Familiarizing Students (and Staff! And Parents!) With a Core Vocabulary

I wanted to share some simple worksheets I created for students, staff, and parents to familiarize themselves a bit more with the core vocabulary on the students’ AAC devices. I recently had parent-teacher conferences and, with most of my students using AAC, I stressed that the student needs to use the device at home as well as at school.

After the parents protested by explaining that they didn’t need to use it at home because they can understand the student without it, I emphasized the importance of preparing them for the adult service world and that the student had the right to be understood by more people! I also appealed to the parents’ hearts, explaining that I knew without a doubt that all of the students had more to say than they were currently able to with their vocalizations and/or devices. We can all improve!

After hearing that, all parents agreed that they need to incorporate the AAC device more at home. The biggest concern, however, was that the parent had no idea how to use the device or where anything was. I had one parent explain that when he is trying to show his son where an item is, he always just opened the keyboard and typed the word out. This was frustrating to the student, who had poor spelling ability, and prevented the parent from learning to navigate the vocabulary.

I showed the parents the ‘Find Word’ feature that is available in many of the WordPower vocabularies and also assured the parents that you need to learn how the vocabularies are set up and, when you get the gist of the organization method, it will get a lot easier!

I do a lot of activities in the classroom to help students and staff better know their way around their core vocabularies. These activities cannot stand in isolation—students will also need to be explicitly taught through modeling and other structured activities what the words mean and how to use them functionally. However, they do meet the goal of helping people learn where to find words quickly and how the system is organized. Whenever I complete activities like these in the classroom, I send them home as “homework” for parents to complete as well!

These worksheets are organized as scavenger hunts. The first scavenger hunt is focused on categories and the second is focused more on simple grammar. You can download the worksheets in PDF format here: AAC scavenger hunts

Happy hunting!

Classroom Environment for Students with Autism and Other Low-Incidence Disabilities Part Two: One Year Later

New school year, new students, new goals. My classroom structure and schedule has changed this year as students and their needs change. I often stop and reflect on what I am doing: Am I maintaining the status quo because it is easier and within my comfort zone, or am I maintaining the status quo because it continues to meet student needs?

When I asked myself that question as I set up for the year, I realized that maintaining the status quo in its entirety would be entirely for the benefit of my assistants and me. I decided to make some changes in order to better meet student needs.

The primary reason that I made the changes that I will describe is that I am reacting to an influx of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users. To meet their communication and literacy goals, I have to incorporate many more language exercises. I have tried my best to strike a balance between independence and providing adequate communication opportunities. Social group activities have also been incorporated in order to teach and practice social skills and social communication.

Another reason for the change is that my school started a Digital Learning Initiative. Each student in the building received a Chromebook and I wanted to incorporate the technology meaningfully for my students.

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Morning Meeting:

In order to facilitate communication and practice conversational turn-taking, we have a morning meeting at the beginning of each school day.

We start with a turn-taking conversational exchange. I started doing a new question each day, but it quickly became obvious that we needed much more repetition. Now we are practicing the same question for an entire week. This gives us an opportunity to practice other skills that are relevant to appropriate conversation, such as facing your communication partner and using appropriate volume.

Next, each student ‘checks in.’ We are currently using a version of the Zones of Regulation by Leah Kuypers. Each student and staff member ‘checks in’ by describing how they are feeling and what “zone” they are in. Staff members model that we are not always in the “green zone” and that is A-OK by placing themselves in other zones and describing why they are feeling that way.

After we check in, we discuss any special activities that are happening that day. These can include students who are going to an off-campus job, community trips, holidays, student or staff special family events, etc. We usually have at least 3-4 ‘special’ things happening on a daily basis. Students are encouraged to share their own news using their devices through sentence starters.

Schedules:

Schedules look a lot different this year. All students are currently using a checklist-style homeroom schedule to navigate their homeroom activities. Homeroom activities include Chromebook tasks such as typing personal information into Google Forms or spending time on a website working on academic skills.

