Expert: Jene Aviram - 8/18/2009

Question
I work with an 11 year old autistic boy, he is in public school, and does well, He understands everything, but is not verbal, he has come a long way. he does basic math, writing, etc.. but my question is what should we be doing to benefit him? life skills? reading? writing?, its hard to say what level he is on, he prefers lower level books and things, but what is important? he's ok with his group, and class, but i feel like i'm not doing enough for him,

Answer
Hi Barb,

How absolutely wonderful that you care so much.  If we can just find more people like you, children with special needs will progress further than our wildest dreams.

I'm sure the parents have a lot of things in mind they would like to see their child accomplish and if you can set up a meeting with them to define their goals, they'd probably be thrilled and grateful.

In my opinion, I always try and keep the end goal in mind.  As much as possible we'd like those will special needs to function as independently as they can.

Take a birds eye view of this child one day and see how much he is able to cope independently before he needs assistance.  Does he come in the classroom alone?  Unpack his bags without prompting?  Navigate the halls?  Greet his peers and teachers?  If not, these are the places to start.  For example, stand behind him when walking in the halls, instead of next to him.  Encourage him to greet a friend and walk with him from place to place.  So often we tend to "look after" or "baby" people with special needs but it doesn't do them any good in the long run.

Time and money is an essential part of daily life.  Can he tell the time?  Can he count money?  I know you have constraints at a public school but it would be great if you could set up a fake store in the class room.  Let him buy things by giving you the correct amount of money.  And he should be able to check he got the right change.  Put all those lower level books and things he likes in the fake store so that he is motivated to purchase items.  You can combine learning the time with this activity.  For example, at 1:00 pm the store opens and it closes at 1:30 pm.  Further on down the line, he should learn the responsibility skill of checking when the store opens and getting there in time before it's closed.  All these type of activities will help give him coping skills for life.

Since he is non-verbal, does he have a way to communicate?  An augmentative device?  Pecs of some kind?  It's essential that he can communicate to someone he doesn't know with his method.  This should really be practiced with others at school that he doesn't know but where you can still intervene so that it's a safe place to practice.  Notify the other person ahead of time that your student will be reaching out to them that day.

You mention reading and writing.  I think reading is an essential skill.  More so than writing.  He can always use a device to write but there are notices everywhere that we pay attention to throughout the day.  I would certainly love to see him have this skill.

How about accountability skills?  What does he need for gym?  What about when he is going home when school is over?  He should have some kind of checking method in place to account for his belongings.  For example, to gather his coat, lunch bag, make sure he has his homework in his school bag etc.  The more independence you can provide him, the better he'll do.  He sounds like he has a lot of potential is very cooperative.  And he is certainly lucky to have you at his side.

I hope this has been of some help.

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com