Here is a video demonstration of a way of teaching which could be modified somewhat and work with children who have ASD. I use the strategies of movement, emotion and Key Phrases already. I think the speed might be hard on some kids with ASD but there is virtually no time for a child to lose attention. I think I will give this idea a bit of a try. Watch this video and let me know your thoughts on this.
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8 comments:
Oh my goodness,
It's like being hit by a truck!
I will try looking at it again later, now I know what to expect. The first 60 seconds turned me off. Aussies are a bit more relaxed in our teaching style . This is way too fast for me to handle . I think my students would be in shock if I taught like this :)
It is really intense, isn't it? But, I like the idea of teaching kids with ASD some call/response way of reconnecting with the teacher in the front of the class periodically and the use of some gestures because the movement would help kids on the spectrum attend more easily. I can't imagine kids with ASD being able to talk in a noisy room like this, though. Like you, Sue, the speed and pressured feeling would, I think, be overwhelming to most children with ASD, although I saw an Indian woman who used a sort of similar technique with her severely autistic but very bright son, Tito Mukhopadhyay. It apparently worked well with this child. I had a similar reaction to yours when I saw how she was teaching him.
I have used this method for the last three years. It is very effective, and lots of fun for me and my students.
I have had a lot of students with a variety of learning disabilities, including several autistic students, and they have uniformly shown improvement from using this method.
The method is very adaptable and it can be high energy or low key just as easily. I am a high energy teacher, but I have noticed that the kids tend to focus on their teaching partners, and drown everyone else out.
The experience is much less like being hit by a truck, and much more like a fun amusement park ride. At the end the kids remember what you have taught, and are smiling. I am seeing retention of basic concepts much longer than with tradiotional methods alone.
Okay, I have had another look at the video. Not so shocked this time :) I can see that it would be a very exciting and engaging way to learn for the right audience.
I believe I have seen a video of the Indian mum you were talking during my ASD post graduate studies. Was it part of a 60 minutes presentation? If it is the same one, I remember that she pretty much dedicated her life to be in her child's space, to ensure that he was constantly engaged in joint attention activity. She had great results. What an amazing woman!
I teach for the most part, in a non autism specific, special education setting. All of my students have an IQ below 70 and multiple co-morbid conditions. They do not have the language ability to cope with this method as it stands. As you said, the method would have to be significantly modified from the video example, to work with my kids. They would be lost in a sea of miscommunication.
We use Makaton signing at my school to support receptive language. We don't expect the kids to sign back, some do, some don't. They are like snow flakes, all unique :)
I can see how using gesture would work and I like the idea of movement coupled with communication to improve engagement.
Many of my kids would not be able to support their peers in communication using gesture or the fast paced language approach, to teach what they have just learned, to their peers.
I also work in mainstream schools with students with AS.
I think that even teachers working with typically developing kids in Australia would probably shy away from this strategy as it is not congruent with our ‘cultural communication style’, for lack of a better description. I think that I would be fair in saying that this form of interaction would be irritating to most Australians. I am sure that there is a much better speech pathology term, for what I am trying to say :)
I showed this clip to a colleague of mine, who teaches senior kids and she was concerned that the kids would over learn this way of communicating and would therefore stick out like a sore thumb in our culture.
Thanks for the thought provoking topic, which has caused me to question my techniques and reflect on Australian communication styles.
Love your work :)
I hope that your friend has a good week. I am praying for her :)
Sue
Tahirih, I watched this and got really excited! It's the clapping and the call/response element which I think some of my learners would like! But how would you use this kind of technique in a class of five children with ASD and global learning delay? I'd love some ideas! Jeanne
Oh wow that does look fun, I'm pulling lots of ideas from the video ... slow down pace, adapt, simplify, step by step.
Love it. Thanks for this post.
Thanks for the video. It's a great example of effective teaching methods that can be used with all ages/types of learners. It's very similar to the choral responding used in Direct Instruction programs, the fluency used in Precision Teaching, and the short inter-trial intervals used in Verbal Behavior ABA programs, all of which have proven very effective methods. I've used such methods with typical and developmentally delayed students and find that it keeps the kids engaged, keeps distractions/self-stim at a minimum, and the kids have fun. The important things to remember are to mix in plenty of mastered/simpler material and to correct/prompt quickly to keep the kids from getting frustrated.
Well, This video certainly got a great deal of thinking going. In answer to Sue, thanks for your interest in my friend Jane. She has taken a turn for the worse, but this is not unexpected--just sad.
In answer to Jeanne, since I have never done this, I am only able to speculate but I will post a video of this system being used in a Kindergarten class. There are other video examples on You Tube. I like many things about the system but I am concerned that kids with ASD would not be able to "turn to a neighbor and teach..." whatever was in the mini lecture. However, if the child had a classroom assistant, he or she might be able to try to do this in the time allowed. All the talking might also be upsetting for some children who are sound sensitive. I'd like to see it done in a classroom with children with disabilities and see what changed in the system would need to be made.
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