Most students access their daily activity schedule on their Chromebook. Some students type their own schedule using the application Wunderlist. Non-readers use the extension Read & Write by Google to read the next activity to them.

Other students access their schedules on GoVizzle.com. The idea of this website is great, but there are some glitches on the Chromebook. If the student closes the lid or the Chromebook goes to ‘sleep,’ then the student needs to log in all over again the schedule starts all the way back at the top. That being said, it is still the best web-based picture scheduler that I have found up to this point. Students are able to manipulate it independently when it is working well!

Off-Campus Jobs

In previous years, I have added off-campus jobs on to students’ daily schedules. This year, I left them off and instead I am discussing them during the ‘anything special’ portion of Homeroom. I am also assigning a time to those activities. This way, students practice being mindful of the actual time on the clock (or period in the school day) rather than simply following the sequence of activities on their schedule. This also gives me more freedom throughout the day to let one activity go long or cut another one short without it throwing off the schedule of students who have several time-dependent activities.

It also gives students practice with leaving activities in the middle when necessary. Some students with autism find it very difficult to disengage from something they are working on without completing it. Unfortunately, however, this is a fact of life! Practicing this every once in a while will help the student cope with these unavoidable schedule changes.

Afternoon Meeting

At the end of the day, we come together again for our afternoon meeting. Students complete the Daily Buzz sheet from the core materials on the Unique Learning System. This sheet includes cloze sentences for what the student ate for lunch, jobs the student accomplished, and how the day was overall. It also gives students the opportunity to use describing activities to rate different parts of their day.

After the Daily Buzz sheet, we discuss how each student did using the Class Dojo. We discuss different pro-social and anti-social behaviors that we saw during the day, emphasizing the positives.

If a student has had an especially wonderful day, I offer them a treat. If the whole class has done well, then we play a favorite dance song and have a dance party!

More Communication and Social Activities!

Another change has been a major increase in communication and social group activities! We have been doing AAC scavenger hunts, playing Tic Tac Talk, practicing core words and lots more to help our AAC users develop their communication skills. I am hoping to focus on these activities in another post. If you want to check out some activities right now, I recommend the blog over at http://praacticalaac.org/ . Their blog is amazing!

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Like what you see? Comments, questions, or suggestions? Leave them in a comment!

Miss Part One? Check it out here.

Attributes Game for AAC users

Many of my students use AAC devices in order to communicate and require a lot of practice to extend their sentence length and add attributes to their vocabulary. Today we played a game that required students to practice using their attributes in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. This game would work well with a small group or while working 1:1 with an AAC user.

I created the game in Boardmaker Studio. If you have access to Boardmaker, you can download the interactive project here.

Students must describe which button they would like pushed using at least two attributes. Each button is different from the others, but alike enough to another that students must take care to use at least two attributes. Each button is linked to a Youtube video that is easily customizable to your students by editing the action.

Each box has a design or pattern that is different from, but similar to, other boxes.

I printed the array out for students to use while creating their sentences and also had students cross out each button as we pressed it to avoid repeats.

If you don’t have access to Boardmaker, you could print out the array and manually open Youtube for the video of your choice. AAC game attributes

Conversation Cards

For a student with autism, conversations are hard. For a student with autism who uses an AAC device, they are even harder. For that reason, I created a deck of twenty conversation cards. I hope that this is the first of several decks that I will create.

The free download is here. They are printable and the fronts and backs of the cards print separately. I recommend mounting the fronts on card stock, cutting them out, and then applying the backs separately. They don’t match up correctly if you try glue the pages back-to-back. I laminated mine and that works well!

The cards are divided into different categories: giving compliments, what questions, where questions, when questions, and who questions. The ‘scripts’ are color coded to indicate when it is the other person’s turn to speak. Each card has two sides.

Communicator A follows the green text. Communicator B uses the red text to respond. He/she may choose one of the options on the card to respond or come up with his/her own answer.

