Module 7: The Hidden Curriculum for Students with ASD

1
Module 7 The Hidden Curriculum for Students with
ASD
2
Module Overview

• What does the hidden curriculum mean?
• Hidden curriculum items
• Knowing what to teach
• Strategies for teaching the hidden curriculum

3
What Does the Hidden Curriculum Mean?

• The hidden curriculum refers to the set of rules
  or guidelines that are often not directly taught
  but are assumed to be known (Hemmings, 2000)
• For the most part, typically developing students
  learn these social rules incidentally
• If these rules or guidelines are not followed, it
  can negatively impact a students social
  interactions, school performance, and sometimes
  safety (Myles, Trautman, Schelvan, 2004)
• Students with ASD often have difficulty
  understanding the hidden curriculum (Myles
  Simpson, 2001) and require explicit instruction
  for many of the hidden rules across school, home,
  and community contexts.

4
Hidden Curriculum Items

• It is not possible to provide a comprehensive
  list of hidden curriculum items because there are
  just too many.
• The next slide lists some examples of hidden
  curriculum items just to give you an idea of some
  of the things that students with ASD dont always
  learn incidentally

5
Examples of Hidden Curriculum Items at School
(Myles, Trautman, Shelvan, 2004)

• Bathroom issues (ex. Quietly telling the teacher
  that you need to use the bathroom instead of
  shouting it out)
• Locker room rules (ex. Dont stare at people who
  are taking showers)
• Recess and P.E. rules (ex. If throwing a ball to
  someone, first call that persons name and wait
  until he/she looks at you)
• Lockers and the hallway (ex. Usually if you get
  bumped into by someone, it is an accident)
• Cafeteria (ex. Avoid bringing tuna fish to school
  because it smells and other kids might not want
  to sit next to you)
• Assignments (ex. It is inappropriate to comment
  on the quality of another students work)
• Talking to your teacher (ex. Always use a polite
  voice)

6
Knowing what to teach

• Because all students with ASD are different when
  it comes to which hidden curriculum rules they
  understand and which ones they dont, you cannot
  simply go down a list of items and begin teaching
  each hidden curriculum item you can think of.
• Instead, it is best to assess each child
  individually to see where they are breaking
  down.
• For example, if you notice a student is often
  picking her nose where everyone can see her, you
  will want to teach her the hidden curriculum for
  nose picking (really).

7
Strategies for Teaching the Hidden Curriculum
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Safe Person (Myles, Trautman, Shelvan, 2004)

• It is important to identify a person who the
  student feels comfortable discussing hidden
  curriculum issues with.
• This person should
• Respect the student
• Be able to listen without interrupting or judging
• Be able to take the perspective of the student
• Be able to problem solve without engaging in a
  power struggle

9
Social Autopsies (Rick Lavoie,
http//www.ricklavoie.com/competart.html )

• Social autopsies entail helping students analyze
  social situations to figure out what went wrong
  so they know what to do the next time they are in
  a similar situation
• The social autopsy should be done as close to the
  time that the social error occurred as possible.
• The teacher asks the student questions such as,
  What happened?, Who was hurt? Why was that person
  hurt? What could you have done differently? What
  will you do next time?
• Social autopsies should always be implemented in
  a positive, supportive manner

10
Steps of Teaching Social Rules(Bellini, 2008)

• Scott Bellini discusses the following steps for
  teaching rules
• Provide a clear description of the concept
• Include relevant contextual information
• Use multiple exemplars
• Make connections to the childs prior knowledge
• Include hands-on demonstrations and modeling

11
Other Strategies

• The strategies discussed in Module 4 to teach
  social skills are also helpful when teaching
  hidden curriculum items. These include
• Direct instruction
• Social stories
• Power cards
• Comic strip conversations
• The Incredible 5-Point Scale
• Video modeling
• Thought bubbles

12
Journal Article

• Read the following journal article to learn more
  about teaching the hidden curriculum
• Myles, B. S., Simpson, R. L. (2001).
  Understanding the hidden curriculum an essential
  social skill for children and youth with Asperger
  syndrome. Intervention in School and Clinic,
  36(5), 279-286.

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Module 7 Activity

• Conduct an informal assessment on a student with
  ASD to determine some hidden curriculum items
  that student may not understand.
• Provide a list of three hidden curriculum items
  that you will teach the student and describe
  which strategies you will use to teach each one.
  Be specific in your explanation. For example,
  instead of saying, I will use social stories,
  include the actual social story you created and
  describe how you will use it to teach the student
  the hidden curriculum rule.

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References

• Bellini, S. (2008). Building social
  relationships A systematic approach to teaching
  social interaction skills to children and
  adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and
  other social difficulties. Shawnee Mission, KS
  Autism Asperger Publishing.
• Hemmings, A. (2000). The hidden curriculum
  corridor. High School Journal, 83(2), 1-10.
• Myles, B. S., Simpson, R. L. (2001).
  Understanding the hidden curriculum an essential
  social skill for children and youth with Asperger
  syndrome. Intervention in School and Clinic,
  36(5), 279-286.
• Myles, B. S., Trautman, M. L., Schelvan, R. L.
  (2004). The hidden curriculum Practical
  solutions for understanding unstated rules in
  social situations. Shawnee Mission, KS Autism
  Asperger Publishing.