The forgotten question…
Why is this happening?
Why?
Reply
Quote
A single accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.
-Grace Hopper
Convictions
The certainty with which convictions are held tends to vary inversely with the depth of knowledge on which they are based.
Practice without Science
Those who fall in love with practice without science are like a sailor who enters a ship without a helm or a compass, and who never can be certain whither he is going.
Leonardo da Vinci
Measurement Quote
When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers,you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind: It may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of Science. –William Thomson
Dimensions of Behavior
There are several different dimensions of a behavior. It is important to recognize these different dimensions when attempting to teach a new behavior or reduce an unwanted behavior so that you can create a plan for shaping the behavior and effectively assess progress. Generally you will work on shaping one dimension of a behavior at a time.
Frequency: The number of times a student engages in a given behavior with in an observation period.
Rate: Is a ration of frequency to time. For example: John blurted out 2 times per minute. Stacy made a squeaking noise 3 times per minute.
Duration: Is the measure of how long a student engages in a given behavior. Sally stayed on task for 3 minutes. Jason’s tantrum lasted for 5 minutes.
Latency: Is the amount of time between when the cue for a behavior is given and the behavior begins
Topography: Is what a behavior looks like
Intensity: Is the force with which a behavior occurs.
Locus: Is the location of a behavior.
And of course …Fluency: With fluency you are measuring the frequency that a behavior is performed accurately. Fluency is very important when determining mastery of a behavior.
Robots as Teachers
In this article in the NY Times the author discusses the use of robots in teaching. One example he gives is of a robot at USC teaching imitation to students with Autism.
Review: The Ziggurat Model
This book is wonderful for anyone making programing decisions or writing behavior intervention plans for students with Autism. It requires background knowledge and is not a ‘stand alone program.’ I would say that it is ideal for individuals that are already proficient in Functional Behavioral Analysis and a variety of interventions and supports for students with autism. Using this background knowledge it provides an neat framework for making programing decisions and addressing behavior problems.
The Ziggurat Model is a comprehensive model that can aide a multidisciplinary team in assessing and designing programing for students with autism. It is a framework not an intervention or teaching procedure. A team uses this framework to decide upon and develop interventions, supports and teaching procedures.
Much Like an IEP the Zigguragt model is a process. Ziggurat assesses a students strengths and needs in 5 domains that they present as a pyramid:
Much like Person Centered Planning, the assessment process involves a multidisciplinary team. Based on this assessment a plan is developed that addresses supports across the behavior chain (Antecedent, behavior and consequence) at each level. Those supports and Interventions may include strategies that you are familiar with such as Social Stories, Sensory Diets, Visual Supports etc.
A key component to the model is the need to assess and address the underlying characteristics of autism.
This book can be helpful in developing IEPs, Transition planning and social skills programing or regular instruction programming! It is applicable across a variety of ages and settings.
Pros: Great framework. If you buy it new it comes with 2 UCC checklists (assessments). It is written for students with HFA/ Aspergers. It is so rare to find quality material for this ‘high functioning group!!! This would make great material for training behavior tutors and special ed teachers!
Cons: May be a bit difficult for an Autism beginner. Requires background knowledge…If you are looking for a stand alone program this is not it.
Here is a link to a Ziggurat worksheet.
Rather than provide a in depth description here is a link to Amazon where you can “Look inside”:
Grouping for Social Skills Instruction & Activities
The debate goes on…. Is is better to group students heterogeneously or homogeneously for social skills instruction/activities? Many time I speak with parents and teacher that feel it is better to group students with role models so that they can observe and imitate appropriate behavior (heterogeneous). Others such as Gutstein (RDI) point to research that indicates homogeneous grouping allows students to develop socially because a more capable peer is not ‘carrying the relationship.
I would contend that from an ABA perspective, it is the wrong question all together. Instead, we need to ask a series of questions: What behavior or skill set are we working to develop? What is the student’s baseline? (How well and under what conditions are we seeing this behavior or skill set already?) What is the next step in teaching this behavior? Then finally, under what conditions/antecedents can I best elicit, support and reinforce the behavior? How can I achieve this in the least restrictive environment?
This is another example of using ABA as a principal that guides decision making and instruction in social skills intervention. The answer heterogeneous or homogeneous will arise from assessing the student’s present levels of performance, goals and anlysis of the task or behavior. Once again it comes down to the process!
The IEP Process
We’ve all been there. IEP meetings that just dont go smoothly because the participants cant seem to get on the same page. One major barrier to successful IEPs that I have seen is a misunderstanding of the IEP process. In IEP meetings I’ve witnessed both parents and teachers get upset because they feel like they are not being listened to: They want to talk about placement or services but some one else in the meeting insists on talking about goals.
An IEP or Individualized Education Plan is more than just a legal document: It is a process.