Communicator A responds to B’s after school plans with a comment. No text is presented with the picture choices to avoid echolalic responses.

These cards are good practice for students who struggle with reciprocal conversation. I introduce them 1:1 and then use them at times when typical students would engage in conversations (i.e. eating a meal in the community, leisure times, etc.).

They are ideal for low-level readers and students who use AAC with a core vocabulary. When students need to choose an answer, picture supports are provided without text so students must practice word retrieval and are less likely to just read or type out the first or last choice.

Communicator A (green) asks Communicator B (red) about his favorite place to eat.

Here, communicator A will need to choose their response based on B’s opinion.

The free download is a PDF file. If you would prefer to be able to edit the file and you have access to BoardMaker software, leave a comment and I’ll send you the project file!

An idea that I have seen but haven’t tried is to have a conversation box. You can place it in the middle of the table during snack or lunch and have students pick a card to talk with a classmate. After he is done, he can put the card in the slot in the box!

Happy conversing!

Addressing Annoying Behavior in the Classroom

This year I don’t have to deal with too many aggressive behaviors. This is a relief, although I realize that aggression is often part of the job when you teach students with classic autism. This year, the behavior that I have to manage is less aggressive and more annoying.

Now, sit down and try to write a social story about how you shouldn’t be annoying. You can’t. It’s impossible. There are an infinite number of ways to annoy anyone and the things that tickle the “I’m annoyed” center in the brain are different for different people.

I have one student in particular in mind as I write this post (I’ll call him Brian), and he breaks my heart. He breaks my heart because Brian can be oh-so-annoying but he is also the most social kid in my class. He adores his classmates and his typical peers and he wants so badly to have friends. Unfortunately, his social skills are atrocious.

He believes that if he is having fun, then everyone else is having fun. If he is laughing, then the other person must be enjoying the activity just as much as he is. As Brian kicks the bathroom door, he looks around at his peer as he laughs hysterically as if to say, ‘Aren’t we all having a blast?’. He presses the “Stop” button every chance he gets on another student’s AAC device because that student laughed. Once. In September.

These behaviors are attention-seeking in nature but he is genuine in his effort to establish a connection with peers and staff members. This makes it all the more difficult to see Brian continually face negative consequences (time outs, etc.) for these social efforts. It doesn’t seem to be true that he enjoys negative attention just as much as positive attention. In fact, he will often shut down for hours if he feels like he is ‘in trouble.’ He just doesn’t know the rules for establishing positive social connections.

I knew that I was missing an important piece in teaching this student to be more positively social, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Most of my students have classic autism and managing an excess of social enthusiasm isn’t a common problem of mine.

Again, I had already attempted to write a social story about how Brian shouldn’t be annoying, and hadn’t had much luck. ‘Annoying’ is too hard to clearly define and is much too negative. My wheels were still spinning with ideas to shape Brian’s behavior when I reached my Structured Teaching PLC meeting.

At the meeting, two of my coworkers, Becky (@edgeSLP) and Charity, shared a strategy they had successfully implemented with other students. They had broken down Michelle Garcia Winner’s work in Think Social (2005) in order to teach students with moderate-significant cognitive impairments how their behavior affects others.

After listening to an overview of how Becky and Charity implemented a system with some of their students, I used their ideas and inspiration to complete the following:

