Providing Intentional Instruction to Children with Autism in Inclusive Settings

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Providing Intentional Instruction to Children
with Autism in Inclusive Settings

• Ilene Schwartz
• University of Washington
• Ilene_at_uw.edu

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Autism is a collection of overlapping groups of
symptoms that vary from child to childSiegel,
1996, p.301
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There is no one right way to educate children
with autism
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Three important questions

• What are you going to teach?
• How are you going to teach those skills and
  behaviors?
• How will you know that your teaching has been
  effective?

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Educating Children with Autism

• National Research Council, 2001
• Report was developed at OSEPs request

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Characteristics of Effective Programs

• Entry into program as soon as ASD is seriously
  considered
• Active programming 25 hours a week, year round
• Small group and 11 programming
• Family component
• Low student/teacher ratios (no more than 2
  children with ASD per adult in classroom
• Program evaluation and assessment

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Content of Programs should include

• Social skills
• Expressive, receptive, and non verbal
  communication skills
• Functional communication system
• Engagement and flexibility in developmentally
  appropriate activities
• Fine and gross motor skills

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Content (continued)

• Cognitive skills, including play
• Replacement of problem behaviors with socially
  acceptable alternatives
• Independent organizational skills and other
  behaviors that support participation in general
  education settings

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Components of an Effective Program(Dawson
Osterling, 1997)

• Appropriate curriculum including attending,
  imitation, communication, play, and social
  interaction.
• Highly supportive teaching environment and
  generalization strategies.
• Predictability and routine.
• Functional approach to challenging behavior.
• Transition support
• Family involvement

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Project DATA (Developmentally Appropriate
Treatment for Autism)
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Child-focused Instructional Strategies
Embedded Learning Opportunities
Curriculum modifications adaptations
Quality Early Childhood Program
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Building Blocds
CFIS
Few children
Embedded Learning Opportunities
Some Children
Curriculum Modifications
All Children

High Quality EC Program

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Structural Base to Effective Programs

• Functional objectives and meaningful activities
• Frequent reinforcement and effective motivational
  systems
• Functional communication systems
• Behavior intervention system

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• The Building Blocks model provides a set of
  educational practices designed to help teachers
  do a more effective job of including and teaching
  young children with disabilities and other
  special needs in early childhood classrooms and
  settings.

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Why Building Blocks?

• To understand how teachers and teams create early
  childhood classrooms that enable all children to
  participate, interact and learn important and
  valued outcomes.
• To understand what practices work in everyday
  classrooms.

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What is the instructional sequence

• A-B-C
• S-R-S
• Instruction-Response-Consequence

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A Discrete Trial

• Instruction
• Prompt (if necessary)
• Childs Response
• Consequences
• Inter-trial Interval

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A Discrete Trial
Instruction or Discrimitive Stimulus (SD)
Antecedent
Prompt if necessary
Childs Response
Behavior
Consequence
Consequence
Inter-trial Interval
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Teaching Loop

• Alerting
• Instruction
• Child Response
• Feedback

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• What does inclusion mean?

• What does it mean for a young child to be
  successful in an early childhood classroom?

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• What does inclusion mean?
• Individuals define inclusion differently.
• Inclusion is about belonging and participating in
  a diverse society.

• What does it mean for a young child to be
  successful in an early childhood classroom?
• Sense of belonging
• Genuine child learning
• Opportunities to build friendships

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• Using the Building Blocks model can help all
  children participate, learn, and thrive in their
  preschool classrooms.
• Based on the work of the Early Childhood Research
  Institute on Inclusion.

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The foundation

• Quality Early Childhood Program

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• Safe
• Engaging
• Responsive
• Culturally and linguistically relevant

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Use an Activity Matrix to

• Plan for specialized instruction
• Assess individual needs in classroom setting
• Plan when data collection will occur
• Plan activities and materials necessary for
  incidental teaching or embedded instruction
  (wheels on the bus) (what is it big circle)

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Activity Matrix -- Individual
Comm. Social Motor Adapt.
Circle
Snack
Free Choice
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Activity Matrix -- Class
Caleb Sophie Mile Adam
Circle
Snack
Free Choice
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Matrix of Support
Time/ Activity Support Needed Behavior and Comments
Reading Indep. 1 2 3
Math Needs written dir. 1 2 3
Journal Out of class SLP 1 2 3
Recess Library 1 2 3
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Staffing Matrix
Time/ Activity Objective Who?
Reading comprehension Classroom teacher
Math Addition Walk to math
Journal Ind. work motivaider
Recess Social int. Para prof
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Curriculum Modifications Adaptations

• Quality Early Childhood Program

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• Teachers and other members of the team make
  modifications to activities, routines, and
  learning areas in order to include children with
  special needs and to enhance their participation.