The first step in that process is to look at the student in his or her current state. This is called Present Levels of Performance (PLOP). PLOP looks at how a student is performing in various domains and then identifies the domains in which a student has unique needs. It is in these areas of unique need that the team will identify areas of growth.
After identifying the student PLOP and areas of unique need the team identifies goals and objectives to address these areas of need. In writing a goal it is very important to consider the student’s baseline and history of growth to determine where the bar should be set. (For more info see the Goals Posting)
Next, once the team is in agreement on the goals and objectives for the student they will begin to discuss Services. Services are put in place to help a student achieve their goals and objectives. When considering services the team is required to consider the least restrictive environment for the student. This generally means as close as they can get to general education (or in general education) while still enabling the learning of the student in question and other students.
I have only addressed 3 parts of the IEP here, because in my experience they are the parts that there is the most confusion over 
As you can see the IEP is more than a document it is a linear process! By following the process, the team is creating the most appropriate IEP for the student!
Autism as a Metaphor
I came across this article that was written back in 2005. It is about the trend to look to the classics and historic figures and diagnose autism in them. Short and enjoyable: Autism as a Metaphor
Chaining
Chaining is an effective strategy for teaching new skills. The premise of chaining is that you break down a complex task into smaller pieces and scaffold the teaching of those pieces sequentially. Today we will talk about 2 kinds of chaining Forward & Backwards.
In Forwards chaining you teach the first step of a task, when the student has mastered that step you teach the first step plus the second step, when they have mastered that you teach the 1st plus the 2nd plus the 3rd step and so on until the student has mastered the entire chain. You are teaching from A-Z like this:
Step 1: A
Step 2 : A+B
Step 3: A+B+C
Here is an example:
You are teaching johnny to make his breakfast. To do this you first teach him to get out the bowl. When he has mastered this you then have him get out the bowl and prompt him to get out the spoon. When he has mastered the sequence “get out the bowl, get out the spoon” unprompted you then have him get out the bowl, get out the spoon and you prompt him to get out the milk.
The thing that is important is only the first skill is taught in isolation. After that you are chaining on a new skill to the mastered skill.
Backward chaining is similar but instead you teach the last skill in the sequence first then add on the second to last skill…ect. In backwards chaining you are teaching the skill from Z-A like this:
Step 1: Z
Step 2: Y+Z
Step 3: X+Y+Z
If I were to teach Johnny to make his breakfast using backward chaining I would get every thing out then have him do the last step: pouring the milk in the cereal. When he has mastered this step I would then add the next to last step so he would pour the cereal, then pour the milk. I would continue to add behaviors until the student has learned the full sequence.
Chaining is a wonderful tool to teach new behaviors that will occur together such as tying shoes, washing hands, prepping food. Don’t be afraid to use other tools with chaining. You may want to use a visual schedule and reinforcement strategies to support the learning of new skills.
There a lot of good explanations of chaining on the web…just google it!
Review: The ABA Program Companion
The ABA Program Companion: Organizing Quality Programs for Children With Autism and PDD
3 stars
Overall the book is OK. The dilemma is this: The information in the book is really pretty basic, perfect for someone new to ABA programing. But!! It would be of concern to me that someone that is that new to ABA would be programing intervention. Amazon has a Look inside feature that you can preview the table of contents you can find it here.
So, why despite being so basic does this book still receive 3 stars?? I have found this book to be especially helpful for training paraprofessionals and other staff with limited experience with Autism! The clear organization and basic explanations are perfect for reaching out to individuals that are just starting out with our kiddos!
Think Before You Post
Its no secret that our kiddos love the computer. Today it has become essential to teach our students, especially older ones about on line safety. You can find a variety of resources on the web to assist in this. Here are afew short clips that I integrate into lessons!
Autism as a Selling Point
I recently reviewed an article with the student in one of my social skills classes on company’s who will only hire individuals with Autism. It was a kick in the pants! And sparked a very heated discussion! I couldnt find the exact article on line, but here are 2 others:
Consequences
In the ABCs of behavior the C stands for consequence. After a behavior occurs there are 4 ways to describe the effect of the consequence given.
| Positive= Something Applied | Negative=Something Removed | |
| Reinforcing= Increases Behavior | Something is given to the student which they like so they are more likely to engage in the behavior again.
Smile, high five, tickles, candy, money |
Something the student didn’t like is removed so they are more likely to engage in the behavior again.
Take away work, take away demands, make undesired noise or sensation stop |
| Punishing= Decreases Behavior | Something is given to the student which they do not like so they are less likely to engage in the behavior again.
Time out, detention, spanking |
Something the student liked is removed so they are less likely to engage in the behavior again.