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1. Identify behaviors—For about a week, I kept a chart on the door to our classroom with two columns labeled ‘Stop’ and ‘Go.’ As we moved through our regular days, classroom staff (paraprofessionals, related service staff, etc.) filled the chart with behaviors we wanted to see stop and other behaviors we wanted to see more of. For one example, with Brian we wanted to see Brian do less door-slamming and more door-holding for other people. After the week was up, we had a significant list of things we wanted Brian to stop and other behaviors we wanted to see more of. It seemed to me that a week was a good length of time to identify behaviors—remember, most of these behaviors weren’t significant enough to warrant a true functional behavior assessment. They were just things that were irritating and were harder to pin down.
2. Condense behaviors—After we collaboratively created a list of ‘Stop’ and ‘Go’ behaviors, I condensed them down by grouping similar behaviors together and scrapping the behaviors that I didn’t think were very important or I thought would be impossible to extinguish. For example, touching/grabbing things that didn’t belong to the student were defined as one behavior rather than identifying each thing the student touched/grabbed. I scrapped the behavior of Brian approaching kids he doesn’t know in the hallway and making a funny face—it is too difficult to control how peers react (they mostly laugh, thus reinforcing the behavior) and I didn’t think we would be successful with stopping that one.
3. Sort Behaviors (Stop and Go)—Next, I used Boardmaker software to create an activity in which Brian sorted his behaviors into Stop and Go categories. I worked 1:1 with him during this activity, describing each behavior as we worked. Brian did fairly well the first time, but made 1-2 errors. We worked on this task together several times until he had mastered sorting the behaviors into ‘Stop’ and ‘Go’ categories.
   

   Sorting ‘stop’ and ‘go’ behaviors. Created using Boardmaker software.

4. Create contingency maps—Once Brian understood the language and symbols I was using to describe the behaviors, I worked 1:1 with him to create contingency maps addressing the behaviors. I always tried to work on both a Stop map and a Go map during one session, and some maps addressed several related behaviors. I wanted Brian to see that were things that bothered others but there are just as many alternatives that would make other people happy and want to spend more time with him. During these sessions, Brian would occasionally get pretty down on himself. I could tell that it caused him some distress to see that some of his actions might make other people feel sad or not want to spend time with him.
5. Video model the contingency maps—Optional. I’m not doing this with Brian, but I can see how this would be a valuable teaching tool for students with autism.
6. Use teachable moments—At every opportunity, label the behavior, review the maps, and emphasize how others are feeling at those moments. Have typical peers and staff members exaggerate their reactions so their emotions are clear to the student. Review the contingency map if time/space allows. Sometimes Brian needs to take five minutes alone if he feels like he is being particularly hilarious in order to calm down before the review of the contingency map becomes meaningful. We emphasize to Brian that this is not a punishment, but he just needs to calm his body down so he is ready to listen and learn.

I have already seen positive changes in Brian’s behavior after implementing these strategies. In fact, Brian came in this morning and independently studied his behavior maps before getting started on his morning work. The maps are organized in a binder that travels with Brian throughout his day. We are praising the heck out of him whenever he does one of his ‘Go’ behaviors and choosing to teach rather than reprimand when he uses a ‘Stop’ behavior.

This has taken a lot of time, but I think overall it has been well worth it. I think we are addressing the root of his social problems rather than making him follow rules he doesn’t understand and that only apply in the classroom setting.

Thanks for reading! Please share other strategies you have used to help address student behavior that is related to social deficits!

A Somewhat Negative Post on the Importance of Staying Positive in the Classroom

It creeps in like this thing that lives in my garage (gross, right?) and nests among the pencils and data sheets. It lingers in interactions with students and staff members, often without someone consciously noticing. It has the power to hurt feelings, change a mood, or even create a self-fulfilling cycle of poor behavior and lack of motivation.

I’m actually a pretty nice guy.

It’s negativity.

I’ve noticed it more and more in my interactions with staff members. It usually involves criticizing something or someone that is outside of our control and I am just as much at fault as anyone else. It started mid-November, but I assumed that Thanksgiving and Winter break would give us all the distance we needed to improve our mood.

It didn’t work, and since break I have noticed it more in the classroom. As educators, we have to make this unacceptable. Even seemingly innocuous comments like, “He seems a little ‘off’ today” or “She doesn’t want to work” can change the attitudes of other staff members to that child as well as the child himself.

Imagine walking into a team meeting and you hear your supervisor whisper to a colleague, “So-and-so doesn’t seem to have any good ideas today.” Anyone would immediately deflate, or at the very least be taken aback. These types of comments, even if made innocently, are hurtful!

