Physical education
Physical activity can be used to teach a variety of skills to children with autism, or other disabilities. First, it teaches the child to follow directions, increases attention span and handle daily frustrations. All children need to be taught how to deal with disappointments and problems that occur every day. However, these children do not always know how to get through these frustrations appropriately. By getting physically active, the child is given an outlet in which to deal with these frustrations. According to an article by Daniel Hawthorn (2008) who was once an autistic child, there is a connection between the physical benefits one gains from exercise and the way in which the brain functions. This is true of course in another way. It is important to incorporate exercises that use both sides of the brain. One of the most beneficial exercises is the crossover (Burton, personal interview, February 21, 2008). In this exercise the individual touches the hand to the opposite knee as they march. This exercise is particularly beneficial because it involves the crossing of the mid line of the body. In doing so, the two hemispheres are being used in an unusual way. This process is used in other academic areas. In math, the child often needs to cross from one hemisphere to the other and this exercise helps them develop the ability to do this.
There is evidence that being physically active during the school day helps to promote arousal and reduce boredom (Podulka, 2006). Physical activity aids in increasing concentration and attention span. It is apparent that stimulation levels among autistic students are much higher than their peers. Knowing this, it is easy to see that the children need an outlet for this pent up arousal. They be taught to run, when appropriate, and to use this arousal to complete their school work or the task at hand. This energy can be turned into mental energy rather than physical.
Video Modeling
Because of the way in which children with this disorder respond to stimulation, videos can be used to prompt children to imitate positive behaviors. With many autistic individuals, auditory learning is strongly effective. These children can watch a movie and recite complete segments word for word. Using this knowledge, video modeling was developed. In the same way social stories can teach appropriate behaviors in a particular circumstance, modeling videos can be used (modelmekids.com, March 3, 2008).
Model Me kids is a website that promotes and sells modeling videos. In their videos, children can become acquainted with key characters and model behaviors after them. For example, after watching a video about going to school, the child can use vocabulary learned in the video and create for themselves social situations similar to those that were modeled. Just as a character on a popular cartoon, the characters in the videos become the child's role models (modelmekids.com, March 3, 2008).
Another way this technique can be used is to videotape an older sibling or peer of the autistic child acting in a way that is appropriate. While watching the video, allow the child to be in the same room the video was taped in and provide them with the same objects to interact with (modelmekids.com, March 3,2008).
Living skills As A Teaching Tool
An additional teaching technique in educating autistic children is living skills. Instead of focusing on learning multiplication tables simply to recite them, this technique teaches the child to learn skills that will help them to survive in the world. For instance, a math lesson may involve using a restaurant menu and a tip calculator or a list of groceries they need to buy and a price list. These skills will improve their math ability while teaching them to function on their own. In writing, the class may write a newsletter to be sent home to parents. This may involve researching, using the Internet, typing and possibly creating logos or advertisements. These real world skills teach the students fundamental academic skills while training them in real life situations (Mr. Fred, FACE, personal interview, March 6, 2008).
Living skills can be anything from reciting your personal information to purchasing something in a store. A good example of this can be seen at the high school level of the FACE program. On Fridays the high school students use the kitchen to make simple meals such as hotdogs and hamburgers. They then set up a food stand and are in charge of selling the food they have prepared. “This activity teaches them to properly use kitchen appliances, and to handle money, while making change.” (Mr. Fred, personal interview, March 2, 2008).
Social Stories are a way to teach children how to behave in a specific situation. They illustrate how exactly the child should act. As described on polyxo.com:
“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 ”
For example, if the child's family is going to the amusement park, the family may read a social story together. In the story, the process of standing in line, boarding a ride and riding a rollercoaster may be described.
According to Edelson, (1995), a social story can contain four types of sentences: descriptive, directive, perspective, and control. Descriptive sentences what is done in the situation being described. Directive sentences direct a person to act in a certain way. Perspective sentences show other people's responses to actions and events. The Control sentence is added by the reader after the story is read. It is used to help the reader, or audience, to remember the most important parts of the story (Edelson, 1995).
The idea of a social story has been used in many ways in classrooms and homes of children with developmental disabilities. Ms. Marsha, a teacher at FACE, used a social story called “Going to McDonald's” with her class before taking a field trip to McDonald's. She says that the children were reciting lines from the story while in line and reminding each other that “you need to say "please" after telling him what you want.” After the field trip, Ms. Marsha had the class make their own social stories about places their families go. They shared these stories with a class of younger students. This activity enabled the children not only to follow instructions but also to give them (Ms. Marsha, personal interview, 2/14/2008).
With any program or curriculum it is important that every caregiver in the individual's life is participating in the treatment. If Applied Behavior Analysis is used in the classroom, parents and siblings need to be taught how to use it at home as well.
