High Functioning Autism Asperger Syndrome: Developing Student Success

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Los Angeles Unified School District Division of
Special Education
Schools for All Children
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Donnalyn Jaque-Antón Associate Superintendent
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• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Developed by Pat Grayson-DeJong, M.Ed. Debbie
Moss, M.A. Autism Specialists, LAUSD
Autism Program Support [phone]
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Pervasive Developmental Disorder
Autism
PDD NOS
Asperger Syndrome Retts Syndrome
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Profound (severe) Autism Moderate
Mild (High Functioning) Asperger Syndrome
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Autism Spectrum Disorder

• First described by Leo Kanner in 1943
• Lifelong disorder there is no cure at this time
• Can be present at birth, but typically appears
  prior to age 3
• Affects 1 in 166
• Four to five times more common in boys

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Autism Worldwide Increase

• Possible Reasons
• Medical and Educational community better informed
• Genetic evidence for predisposition in some
  families
• Compromised immune system and environmental
  factors
• Vaccines???

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IMPORTANT FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN PROJECTING
STUDENT OUTCOMES

• Early Intervention
• Quality of Intervention
• Consistency of
• Intervention
• Cognitive Ability

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Core Areas of Deficit

• Speech and Language Deficits
• Non-Verbal
• Echolalic/sterotypical language
• Hyper-Verbal
• Social Skill Deficits
• Range from isolative to indiscriminately social
• Limited/Repetitive Behavioral Repertoire
• Self Stimulation
• Rigidity
• Perseverative
• Inflexibility

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Autism Continuum
Measured I.Q. Severe

Gifted
Social- Emotional Interaction
Aloof Passive
Active but Odd
Communication Non-verbal
Verbal
Motor Skills Awkward

Agile Fine Motor
Uncoordinated
Coordinated
Sensory Hypo
Hyper
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Communication Deficits

• Severe delay or complete absence of speech
• Immediate or delayed echolalia
• Poor auditory processing
• Odd voice quality/volume
• Understanding of language is literal/concrete
• (e.g., listen up. Its raining cats and
  dogs)
• May repeat sounds/questions/phrases

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Strategies to address Communication needs

• Language occurs throughout day and taught by
  everyone
• Use augmentative communication to stimulate
  verbal language (e.g. PECS)
• Use visual cues to facilitate understanding of
  abstract concepts (e.g. pictures, drawings,
  written words)
• BE CONCRETE

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Communication Strategies (cont)

• Teach for generalization by teaching in variety
  of settings, using different materials (e.g.,
  color red apple, stop sign, shirt, crayon)
• Auditory processing deficits allow extra time
  for student to respond

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Social Skill Deficits

• Infants/children irritable and hard to comfort
• Isolative
• Poor/no eye contact odd eye gaze
• Inappropriate giggling or laughing
• No understanding of friendship

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Strategies for Improving Social Skills

• Shape desired behaviors
• Teach and practice appropriate social skills in
  natural environments
• Establish a friendship system for community
  integration
• Have neurotypical peers or adults prompt/cue
  appropriate social skills
• Capitalize on childs strengths in integrated
  settings

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Academic Challenges

• Children adapt poorly to others and changes in
  routines
• Do not use toys for intended purpose (e.g.,
  spins, lines up, flips, etc.)

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Academic Challenges (cont)

• Uneven development of skills
• - Decodes words but
• unable to comprehend
• meaning
• - Good computation
• skills, but unable to apply
• - Excellent visual
• matching skills
• - Gross/fine motor skills
• range from superior
• to very poor

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Strategies that Address Academic Challenges

• Avoid surprises
• Visual Schedules assist with daily routines and
  transitions
• Provide predictable structured, safe,
  environments
• Use priming techniques
• Visual supports

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Visual Supports
Michael

• Todays Schedule
• Breakfast
• Speech Ms. Jane
• OCR Ms. Nelson
• Written Language
• Recess
• Math
• Social Studies
• Lunch
• Reading Comprehension
• Art or Music
• Homework Review
• Dismissal

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Strategies that address Academic Challenges

• Break tasks into smaller parts
• Teach how to use toys/games appropriately
• Stress functional use of academic skills
• Fade cueing

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Sensory Deficits

• Sensitivity to environmental conditions
• Hyper or hypo sensitivity to auditory, visual,
  smell/taste, tactile/kinesthetic

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Response to Sensory Input

• Under/over reaction to sound
• Eye contact avoidance
• Focus on details of objects
• Avoids specific foods/odors/textures, etc.

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Strategies to AddressSensory Differences

• Remove environmental conditions, if reasonable
  (e.g., odors)
• Desensitize in small steps (consulting with O.T.)
• Implement sensory diet, as prescribed by O.T.