Other comments are even less innocent. Criticizing a student for whining when the student is speaking in his regular unfortunately-whiney-sounding voice or accusing a student of being lazy because he can’t control his scripting behavior is cruel. Not only are you exploiting weaknesses in students who need all the confidence that they can get, but the comments also reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the students disabilities.

I believe that most of our students with significant disabilities hear and understand much more than we give them credit for. I have to believe this. There is no other choice. When you hear stories of students with classic autism who find their voice and suddenly are able to communicate, you have to believe. When you read a story in the news about how a man ‘woke up’ after 12 years in a vegetative state yet remembers everything, you have to believe.

There is no doubt that these stories can be (and probably are) sensationalized, but the point remains. It is impossible to tell whether a person is receiving messages if he/she does not have a consistent way to respond. So err on the side of caution. Be kind, be discreet, and be positive.

Mid-Year Check-up

Sometimes, as the school year starts rolling, you can find yourself getting stuck in routines rather than continuously improving your practice. I find that a mid-year check-up, akin to getting a physical, is helpful in order to break up the monotony and get ‘back on track’ after winter break! Below is my check-up–Think about your own answers and use them to make a few changes during the second part of the school year! I think you will be glad you did.

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What is going RIGHT? The data collection piece for independent work is going very well. I am also pleased with the amount of 1:1 time that I get with each student per day. I had to make a few adjustments when a new student moved in, but I still get a substantial amount of 1:1 time with each student every week.

What definitely NEEDS to be ‘fixed’? I’m not sure how meaningful reading group always is. I need to get in to the books earlier so I can script comments and questions for students/assistants to use when interacting with text. This way, students will be able to work more on communication goals at this station. Additionally, I can use other sources to supplement the reading material from the Unique Learning System to make sure it is relevant to my students.

Are there any easy fixes that you can make? Now is the time! I need to update the computer schedule. One student is never getting to his email because he is on a job site on the day/time that it is on his schedule. Another student received a new computer program mid-year, and the program has yet to make it on the computer schedule. These are easy fixes to make!

Have you been doing anything the SAME for all students? Warning! Warning! I had very similar schedules for all students because each student could access it with independence. I neglected to recognize that a few students are ready for an ‘upgrade’ to a more advanced style schedule now that they are excellent readers (and, more importantly, comprehenders) of schedule words. Another important reason to ‘upgrade’ to written schedules is because they are easier to make and will be more likely to be used once the student leaves the high school. I will have two students transition to written schedules.

Have you been doing anything individually for each student that can be streamlined? I have been making individual data sheets for each student. I need to keep thinking about whether or not I can make effective data sheets that can be used more generally. I try to design my data sheets very carefully to allow for ease of data collection. Most, if not all, data sheets consist of filling in a blank or two and then circling criteria or writing pluses/minuses. A little more work on the front end, even if it means doing them individually, might be worth the time and effort it saves with routine data collection.

Assess your schedule for ‘regular classroom maintenance.’ Does anything need to be changed? I need to update some of the computer programs more regularly. Right now it is on my schedule to update each program each week, but this is often the first thing that falls through the cracks as I get busier. I need to make this more of a priority.

Does anything need to be moved/repaired/replaced? Front row microphones haven’t worked all year, one of the netbooks won’t connect to the internet, reinforcers in Discrete Trial Trainer aren’t working properly, and the cords behind my computers look straight from a National Lampoon movie.  I can handle some of these, and I need to request that others in the building handle the rest. All are somewhat easy fixes!

How are students doing in unstructured times? What can you do to help? Students have been doing fairly well in their lunch period. All students have been eating in the cafeteria with typical students—a fairly big deal when you realize how busy and chaotic the cafeteria can be. Some students struggle behaviorally in PE, but I hesitate to intervene here because the PE teacher typically likes to work through these issues herself.

