Socially Savvy: Working With Students with Autism
Presenters:
Nancy Newton, Content Specialist LIP Programs
Kathy Bonds, Content Specialist Specialized Support
Sarah Cato, Program Specialist LIP Programs
Jennifer Sewell, Behavior Specialist
Nikki Braddick, Program Specialist
https://bit.ly/3Qx4L5d
How excited are you to be in this session?
5 = Oh mylanta, NO! Just NO! I want to be in my classroom getting ready for my students. Why do we have to do this all day? Don’t these people know how much work I have to do???
4 = Not. Excited. Tortured, maybe. I don’t expect my students to sit all day, why do we have to?
3 = Urgh, I don’t want to be here, but I guess learning about helping my students with social skills is better than other offerings
2 = I am pretty excited, I have seen that my students need support
1 = I could not be more excited! I have been wanting something like this to use with my students, thank you for teaching this!
Why should we teach social skills?
You tell us!
Let’s talk about the why…
We don’t like it when our students exhibit aggressive, destructive or self-harm behaviors (for the student’s sake), but we also believe these behaviors are rooted in difficulties connected to communication, social understanding and emotional regulation. We strive to be present and supportive during these struggles because our students deserve to be respected, listened to, believed, cared for, & taught to manage their emotions in a safe and productive way.
Behavior principles impact social skills
A = antecedent
A student asks me to play
B = Behavior
I walk away
C = Consequence
Student probably will not ask me to play again
I tell the kid to stop talking to me and leave me alone.
Student yells at me, hits me, or tells a teacher and I go to AB
I say, “That sounds fun! What are we playing?
We play togher and have fun
The Incredible 5-Point Scale 2nd Edition- Revised�Written by: Keri Dunn Buron & Mitzi Curtis
This book will help you to understand social & emotional concepts by breaking ideas into parts.
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better”
Introduction
01
If a child cannot regulate his/her emotions they are likely to exhibit unpleasant or aggressive behavior when frustrated. These challenging responses can be upsetting for families, teachers, and or peers. This is a SERIOUS quality of life issue and a barrier to successful employment.
Using the Scale
02
We Teach Addition in Math
We Teach Nouns and Verbs in Reading
We teach about Cells in Science
We punish behavior
Anxiety Curve Scale
03
Benefit of Using the Anxiety Curve Scale is that it can increase the understanding & visually illustrates the concepts involved with a loss of emotional control. Helps to create effective & proactive teaching plans for critical skills
Example - pg 13
The Curve is an effective way of breaking down the anxiety cycle and bring focus to early signs of stress.
Luke Case Study pg 15
Original Scales - pgs 17-76
04
When Voice Gets Too Big
When Words Hurt
Touching & Talking
The Obsessional Index
When I go Out
Home Scale
Meeting and Greeting Others
Tell It Like It Is
Monitoring Anxiety
Control This!
What I Really Meant was…
Emily’s Anxiety Curve
Meagan’s Touching Scale
Voice Volume
I’m Afraid I’m Going To Lose Control
Understanding My Feelings
What am I saying?
Tips for Creating a Scale
The exceptional Pooja Kelm, School Psychologist, LSSP used the 5 point scale for a student who had a chronic pain condition. The scale can be used with a variety of emotions and situations.
Scale Ideas - pg 7
ACTIVITY: Create a Scale
Scales for those with AU or Significant Disability (pg 77)
05
Behavior influences Behavior
“You need to behave” means nothing when you don’t understand “behave” - Model, use visuals, create stories, role-play, reward students for using strategies
Concrete Activity Related Scales (pg 78-79)
Opinion/Self-Advocacy pgs 89-92
Runners pg 95
Senses (school & work place) pg 97
When working with Littles…
Goals & Objectives related to Use of Scale for IEP’s
06
Review Examples on pages 105-110
Socially Savvy:
An Assessment and Curriculum Guide for Young Children
By James T. Ellis and Christine Almeida
The Incredible 5-Point Scale 2nd Edition- Revised�Written by: Keri Dunn Buron & Mitzi Curtis
This book provides an assessment and tracking tool and a guide for interventions
Chapter 1 | The Socially Savvy Checklist |
Chapter 2 | Description of Skills |
Chapter 3 | Sample IEP Objectives |
Chapter 4 | Teaching Strategies |
Chapter 5 | Activities |
Chapter 6 | Assessment and Data Collection |
01
7 general areas
A structured way to determine strengths and areas most in need of intervention
Skills are generally considered to present in a progressive order but this is not necessarily the case for all skills
How to conduct an observation
Choose your setting and the length you plan on observing.
Choose your area(s) of observation
Rating system:
Checklist Completion
Any person with firsthand experience and understanding of a child’s overall social functioning can complete the Socially Savvy Checklist. This includes teachers. The evaluator should observe the child in a social setting for at least a two week period and ratings should be based on observations of the child in this environment.
Checklist Summary Report
This is used to prioritize specific skills most in need of intervention.
This checklist can be repeated but prior observations should not be deleted. New information should be added.
Teaching Strategies
04
Activities
for Teaching Social Skills
05
Activity 11 Simon Says (joint attending; social play; social language; classroom/ group behavior)
Activity 17 Going to the Moon (social play, self-regulation; classroom/ group behavior)
Activity 23 Spider Web Questions (joint attending; social language)
Activity 44 Waiting Book (self-regulation; classroom/ group behavior)
Activity 48 Conversation Chain (social play; self-regulation; social language)
Lesson Plans
A1
Joint attending to books
Shifting play ideas
Identifying cause of emotions
Respond to greeting
Follow classroom instructions
Thanks!
Do you have any questions?
Please keep this slide for attribution
#loveLaughterLearningInTISD
@nannewt @sarahcato_tisd @TISDStudentSupport
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