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Asperger Syndrome
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Asperger Syndrome (AS)

• First described by Hans Asperger in 1944 (Mildest
  and highest functioning end of ASD)
• Abnormalities noted in 3 broad aspects of
  development
• ? Social interaction and emotional
  relatedness
• ? Unusual patterns of narrow interests
• ? Behavioral and stylistic characteristics
  involving repetitive/perseverative
  features

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Asperger Syndrome (cont)

• Students more likely found in general education
  classrooms and often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed
  as ADD, ED, LD, or just odd
• Genetic factors more prevalent in AS. Often
  family history of autism, most often on the
  fathers side

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Characteristics

• Higher cognitive abilities (average to superior)
• Lucid language by 4 years
• Present with considerable pragmatic language
  difficulties
• Speech often stilted and repetitive
  conversations revolve around rote, factual topics

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Additional Characteristics

• Often engage in rituals
• Worry excessively when they do not know what to
  expect

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Deficits in Pragmatic Language

• Turn-taking skills (within play and conversation)
• Gestalt processing (seeing the big picture)
• Perspective-taking
• Problem solving
• Organization

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Additional Issues with Pragmatics

• Social Expectations
• Proximity, eye contact,
• intonation
• Conversational skills
• - Talking too much
• - Interrupting
• - Changing topics without
• transition
• (From Gail Hallenberg, M.S.,CCC-SLP)

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Strategies to Improve Pragmatic Language

• Teach rules of communication
• Teach conversational skills step by step, using
  visual aides and representations
• Role playing
• Start with easier tasks and add
  complexity as the student gains skills
  and confidence

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• Work on different contexts and generalization
• Repetition/practice
• Always explain why
• -- Helps students see the perspective of
• others
• (From Gail
  Hallenberg, M.S., CCC-SLP)

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Academic Challenges

• Verbal abilities higher than performance skills
• Lack higher level abstract thinking and
  comprehension skills
• Impressive vocabularies give false impression
  that they understand (may be parroting what read
  or hear)

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Academic Challenges (cont)

• Excellent rote memory skills, but mechanical in
  nature
• Exhibit poor problem solving skills
• Literal and concrete thinkers

• Reading

• Writing

• 16 X 3 48

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Educational Strategies for Academic Challenges

• Individualized academic programming designed to
  offer consistent success
• Make learning rewarding, not anxiety provoking
• Redirect away from following their own impulses
• Insure students understanding of presented
  material via his/her demonstration of it

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Academic Strategies (cont)

• Break reading comprehension into smaller parts
  and analyze 1 section at a time
• Expectations must be set for amount and quality
  of work produced. Start small and increase as
  skills develop
• Earning time toward doing what interests them is
  often a good motivator to do what is expected.

• Big job Clean your desk
• Little chunks
• 1. Put pencils in pencil box
• 2. Close covers of all books
• 3. Throw away all wrinkled/
• torn papers
• 4. Put important papers in a folder
• 5. Put books in a neat stack

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Behavior Support

• First Then

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Strategies

• Simplify abstract concepts. Use visuals as much
  as possible
• Teach the difference between general knowledge
  and personal ideas to help with writing skills

• Love

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Emotional Vulnerability

• Often dont have the emotional resources to cope
  with the demands of the classroom (esp. from 3rd
  grade on)
• Easily distressed due to inability to be flexible
  and lack of organizational skills
• Intolerant of making mistakes, low self-esteem
• Prone to depression
• Rage and tantrum reactions common response to
  stress and frustration

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Educational Strategies Emotional Vulnerability

• Provide high level of consistency to prevent
  outbursts
• Teach students strategies to cope with their
  stress
• Make list of concrete steps to follow when they
  become upset (e.g., 3 deep breaths, count
  fingers of left hand 3 times, ask to take
  a break outside of classroom, write steps on
  card, etc.)
• Be alert to changes in behavior that signal
  depression More disorganized, inattentive,
  isolative, crying/suicidal remarks, increased
  levels of stress, etc.

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Social Challenges for Students with AS

• Self observation/ evaluation of impact on others
• Perspective taking empathy
• Applying problem solving skills
• Dealing with change/novel stimuli
• Body awareness/personal space

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Additional Social Challenges

• Coping with change/not getting your own way
• Understanding subtle/ complex verbal and
  nonverbal communication
• Processing and understanding emotion
• Mastering the increasing complexity of games and
  rules
• Learning to enjoy social contact

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Addressing Social Skills in the School

• Social Stories
• Model desired social skill
• Social skill scripting
• Social skills discussion
• Direct teaching of desired social skill

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Application to Natural Settings

• Opportunities to apply new skills in a natural
  peer context
• Start with more structured situations and then
  try with less structures provide enough support
  to ensure success
• Coaching should still be given before and after,
  as needed
• Should be practiced across all settings
• School clubs, teams, activity groups
• Recess, P.E., lunch
• Mainstreaming classroom