I intentionally unstructured a chunk of time in the morning, between unloading the buses and starting our homeroom routine in order to work on independent leisure skills. Some students have embraced it, but one particular student is still really struggling. He constantly goes to staff members for attention or bothers other students rather than interacting with a leisure activity. He is a really social kid and would rather hang out with others than play by himself—unfortunately his social skills are very poor and it usually looks like he is terrorizing others rather than attempting to be friendly. I need to find more motivating independent leisure activities for him as well as teach him more appropriate ways to be a good friend to other students.

What is nagging at you that you have no control over? Now is the time to let it go! There are a few school staff members that really dote on our students and truly enjoy them—but tend to treat them like babies rather than the high school-ers that they are. This usually happens in the hallways or in the cafeteria—and I have no control over it! Second semester, I will let it go!

Are you taking care of yourself outside of work? What do you do that you enjoy? Can you make room in your schedule for more activities you enjoy? I generally take pretty good care of myself. I work out daily—usually running with my dog or playing basketball. I also enjoy reading, playing guitar, cooking, hiking, and blogging. Now that I have started coaching basketball, I realize that I haven’t made as much time for some of these things as I could. Second semester, I will make choices to read or practice the guitar more often, instead of filling spare moments with TV or addictive phone apps (darn you, Candy Crush Saga). I also have been thinking about writing a novel—who knows if I could, but I would like to make time to try!

The TEACCH Transition Assessment Profile

On Friday, I went to a phenomenal training. It was at a facility called Have Dreams in Evanston, IL. I have been to several trainings facilitated by the staff at Have Dreams, and every single one has been extremely valuable. I always leave these trainings excited to implement a fresh set of ideas and activities into my classroom.

An added positive of the trainings at Have Dreams is that the staff is cognizant and respectful to the needs of people with autism. They aren’t trying to cure autism: Rather, they are trying to provide a bridge between the neuro-typical worlds and people with autism who are struggling to live in it.

The training was an unofficial run-down on the TEACCH Transition Assessment Profile (TTAP). If you teach high school students with developmental disabilities, you know that there are few meaningful assessments for students with autism in the age range of 14-22.

The TTAP includes scales from three different settings: home, work/school, and from the test itself. Each scale covers items from six different areas: vocational skills, vocational behavior, independent functioning, leisure skills, functional communication, and interpersonal behavior.

After introducing these different areas, the trainer made an interesting point: People with significant cognitive disabilities arenot unemployed or fired because they lacked enough academic skills. Instead, individuals get fired due to poor interpersonal communication or behavioral difficulties/aggression. Having had several students get fired from jobs, I knew he was exactly right!

As a teacher, this was something I knew from experience, but it was nevertheless an eye-opening point. I need to spend more time on pro-social, positive behavior and less time on increasing students’ reading levels or math skills. Unfortunately, this is often in direct contradiction with parent wishes, so it is important to start to have honest conversations about post-secondary opportunities and expectations earlier in their high school careers. Using this test when a student enters high school will be a good jumping-off point for that conversation.

The test itself includes different items that are measured on a scale of pass, emerge, or fail. Scoring criteria to choose pass, emerge, or fail are included in the test manual. Specific test items include things such as telling time, following picture directions, working without supervision, working through an office distraction, and demonstrating appropriate eating habits.

We covered both positives and negatives of the assessment during the training. A negative is that the test costs money. A full kit costs almost $500, although many of the materials can be teacher-made with the right mix of creativity and motivation. You can order the test here: http://teacch.com/publications/teacch-transition-assessment-profile-ttap-kit-and-manuals.

If you live in the Chicago area and you are interested in attending a training session at Have Dreams, you should definitely do so! You can find out more information about their training opportunities here: http://havedreams.org/ . I recommend starting with the TAP 1 – Basic Elements of Structured Teaching training.

I can tell when a training is good because I leave with a head full of ideas that I want to implement right away! Here are a just a few of the things that inspired me during this last training session.

The front of this card says “Chill,” and the back has cues for the student to use to help self-soothe and come back to the group.

