AboutMichelle Fattig Expertise I can answer questions about educational testing, autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Special Education, IEP, Learning Disabilities, Sensory Processing, Parent Advocacy, Response to Intervention, living and parenting with disabilities, parent rights in special education, school psychology, and more. I cannot provide a medical diagnosis.
Experience I am a school psychologist, medical technologist, author of the Annie Books series: Experience Aspeger's Syndrome and Attention Deficits Through the Eyes of a Child, RTI facilitator, ILCD facilitator, parent advocate, presenter, and researcher. My children and I have Asperger's, ADD/ADHD, and learning disabilities.
Organizations National Association of School Pyschologists, American Medical Technologists, Learning Disabilities Association of Nebraska
Education/Credentials Ed.S. in School Psychology, doctoral studies in SPED Law, SPED Systems Enhancement Leadership, and doctoral candidate Education Leadership. MT(AMT) and MLT(ASCP)
Expert: Michelle Fattig Date: 2/14/2008 Subject: teaching social skills
Question My 1st-grader does well socially in class, but needs help with unfamiliar situations, groups, initiating play, etc. The school says he has no social skills deficits (we have quite the miracle of modern science, since he's diagnosed PDD by the leading research univ in the NW US!), and doesn't know how to address his conversational and social behavior needs since they don't "see" them at school. How do other schools address this? How can we get the appropriate goals in the IEP?
Answer How interesting that a school doesn't understand or "see" social skills deficits in a child with a diagnosis including a core feature of social skills dysfunction! Bless your hearts! What I would suggest is asking to include the following statements in his IEP:
· Social Stories. *insert your son’s name may benefit from the use of social stories during transitions or before new situations. Social Stories are a tool for teaching social skills to children. Social stories provide an individual with accurate information about those situations that he may find difficult or confusing. The situation is described in detail (pictures) and focus is given to a few key points: the important social cues, the events and reactions the individual might expect to occur in the situation, the actions and reactions that might be expected of him, and why. The goal of the story is to increase the individual’s understanding of, make him more comfortable in, and possibly suggest some appropriate responses for the situation in question.
· Sample Social Story
Before we go too far into the specifics of Social Stories, let's take a look a simple sample story.
Lining Up
At school, we sometimes line up (picture of children lining up).
We line up to go to the gym, to go to the library, and to go out to recess.
Sometimes my friends and I get excited when we line up, because we’re going someplace fun, like out to recess (children looking excited in line).
It is okay to get excited, but it is important to try to walk to the line. Running can cause accidents, and my friends or I could get hurt (picture).
I will try to walk to the line (picture).
As may be evident, Social Stories are relatively short, straightforward descriptions of social situations, specifically detailing what an individual might expect from the situation and what may be expected of him.
SUGGESTED CLASSROOM ACCOMODATIONS
· Proximity teaching-*insert your son’s name should be within close proximity to the teacher or the teacher's assistant.
· Limit the level of noise, stimuli, and distractions when possible.
· Provide a quiet, distraction free area for test taking and work completing, or any activity requiring concentration.
· Eliminate clutter and keep distractions to a minimum.
· Give clarifications and reminders regularly as needed.
· Home/school communication daily
· Work is organized into workable 'chunks'.
· Classroom expectations are clearly understood, as are consequences for inappropriate behaviors.
· Provide and discuss a cueing and prompting system, which helps him stay on task and transition from task to task (social stories).
· Never begin instructions/directions until the student provides undivided attention.
· Allow additional 'wait' time for student.
· Provide activities that are multi-sensory, and that take into consideration learning styles.
· Direct and Explicit Social skills training
· Provide direct, observable transitioning activities with a positive behavioral support system to encourage prosocial behaviors and reduce ‘meltdowns’
TARGETED INTERVENTIONS
Social skills training may address areas of concern, and build *insert your son’s name’s repertoire of prosocial responses.
· Social Skills training. Social Skills training covers a vast array of behaviors to teach, approaches for teaching those behaviors, and desired outcomes. Desired outcomes or goals need to be clearly identified focusing on long-term quality of life and emotional status. Sometimes it is more appropriate to refine a behavior, lessening its negative impact. Total elimination of inappropriate behaviors is not always and option. The team should decide:
o Which behaviors are significantly interfering with *insert your son’s name’s social relationships?
o Can the behavior be changes without making unreasonable demands on him, or is the behavior and integral part of autism?
o Will the behaviors being taught provide the most independent means for social performance?
1. Increase *insert your son’s name’s repertoire of prosocial behaviors. Teaching a variety of relevant, meaningful social skills that increase available choices for response. The more prosocial social skills, the greater the likelihood that the behaviors will be used in social situations.
2. Use Direct Instruction to teach social skills. Divide into small steps, use visual reminders, specific steps consisting of concrete, observable behaviors. Model and practice both in the classroom and in other settings.
3. Videotape *insert your son’s name using the appropriate skill. Video taping can be used for teaching social skills and an effective way to develop acceptable visual models.
4. Develop social stories books that show social situations. The stories should reflect real life scenarios and be meaningful and functional. Supplement the stories with pictures including *insert your son’s name, family members, peers, teachers, and familiar and non familiar activities or social opportunities.
5. Develop a cuing system that maximizes the development of *insert your son’s name’s independent functioning. Use structure and visual prompting strategies, but avoid too much reliance on verbal cues or prompts. Encourage a preference for routine and ritual for *insert your son’s name using visual supports rather than teacher/parent prompts.
6. Provide a “social diet” allowing for social interaction on a scheduled basis and upon appropriate request. Plan and predict through the use of visual prompts to encourage independent generalization and prosocial interactions.
If they refuse, they must provide you with documentation of why he doesn't "need" the interventions and you have the option of asking for a mediated IEP, or you can put in writing the request to the principal or superintendent notifying him or her that you are "initiating due process by exhausting your administrative remedy" which makes that person responsible if they school continues to violate your right to meaningful parent participation in the decision making process. Good luck, and let me know if there is any other way I can help.