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Importance of Participation or Engagement

• Quality of early care settings is associated with
  child outcomes
• Higher quality settings are associated with
  better outcomes
• Higher quality child care programs produce higher
  levels of child engagement (Raspa, McWilliam,
  Ridley, 2001)
• Engagement mediates the relationship between
  quality and other reported child outcomes

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Curriculum Modifications Adaptations

• Environmental Arrangement
• Materials Modification
• Simplify the Activity
• Special Equipment
• Peer Support
• Adult Support
• Child Preferences
• Invisible Support

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• Environmental
• Arrangement

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• Materials modification

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• Simplify the activity

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• Special equipment

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• Peer support

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• Adult support

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• Child
• Preference

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• Invisible support

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Embedded Learning Opportunities
Curriculum modifications adaptations
Quality Early Childhood Program
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Embedded Learning Opportunities

• Teachers create short teaching episodes within
  ongoing classroom activities and routines.
• Teaching episodes focus on a childs individual
  learning objective.

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Strengthening Teachers

• Specialized instruction is an important component
  of inclusion (ECRII, 1998)
• Participation in a community-based or general
  education is not enough. The individual needs of
  children with disabilities must be addressed.
• Specialized instruction can be delivered through
  a variety of effective strategies, many of which
  can be embedded in the ongoing classroom
  activities.

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• Adequate support is necessary to make inclusive
  environments work (ECRII, 1998).
• Support includes training, personnel, materials,
  planning time, and ongoing consultation or
  coaching.
• Support can be delivered in different ways and
  each person involved in inclusion may have unique
  needs.

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• Teacher and team must be able to deliver special
  instruction for children who need it.
• The consulting teacher must be able to provide
  help to the classroom team.
• Teachers and consulting teachers need methods
  that are effective, acceptable, and feasible.

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Advantages of ELO

• Minimal changes to classroom activities
• Motivation to participate and learn should be
  enhanced
• Skills are used in natural contexts
• Skills are used with a variety of people and
  materials

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Research Findings

• Embedded instruction is effective for teaching a
  variety of valued skills to young children (e.g.,
  Horn et al., 2000).
• A variety of instructional strategies have been
  embedded effectively (e.g., McBride Schwartz,
  2003).
• Embedded instruction seems to enhance
  generalization (e.g., Wolery et al., 2002).

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Research Findings contd

• Teachers assess embedded instruction favorably
  (e.g., Horn et al., 2000).
• Teachers differ in the extent to which they can
  apply embedded instruction within their
  activities and classrooms (e.g., Filla et al.,
  1999).
• Preservice teachers can learn and use embedded
  instruction in their field experience placements
  (e.g., Sandall Davis, 2004)

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ELO Basic Steps

• Clarify learning objective and determine
  criterion
• Gather baseline
• Use activity matrix to determine when and where
  instruction can take place
• Design instructional interaction
• Implement instruction
• Keep track of the amount of instruction
• Probe child progress

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Child-focused Instructional Strategies
Embedded Learning Opportunities
Curriculum modifications adaptations
Quality Early Childhood Program
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Child Focused Instructional Strategies

• Unique learning objective
• Requires more systematic or more intensive
  instruction

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Instruction is not the same as opportunity
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Instruction is

• Planned
• Tied to an outcome
• Provides feedback on performance
• Is evaluated for its effectiveness
• Responses are obligatory

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CFIS Basic Steps

• Clarify learning objective and determine
  criterion
• Gather baseline
• Use activity matrix to determine when and where
  instruction can take place
• Design instructional interaction
• Implement instruction
• Keep track of the amount of instruction
• Probe child progress
• Use good instructions, good prompts, and good
  reinforcement strategies

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Lets plan activities for the following

• Communication
• Early Literacy
• Fine Motor
• Social Interaction
• Work with at least one other person and identify
  two activities in which you can embed instruction
  on these goal

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Data Collection

• Monitoring the effects of instruction requires
  some form of systematic documentation.
• Collecting data helps interventionists
• accurately gauge about childrens progress
• decide how to change programs
• Data should be collected regularly on all of the
  high-priority objectives of each child.

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Why collect data?

• To understand
• To communicate
• To demonstrate
• To improve our practice
• To stay in compliance

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Selecting/Creating a data sheet

• What questions are you asking?
• Will these data answer those questions?
• Do these data address the IFSP/IEP objective?
• Will this format fit into classroom activities?
• Does this make sense to team members?
• How will you summarize the data?
• How will you analyze/use the data?

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Evaluating Data

• Is the child making progress?
• Summarize data in meaningful way
• Graphing
• Determine what the data are telling you
• Make instructional decision based on information

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Using Data to Make Decisions

• Use data patterns to inform your decisions about
  what to change
• Program is working
• Task is too difficult
• Student can perform some but not all tasks
• There appears to be a compliance problem
• The student is ready for fluency training
• The child has mastered the program

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Data Sheet Resources

• Polyxo.com
• Circleofinclusion.org

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Questions?