Directions for a student with autism to follow to complete a sanitizing job. I love the pictures and how each one goes top to bottom, with a check box on the right for the student to check the shelf off.

Social story on knocking before you enter the bathroom, even if you are trying to complete a job.

Visual cues to help students remember to use their manners!

And, last but not least… My favorite!

This is a ‘conversation box.’ Take any box and cover it with a solid duct tape. Add library pockets around the outside and a slit on the top. Each library pocket contains a question or a conversation starter, with choices to answer the question or comment on the back. Students can answer independently or use the choices on the back as a support. When everyone has answered the question, drop it in the slit on the top and move on to the next one! Make sure that you can open either the top or the bottom to get the cards out when you are done!

Student Schedules: An Overview

After you have built your master schedule and set up your classroom, you will need to figure out a way for the students to use a schedule to navigate his/her day. Remember that schedules are not a one-size-fits-all item—different students may need to access different types of schedule.

The goal of the schedule is to inform students about the different areas they will visit during that day. Once the student is in that area, the visual structure of the area and a mini-schedule/task list should give students more specific instruction on what they should be doing. For example, if a student’s schedule says ‘reading group,’ the student should know to go to the table in the back where reading group always is. Once there, the instructor should have some sort of visual showing the student exactly what he/she will complete in reading group for that day.

Some students can handle seeing the schedule for their entire day all at once. Other students need the schedule broken down into chunks—morning and afternoon, two or three items at a time followed by a preferred activity—it all depends on how much the student can handle at one time. I have had students who tend to perseverate on certain things if the activity is on their schedule, even if it isn’t until the very end of the day. For those students, breaking the schedule down in to chunks makes sense.

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Different Types of Schedule

I have used different types of schedules. These are all low-tech versions. There are many great high-tech options at this point, but schedules are so important to some of my students that I find the low-tech versions to be more reliable (they never run out of batteries and they never crash). Additionally, many of my students struggle with using more than one application at a time and already rely on their device for communication.

These types of schedules are arranged from most concrete to most abstract. Make sure that the student is accessing a schedule that is at their level of mastery rather than at their instructional level. Students should be able to understand their schedule independently, even when anxious or frustrated.

1. Object schedule-use a small object to represent an area of the classroom or building. For example, a spoon could indicate that it is time to go to the cafeteria, while an old wireless mouse could indicate that it is time for computer. These are great for students with vision impairments.
2. Large pictures with small text-Pictures are the predominant feature on these schedule pieces, although a small line of text should be present to expose students with everyday words.
3. Small pictures, larger text-Shrink text so it is the same size or larger than the picture to emphasize the word shape and encourage reading.
4. Large icons with small text-Use an icon from Boardmaker, Symbolstix, etc. to represent an area of the building/classroom with small text.
5. Small icon, larger text
6. Text only—for students who have demonstrated mastery of all words that might be used on a classroom schedule. Don’t give a text only schedule to a student just because they can read all of the words—make sure that the student has also demonstrated mastery of what those words mean.

Some students will be able to look at their schedule and move to the correct location. Others may need a ‘time for ___________’ section and a ‘finished’ envelope. Still others may need to cross out items on their schedule as they go. Students who are beginning to use a schedule or who are easily distracted may need to carry the schedule piece/object to the location—if that is the case, you should have a spot to match the piece to or deposit the object.

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How do I get students back to their schedules?

After you create a schedule, you still need to figure out how students should know when it is time to check the schedule. This can be individualized to students, but you also need to think about the best method for your classroom as a whole.

For example, if each student has their own areas for most items on their schedule and you have plenty of staff support, you have the luxury of being self-paced. However, if you have many shared locations, staff is a little tight, or you are at the mercy of a bell schedule, you will probably need to rely on a timer to keep everyone on the same page.

