Re-designing Spaces for Children with Autism to Improve Organization and Behavior
The Extreme Makeover Challenge: Room Re-Design! by Carol L. Spears and Dr. Vicki L. Turner As discussed in our book Rising to New Heights of Communication and…
Tag: pervasive developmental disorder
Mary Mountstephen on her new book ‘How to Detect Developmental Delay and What to Do Next’
“The important thing for me is that every child is valued and that we look at the causes of their difficulties rather than just the presenting symptoms: Why are they struggling in school and what can we do about it that is simple and easily implemented as the first stage in supporting them?”
John Merges on Social Enjoyment Groups for young people with Autism Spectrum Disorders
“Social enjoyment, as both an important life and employment skill, needs to be taught and practiced as early as possible. We need to provide our young people with safe, predictable situations to practice enjoying a social interaction. The successes I’ve seen in my own work demonstrate that social enjoyment is indeed a skill – and thus, can be learned.”
How Teachers and TAs can help Students with Asperger Syndrome access the curriculum in inclusive classrooms
By Gill D. Ansell, author of Working with Asperger Syndrome in the Classroom: An Insider’s Guide Being a Teaching Assistant is not what it once…
How Educators Can Help Students with Asperger Syndrome Relieve Anxieties at School (and Avoid Meltdowns at Home!)
By Gill D. Ansell, author of Working with Asperger Syndrome in the Classroom: An Insider’s Guide. Often, a child with Asperger Syndrome (AS) will seem…
Kay and Haitham Al-Ghani on ‘Learning About Friendship’ – Stories to support social skills training for children with ASD in the classroom
“One small boy in my class was having great trouble going on school outings because he would not wear a seat belt. The bus driver came to tell me that he would not be allowed to go on any more trips. I thought this was rather harsh and so the very next day I told my class a story about Tedrick the teddy who would not wear a seat belt…We role-played the parts of the driver, the teachers and the other children on the bus. I emphasised how happy the driver was when all the children wore their seat belts and I asked the boy in question if he would mind taking Tedrick on the next trip. Guess what, that boy was the first one on the bus doing up his own and Tedrick’s seat belt!”
Working with Asperger Syndrome in the Classroom – An Interview with former Teaching Assistant and JKP author, Gill D. Ansell
“As a Teaching Assistant I felt able to work closely with the students with AS; to get to know them as a person; to get to see the world the way they see it and from there develop strategies to help individuals. Sometimes, I tried new strategies which in reality were just ideas I had which I thought could work with a particular individual – that’s why it is important to know the student as an individual.”
An Interview with Bo Hejlskov Elvén: Making Behaving Positively Possible for People with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities
“Most of the methods used in changing challenging behaviours contain a degree of force or lack of respect for the choices of the service-user. My main principle is that the service-user always has the right to say ‘no’. My job is to encourage her say ‘yes’. That means that if she says ‘no’, I need to figure out what I did wrong. In that way I actually can change her behaviour by focusing on my own behaviour, not on hers.”
Interview with Paul Cooper – Part 4: The Innovative Learning for All series
“Whilst the books are driven by a vision of what the educational experience of students should be, they are also driven by an evidence based analysis of what we actually know about the actual day to day experience of students and their educators.”
Interview with Paul Cooper – Part 3: The pros and cons of academies and free schools for students with SEBD
“The history of educational policy ‘innovation’ tells us that the most vulnerable and at risk pupils are often ignored or, at best dealt with as an afterthought.”