Smart Goal # 1
In my placement I worked with a non-verbal ASD student. My main concern for her was her communication methods. In fact she did not have any solid way to communicate her growing needs. She was a kindergarten student and her communication way, which was just pointing to things or grabbing adults hand to get help, was enough for her basic needs at this age. My smart goal was, to teach her how to use picture system to communicate and later using simple communication boards. At first it looked very hard and challenging because of her. attention deficit and the fact that she has never used pictures to show her needs, feeling or wants. However we started with pictures of her very basic needs like food and washroom but it did not work very well. Then we decided to make picture schedule and "first and Then Board" just to be consistent in using pictures with her, then we tried to give her preferred toys and activities by asking her to show us the picture of them. The progress was very slow and she was moving in baby steps but, we did not give up. Although there was some other barriers like being away due to sickness or snow days, we could succeed introducing her a very basic communication board in my last week of placement which was a great and pleasant achievement. Here are some pictures of materials I created for her during my placement.
Smart Goal # 2
In my placement I was introduced to a grade three boy with ASD who had so many challenging behaviors such as swearing, grabbing stuff from others, pushing, kicking, hitting, pulling hair and not knowing/taking turns. At first the situation looked very hard and challenging to me but, after observing the student for a few days I came up with following strategies:
Modelling: I showed him the desired behaviors by doing them myself
Social Stories: I used social stories to remind him unwelcome and desired behaviors. I also took benefit from social stories to prepare him prior an activity or transition in order to reduce behaviors.
Pairing: I benefited from pairing him with a well behaved peer, since students learn better from their peers than adults.
Verbal and physical reinforcements: I found it really effective, using positive words, tapping on his shoulders, and giving him high-five after every desired behavior.
Reward System: I used "Star Board" to help him to understand our expectation of him and it worked perfectly on him. I also worked closely with the classroom teacher and the EA to plan a consistent and solid way to apply the strategies, I knew it would take time and effort to teach the student that every behavior has a consequence and the only way for him to get his preferred activities is making better choices and behaviors. I could see some progress till the end of my placement but I am sure it will be a progressive process with patience and consistency of the educational team.