Here are a few methods that I have used to get students back to their schedules:

• A card to indicate that it is time to check schedule-I usually use a computer print-out of the student’s first name to work on name recognition. Teach the student to travel to the schedule when handed his name, match the card to his schedule (name to name match), check his schedule, and travel to the next location. Alternatively, you can place the card at the end of his mini-schedule at the previous activity if you have the resources to be self-paced. The student will finish his/her work at a station, pick up the ‘check schedule’ card, and travel to his/her schedule.
• A tone/timer-I use this most often to keep everyone on pace in the classroom. You will need to teach students to respond to the tone by either prompting from behind or pairing the ‘check schedule’ card with the tone for a period of time.
• Rarely, I have a student who is so prompt dependent that I try to fade out both the check schedule card and the timer. I teach this student to look for cues in the environment that indicate that it is time to check his schedule (i.e. everyone else is checking the schedule, everyone else is eating snack, etc.)
  

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Important things to remember

• Students should be involved in making their schedule in some way. This can be achieved by having students physically construct the schedule using a template and Velcro pieces, students could choose the order of items on their schedule, they could type their schedule, etc.
• Deviations from the students’ schedules should be done in a way that is fair to them. It is not correct that a student with classic autism needs to ‘learn’ to deal with things when they don’t go according to plan. This is unfair and disrespectful, tantamount to saying that a student with cerebral palsy needs to ‘learn’ to walk like a typical person! Instead, present changes from the schedule in a routine way (I use a ‘surprise’ card) and practice the surprises from time to time in a way that is tolerable and even enjoyable for the student. For example, I often deviate from our classroom schedule for a ‘surprise’ trip to a 7-eleven for a piece of candy or for a ‘surprise’ clip from a favorite movie. If you know of a change in the schedule in advance, dialogue with the student about the change and sit together while you change the schedule. Indicate to them how their day will be different. Rehearse the new schedule with the student several times, up to the point where his routine returns to ‘normal.’
  

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Schedules are a crucial tool for students with classic autism. Teaching a student to independently follow a schedule can lead to increased independent living skills and even employment opportunities! An added side-benefit is that detailed classroom schedules help all adults in the classroom know where specific students are supposed to be—think about how much time and stress that will save you in the classroom!

A Little Thanks

I didn’t write a blog post last week. I spent most of my week feeling like I was being pulled in approximately a billion different directions.

Six directions rounds up to approximately a billion.

During my ‘down time,’ I was running basketball practice, walking the dog, or engaging in a number of coping strategies, sometimes simultaneously.

Drawing size of coping strategy does not correspond to frequency of use.

I felt preoccupied as I left the house on Thursday morning. I was heading to a meeting with administrators and our district attorney to prepare for a meeting with a litigious family on Friday. As I tossed my bag in the car, I should have noticed the warning signs of dim overhead lights right away.

However, it took a turn of the key to realize the truth: This car wasn’t going anywhere. Later, AAA would tow the car to a shop, where mechanics would confirm my real bad suspicions.

Luckily, my father was available to Uber me to work on Thursday and Friday. This led to exciting conversations about game theory in economics and sports en route to school, a welcome distraction from fretting about meetings.

The meeting on Friday was a long one—3.5 hours—and much of the time I felt like my integrity and competency as a special educator was being targeted. I did my best to maintain calm, speak factually, refer to data, and keep in mind that the lawyer was just doing his job like I was trying to do mine. Our district team was supportive and (for the most part) united, and this was very helpful.

It was exhausting. We gave a little, and we got a little. Like is often true when lawyers get involved in education, much money was spent for questionable gain.

After the meeting, I heard from several higher-ups that I handled myself well. Their kind words of thanks and appreciation were enough to make much of the strife from the whole ordeal melt away.

It’s funny how much a kind comment or a note of appreciation can help when you are going through a struggle, professionally or otherwise. And what an appropriate time of year to notice it!

In the days and weeks ahead, I am going to put forth extra effort to let students and colleagues know when I appreciate them. This week was a reminder of how far a little ‘thanks’ can go.

That wasn’t all I needed after this week, though. A few days off for the holiday will go a long way!