Autism Games

One of the very nice surprises we had when we released the Super Simple Songs CDs was the positive response we received from parents and teachers of children with Autism.

Of course it's really nice to know the songs are being used by teachers and students in special needs situations, but it has also helped my teaching to learn some activities and techniques used when working with autistic children.  I've learned that emerging speakers of all types (children with autism, very young learners just beginning to speak their native language, and ESL/EFL learners) can all really benefit from activities which first introduce new language in very very simple ways. 

Gestures help tremendously.  Slowing things down significantly at first helps tremendously.  Modeling appropriate behavior, developing a core set of useful expressions and words, learning to communicate non-verbally...these are all skills that help all emerging speakers, whether they be very young children or children developing language skills at a later age (foreign language learners or children with speech disorders).

Tahirih Bushey is a Speech and Language Pathologist in Minnesota specializing in the treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).  I came across her videos at youTube, which led me to her website, Autism Games.  It has been a great resource for me as a teacher, especially for preparing activities for my youngest students.  It is full of wonderful activity ideas, complete with video demonstrations and accessible explanations for the reasoning behind each activity.  I really recommend anybody teaching young learners to check it out.  I find a lot of the activities especially appropriate for Mommy (parent) and Me classes, as they not only teach the children some basic communication skills, but also teach the parents how to better facilitate communication with their children. 

Here's a couple of activities we've put to use in our classrooms:

This one practices letter comprehension, taking turns, and listening to the teacher/parent.

Lately, we have been using the letters B-I-N-G-O and after we are done playing with the bubbles and letters, we sing the song, BINGO!  We also often play using the letters from each child's name.

This next video presents the best way to correct vocabulary (with young learners or old)...a technique called recasting.  With rescasting, you repeat an expression with an error back to the speaker, but with the error corrected.  However, you don't call attention to the error, you simply continue the interaction naturally, using the correct vocabulary (or grammar).

You'll notice the caretaker doesn't say, "No, not zebra...it's a giraffe".  The caretaker simply expands the communication with the child and uses the correct word, "It is!  It's your giraffe", and the child picks up on the correct word and uses it herself.  To further reinforce this vocabulary, the caretaker can continue this conversation by talking more about the giraffe.  "This giraffe has a long neck, huh? What a nice giraffe.  Does your giraffe have a name?" 

There are many other great tips for parents and teachers of emerging speakers over at Autism Games, so go check it out!

Comments

[mcewen]

Newbie - what a great site. I've certainly found that recasting is extremely useful and do it [almost] automatically after all this time.

Can't say that we've mastered 'head, shoulders, knees and toes,' [the dance/song] but at least we can manage the words now.
Best wishes

[Adam]

I think it is great that people are making the connection between esl/efl and techniques used in special ed. classes. It is a bit obvious that the simplicity aspect would be tremendously useful in both.
Another similarity I can think of is that games and playing are accepted and encouraged in both, whereas in the traditional education setting, they are increasingly, and unfortunately, being seen as superfluous or secondary to learning academic skills.

[Tahirih]

Thank you for presenting my website so wonderfully! I appreciate it. I am very new to the world of creating web sites but have found it a perfect medium for sharing the kind of information that parents and teachers of young children with autism need. Since these young learners are more similar to than different from other young learners, the games are useful for other little folks too. The biggest difference is that the play partner will need to vary or add to the game more quickly--or else the child will do it him or herself. Thank-you again, Tahirih