Take away points, take away video time, take away freedom, take away candy |
Generally we first consider if the consequence is reinforcing or punishing. If a consequence is reinforcing the preceding behavior will continue or increase. If a consequence is punishing then the behavior will cease or decrease.
We only know if a consequence is reinforcing or punishing by looking at its effect. Commonly individuals give a consequence they believe to be punishing, like keeping a student in from lunch, and it turns out to be reinforcing. If you find your self saying “I gave him xyz consequence but he is still doing it…” This is one explanation. Another explanation is that whatever the student is gaining from the behavior is more reinforcing and thus worth the punishment. The same thing happens with reinforces. I may think that telling Johnny “Great job!” is reinforcing, but if he finds it embarrassing it may actually be acting as a punisher. This means that the whether a consequence in reinforcing or punishing is relative to the subject and circumstance!!!
In behavioral terms Positive and Negative refer to directionality not desirability!! In simple terms, they are indicating if you, the behavior modifier, are giving or taking something. If the consequence is positive, it is traveling from you to the subject. If it is negative something is being removed or taken away. So if I were arrested but behaving so well that the officer removed the handcuffs that were hurting me- That is negative reinforcement! Another example is if I see that a student is working well so I say” Johnny, you have done such a good job you don’t need to do the last 3 problems.” Negative punishment on the other hand is removing something desired such as recess or video game time, or taking away a toy.
The most important thing to remember about consequences is that they are relative to the subject and context!
S. Greenspan
For anyone who hasn’t heard, Stanley Greenspan recently passed away. Here is an article from the NY Times: Stanley Greenspan.
Book Review RDI
Relationship Development Intervention with Children, Adolescents and Adults
Definitely 5 stars!
This book provides activities based on the RDI approach. The approach is not really outlined in the book so if you are interested in the Model as opposed to activities you may want to check out Autism/Aspergers: Solving the Relationship Puzzle.
The book is broken down into the various levels and stages of RDI and provides activities to go along with each stage. At the back of the book there is an index by skill. There is also a rudimentary data tracking form.
The thing I really like about RDI is the focus on teaching students the importance of experience sharing and emotional referencing. There are some really great activities for this in the book!
Pro’s: Lots of great activities to address a variety of areas of need. Also, most of the activities are simple and don’t require too much set up or materials. I actually really like the activities for my ‘higher functioning’ kids. Finally, they are definitely not the typical activities that you find in other books
Con’s: Its pretty expensive. Buy a used version on Amazon or Ebay. I got mine for 10 bucks… worth every penny. For effective implementation you really should have a decent understanding of RDI….which means at the very least you would need to buy another book. Also, I have to admit while I really am a fan of the activities I do have a bit of an issue with the approach (developmental – not behavioral) and how much is charged for training and materials of the program in general.
Overall, this book is a great tool. It is full of great activities that you can implement immediately with students. RDI is the perfect compliment for more structured or skill based programs.
Goals and Objectives
I thought I would pull together some important things you should know about goals and objectives. I am assuming you already have a rough idea of how to write goals and objectives.
For a quick review a good goal will identify 1) Who will do 2) What 3) How well 4) Under what conditions 5) By when
These little buggers seem rather obvious but are somehow frequently forgotten
1) Its all about the data.
If you don’t have data, you don’t have any business writing a goal. First and foremost collect your data!!!
2) Start with a baseline.
Its nice that you would like your little johnny to count to 10 or to read at the 9th grade level…. but first you need to look at the data to see where little johnny is right now. If johnny cant say his numbers at all or is only read at the 2nd grade level your goal probably needs to be broken down in to smaller steps.
3) Make sure that baseline matches the goal!
I consistently see baselines that do not match the goal.
Wrong- Baseline: By 5/22/2010, Sally can decode at the first grade level with 80% accuracy independently.
Goal: By 5/22/2010, Sally will answer comprehension questions at the second grade level with 80% accuracy independently.
Decoding and comprehension may be related but they are not the same thing!
Right: Baseline: By 5/22/2010, Sally can decode at the first grade level with 80% accuracy independently.
Goal: By 5/22/2010, Sally will decode at the first grade level with 80% accuracy independently.
3) Consider pervious rates of learning.
Is Johnny a word wiz? Does the data show that he can master 10 new words a week? Great! Go ahead and write that goal for mastering 200 sight words. But if the data shows that Johnny is mastering 2 words a month then back that train up!!! Goals should be written with the student’s rate of learning in mind. remember that is the rate that the data shows he has been learning at-not the rate you would like him learning at!
4) Include conditions!
Are you prompting the student? Providing visual supports? Do you expect them to exhibit the skill or behavior across environments or only in one environment? It is important to delineate the conditions under which you expect the student to demonstrate a given behavior or skill.
Oh and did I mention DATA yet? Don’t forget Data is your friend it drives instruction and informs decision making!! Check out the Data post for tips on taking it, organizing it, presenting it.
