For more information:

• Book Review: “EMERGENCE: Labeled Autistic” by Temple Grandin

• Autism Awareness & Tips

• WordWorld eBooks for iPad 

• April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day

• April 2: Light It Up Blue – National Autism Awareness Month

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As a teacher, wouldn’t it be great to communicate often with parents of your students and also track and manage communication with parents?  I teach a small special ed class and am able to do that, but I can imagine what a difficult time teachers of large classes and multiple classes have keeping track of who they called and who needs to be called.

Parent engagement is very important in the success of students and helps motivate students which raises their grades.  Because of this, communication with parents is a high priority for teachers. However, with teachers’ heavy work loads it’s hard to accomplish sometimes.  Having a Dash app available on iPhones would allow teachers to be organized (very important for teachers), and teachers could create a daily speed dial to keep up with families.  This would make positive calls home to parents possible with only the click of a button and would allow for more frequent calls to parents. 

Dash is working on an app, currently for the iPhone and later for Android, that will allow teachers to actually track and manage communication with parents easily. The app has already raised $3,000 on StartSomeGood and hopes to raise an additional $7,000 to make the product even better.  Go to Launch Dash to learn more.  This could ultimately revolutionize the future of parent-teacher communications.

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STAAR ALTERNATE blank student checklist

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Take your professional career to the next level with an Organizational Management Degree Online from Lubbock Christian University (LCU).  Stay solid in your current position while also staying up-to-date with family and personal obligations.  Being able to get this degree online removes all excuses for not returning to college.  LCU is a Christian-based university that is fully accredited and well trusted since 1957.

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Here is a great assortment of activities and links to videos, lesson plans, games, words to rap, a slide show, a timeline, and informational sites:

• Download a Constitution Day video to make a DVD for your classroom or school assembly (or show online).  Video features kids from elementary school through high school.  Great video!
• Art Activity:  For young students, paint large flags using long horizontal stokes that cross midline and use ab pattern for stripes.  For students a little older, do the same but count the 50 stars and 13 stripes as well as pattern and write a sentence or sentences (i.e. This is my flag.) using proper punctuation.
• Create a constitution for the class listing the class rules, and have all the students, the teacher and any aides sign it.
• Constitution Day, Sept. 17th
• Make a Boston Tea Party booklet.  Free printable booklet tells the story of the Boston Tea Party for grades 1-3.
• Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids: Games & Activities for grades K-2.
• Constitution Games, Lessons, & Activities for all grade levels.
• Lesson Plans for Constitution Day for all grade levels.
• Constitution Day Ideas
• Constitution Day Free Lessons to Download for all grade levels.
• The Bill of Rights Match Game for Elementary Level or Secondary Level.
• Constitution Day Rap to download (listed under grades 1 & 2).  After downloading, go to page 11 for the rap.
• Educator & Student Resources for Constitution Day

•  ‘A More Perfect Union’ Slide Show

• Centuries of Citizenship:  A Constitutional Timeline (available in Broadband version & Low Bandwidth version)
• Bill of Rights Online Game
• Hand Motions for memorizing the Preamble
• Constitution Day Resources & Lessons for Middle and High School students.
• Constitutional Fun Facts for kids.  Great for older students.
• Interactive Constitution for older students.
• Constitutional Principles: Representative Government video for High School students.
• The Founders’ Library: Thinking as a Founding Father Lesson Plans for High School students.
• National Constitution Center Resources
• The Bill of Rights
• Printer-friendly Version of Amendments 11-27
• Lesson for this standard:  “Demonstrate understanding of the issues related to the creation and ratification of the United States Constitution and the new Government it established.”

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Emergence: Labeled Autistic

by Temple Grandin, PhD, & Margaret M. Scariano

Having seen the movie “Temple Grandin” three times, I was excited to read about her early years since those were barely touched on in the movie.  She did not speak until age 3 ½ (movie says age 4), but I was surprised to find out that she was very destructive as a child. However, her mom especially loved, supported, and encouraged her, as well as her aunt and a teacher, which made a huge difference in her life.

She loved to spin in circles, was extremely sensitive to certain noises (the sound of a fog horn was actually painful to her), and she had a hard time keeping rhythm which not only affected being able to clap in rhythm but also hearing the rhythm in poetry. She often reacted in a fixated behavior pattern to offset her overly stimulated nervous system.  Grandin had many nerve attacks as a child and as a teenager, and she would alternate between impulsive behavior and then withdrawing into herself.  Uncontrollable laughter, constant questioning and talking, and a strong obsession with a certain topic are some common characteristics of many children with autism which are characteristics Grandin possessed.

Here are some ideas that Dr. Grandin presents that help in understanding and working with autistic children:

• Autistic children have fixations, so utilize their fixations. In other words, use those fixations to motivate learning, reading, math, etc. If a child likes dinosaurs, for instance, then do math problems with dinosaurs and read books about dinosaurs.

