • Little thinking happens when stressed • Low tolerance for frustration • Little attention to the reactions of others

  8. All educational transactions with these students should be with your affect turned off. Use logic.Hans Asperger

  9. Your PERCEPTIONS impact: How you TREAT behavior (kids) and subsequently what, and how you TEACH (kids)…

  10. How we talk about behavior can determine how we think about it • Oppositional • Bad • Manipulative • Selfish • Aggressive

  11. Think about the disorder and its impact on the person’s functioning • Rigid • Inflexible • Anxious • Desperate • Clueless

  12. The ODD label rarely occurs outside of another disability.

  13. What does the frontal lobe do? • Staying calm when frustrated • Anticipates problems • Generates alternative solutions • Takes another person’s perspective • Sees the “big picture” • Interprets the behavior of others

  14. You want to become the student’s surrogate frontal lobe

  15. Everytime we express our anger, we give our students a lesson in anger management.From…AVolcano in My Tummy by Whitthouse and Pudney

  16. GENTLE TEACHING IS A PHILOSOPHY INVOLVING HOW WE THINK ABOUTCHALLENGING BEHAVIOR.

  17. Gentle Teaching Strategies • Adults take the lead in establishing relationships. Relationships become a goal. • Balance our interactions so that we are interacting socially more often than making demands. • Do not personalize student behavior • Beware of your face, voice tone, and body language (send messages of calm and respect)

  18. The Goal of Gentle Teaching:to establish mutually valuing relationships between students and teacher.To increase the amount of time spent in positive interaction.

  19. Your final goal:A full belly laugh!Create addictionsto peopleIncrease amount of time spent in positive participation

  20. What is Teacher Posture? Our personal set of attitudes, values and beliefs that define and direct our judgment and actions that we apply to any given circumstance. Our nonverbal messages

  21. Why Do they Do that? • Dangerous, excessive and impulsive behaviors are the product of the individual’s inability to: • interpret their environment • modulate their anxiety and arousal level • communicate their wants and needs effectively DO YOU BELIEVE THESE STATEMENTS APPLY TO THE STUDENT YOU LISTED?

  22. Common Obstacles for Students Related to Having Limited Social Skills • Poor skills for developing positive social relationships • The students have often found little success or value in relationships with teachers • If the physical presence of an adult signals only demand, the student will not seek you out, there is no motivation to work with you. DO YOU BELIEVE THESE STATEMENTS APPLY TO THE STUDENT YOU LISTED?

  23. Lacking Emotional Regulation Skills Means: • Unable to separate one’s emotional response from the thinking one must perform to solve the problem • Unable to calm oneself in order to think more clearly • Experience and practice can help (think airport) DO YOU BELIEVE THESE STATEMENTS APPLY TO THE STUDENT YOU LISTED?

  24. Some skills needed to respond to life’s challenges adaptively directly related to autism • Handle transitions • Problem solving skills • Managing emotional responses • Understanding expectations • Flexible thinking • Social skills • Getting attention • Understanding other’s perspectives • Appreciating how one’s behavior impacts others • Read nonverbal language

  25. Teaching “lagging social skills” • Avoid reacting to negative behavior • Seek out the message in the behavior • Setting up the environment for success • Take the lead in relationship building DO YOU BELIEVE THESE STATEMENTS APPLY TO TEACHING THE STUDENT YOU LISTED?

  26. Students with ASD… Need the teachers with the very best teaching skills. Social skills instruction requires good teaching strategies just like any other skill we teach.

  27. Reframing ActivityBuilding Relationships and Creating Supportive Environments How we think about a problem determines how we feel about it

  28. What to Teach? • Do they run? Teach where to run to. • Do they love music? Use the love of music to motivate learning (avoid the “reward” or “earn” cycle) • Does he hit to say hi? Teach greetings and Practice

  29. What to Teach? • Focus teaching student skills that they can actually use. Teaching social skills is not just reducing negative behavior but rather building skills that the student views as useful. Do the skills match the student’s identified needs?

  30. What to teach? • Absent skills - no clue (often requires 1:1) • Emerging skills - developing, sometimes present (Focus here – could be practiced in group) • Independent skills - Can consistently do on own; initiates (group practice and independent work

  31. BACK TO THE WORKSHEET Please answer questions 5 - 9.

  32. Discussion • What is the importance of understanding whether a skills is absent, emerging or independent? • How do the terms “shaping” and “task analysis” relate to this issue? • A lack of social skills = a learning disability. Yes?

  33. Hans Asperger’s word on relationship “These children show a surprising sensitivity to the personality of the teacher. However difficult they are even under optimal conditions, they can be guided and taught, but only by those who give them true understanding and genuine affection. People who show kindness towards them and yes, humor.”

  34. Questions?

More Related