Life After High School
” Transition” is a very scary word to many parents and educators. It is an area of considerable tension in IEP meetings. I have been told many times over that “we will cross that bridge when we come to it”
The fact is we need to start preparing students for transition at an early age. School is a very structured and supervised environment the ‘real’ world is not. Some of our students struggle even with in that system others ‘get good grades’ but success at academics does not equate to success on the job and managing the demands of independent living. Too often I hear parents say that their student cannot do chores, get a job, or take on any additional responsibility because they “need to focus on their school work.” These are the same students who when asked what they did last night they respond “played video games” or something to that nature.
Have your student start taking responsibility for his or her life. This means scheduling their own doctors/dentist/hair appointments, going grocery shopping, managing prescriptions, and above all…learning how to budget.
Michelle Garcia Winner has written a great 3 part series on transition on her blog
Narratives
Today I was working with my students on narrative language and thinking about how essential it is to social interaction. So what are narratives? Narratives are stories and when you think about it, we converse through stories. Conversions are stories of the past, present and future. We converse about our plans, hopes, dreams, fears and frustrations. In order to relay this information we need the proper vocabulary, organization, structure ect. Part of assessing a students social needs should include an assessment of their narrative language abilities.
Parenthood
There has been a recent influx of movies and TV shows with characters with aspergers. I recently stumbled across this show called Parenthood. It appears to be about the lives of 4 siblings. One of the siblings has a son who is newly diagnosed with the disorder. The show is just starting out so it will be interesting to see how it develops…
Review: Jarvis Clutch Social Spy
By Mel Levine, M.D.
Jarvis Clutch is a fun book targeted at high functioning middle school aged students. It reads as if it is co-written by a student, Jarvis, and his psychologist, Dr. Levine. Poor Jarvis doesn’t really want to be writing the book. It appears he has been having some difficulty in school and has been strongly encouraged to participate in this project. Jarvis and Dr. Levine take students through 5 chapters:
1 I’m Jarvis Clutch
2 Fitting in and Feeling Good About It
3 Seeming Right
4 Talking Right
5 Acting Right
While it is a narrative, and therefore language intensive, there are a number of good visuals and the text is well organized.
Pros: It is actually written for high functioning students which can be difficult to find. It is absolutely use-able for students with ADHD or other learning disabilities. I love the Social Spy theme since it is a strategy we often use, and one of the most important for students to learn.
Cons: It is better suited for students who are neurotypical but struggling socially than for students with HFA. If you are going to use it with students with HFA you will absolutely need to supplement it.
Simple “Accommodations” for Every Classroom
1. Provide a Sample
Providing a model/sample of the assignment, essay or project not only helps our SpEd kiddos but addresses a full 1/3 of the student population that are strong visual spatial learners. THIS IS HUGE!!!
2. Provide a Rubric
Don’t keep students guessing. Let them know exactly what you are looking for.
3. Use the Web
Provide notes and assignments on the web. The future is here people. Students like the internet and are comfortable with it. In college all of my course expectations and assignments were on line. Most teachers also posted notes and ppts.
4. Get them moving.
Use kinesthetic activities such as standing and sitting in response to questions, writing response on paper and holding it up, walkabouts and jigsaws.
5. Write it down
You know the saying.. “If it wasn’t written down, it didn’t happen.” Many students struggle with auditory processing. If you write it down and direct their attention to it you can save yourself some serious frustration.
6. Visualize
Close your eyes and picture….
7. Form a Relationship
Catch em’ being good. Can you imagine getting up every morning and going into a job you have failed at for the last 10 years- How motivated would you be? Many of these students have been struggling with school and relationships since preschool not to mention the craziness some of them are dealing with at home. Kind words and genuine praise go a long long way!
504 vs IEP
There are 2 different programs available to students with disabilities that are often confused or misunderstood; 504 plans and Individualized Education Plans (IEP).
What is 504?
504 is a civil rights law that protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination. It ensures equal access through the use of accommodations in the general education classroom.
What is an IEP?
An IEP is for students who qualify for special education under IDEA. There are much more specific requirements and assessments for students to qualify for an IEP. IEPs include not just accommodations but also potentially modifications, specialized programing, related services and goals and objectives.
What’s the difference?
First, it is important to understand that a student with a 504 plan is not in ‘special education’ whereas a student with an IEP is. The difference really should come down to the degree that the student’s disability effects their ability to benefit from school. Some students do not need specialized educational services, but instead really just need accommodations. Student’s can qualify for a 504 plan with a disability that affect “major life function” while for an IEP the disability must have a significant and direct impact on the student’s ability to learn. There fore, it is more difficult to qualify for an IEP than a 504. For some students, who can function in general education with accommodations, a 504 is more desirable because it does not carry the stigma of special education.