• More emphasis needs to be placed on developing a child’s talents instead of concentrating only on their weaknesses. Their talents can be developed into skills that they can use later in a job situation or maybe an enjoyable hobby.

• People’s thinking styles, according to Grandin, an be divided into three basic thinking patterns: visual thinking (common in those with high functioning autism), music and math thinking, and verbal logic thinking (common in those with mild Asperger’s Syndrome). There are combinations of these three types as well. All three types are usually rigid thinkers and need to become more flexible in how they think.

• Good jobs for visual thinkers are graphic arts, photography, drafting, computer network troubleshooting, computer repair, auto mechanics, industrial equipment design, animal care, and science research.

• Good jobs for music and math thinkers are music related fields, mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, and technical fields.

• Good jobs for verbal logic thinkers are translators, journalists, accountants, special education teachers, speech therapists, and librarians.

• To encourage flexibility, show the child how an object can fit into different categories. For example, an apple goes in the fruit category, the color red category, and the round objects category. (This will be a good activity to do in the classroom.)

• Albert Einstein, Mozart, Vincent van Gogh and many other scientists, musicians, and artists had either autism or Asperger traits. According to Grandin, today there are engineers, computer nerds, equipment designers, draftsmen, etc., who are undiagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. So, individuals can range from severely handicapped to brilliant.

• Mentors are great to help with learning social skills. There are many good books and teaching materials on the market which are valuable for teaching social skills.

• Anxiety and sensory sensibility can make functioning at social events or on the job very uncomfortable. Grandin herself had trouble hearing auditory detail. Her speech teacher helped her hear the consonants by enunciating them clearly. Grandin understood when an adult spoke to her, but when two adults talked quickly to each other it sounded like a foreign language to her.

• For many people, there is a problem with the flicker on computer screens. A flat panel screen that doesn’t have fluorescent lamps is best. There are other things available to help those who are bothered by the flicker or the print vibrating.

Looking back, Grandin wishes that more time had been spent with speech therapists while she was growing up so that her speech wasn’t so different from the norm. Her speech was awkward and “flat” with no emotion.

One part that was very touching was when Grandin’s mother had taken her to a boarding school. When her mother was ready to leave, she said, “I’ll miss you, Temple.” Grandin says, “She walked quickly to my side and kissed my cheek. I ached to be enfolded in her arms, but how could she know? I stood rigid as a pole trapped by the approach/avoidance syndrome of autism. I drew back from her kiss, not able to endure tactile stimulation – not even loving, tactile stimulation.” Grandin actually designed and constructed a “squeeze machine” to simulate the hugs she desperately longed for but could not endure.

Dr. Grandin has been blessed in that she has been able to analyze herself through the years, and she has worked and is still working to improve the areas in her life that need improving. She has gone out of her comfort zone so many times and that has helped her to become the person she is today.  Grandin does public speaking worldwide, has written several books, is a professor at Colorado State University, has a very successful career as a livestock-handling equipment designer which is one of very few in the world, and has opened the eyes of the world to autism in a way never known before.

CONCLUSION:

Dr. Grandin writes, “People treating autistic children should avoid falling into the trap of using just one type of treatment. A variety of methods used together would probably be the most successful…. The most successful programs start treatment by age three or four and provide contact with normal children. They are also very intense. Passive approaches do not work. A good program should also have flexible non-aversive behavior modification, sensory treatment (by an occupational therapist), speech therapy, exercise, and music therapy…. The most important component of the treatment plan is the presence of loving people to work with the child.”

Emergence: Labeled Autisticis an enlightening book that gives insight into autism from someone who is autistic, and the author has revealed more about the autistic world than just about anyone else.

* NOTE:  Dr. Grandin is listed in TIME Magazine as one of twenty-five “Heroes” of 2010.

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I am still learning, but here are a few things I have learned:

• Give commands in short phrases such as, “Mouth quiet, hands down, stop feet,” etc.
• Use music to help in learning reading skills. Use the Leapfrog: Letter Factory video to help teach letter sounds. Students may be singing the songs for different letters at various times during the day. They love this video!
• Use music to help in learning math skills. Use the Leapfrog: Math Adventure to the Moon to teach counting skills, patterns, skip counting, sorting, and problem solving. Again, students love this video!
• WordWorld is an awesome program on PBS for children, even very young children, to learn their alphabet letters, sounds, and how to blend words together.  I highly recommend WordWorld for ages one and up.  They also have DVDs available in stores such as Target.
  
• WordWorld.com is an excellent, free site to use at home or in a school setting. Their eBooks capture children’s attention, as well as the video and games on their site.  They also have free printables.
• Starfall.com is another excellent free site for learning alphabet letters, sounds, and learning to read.  I highly recommend this site also that teaches children to read with phonics.
  
• Use music for transitional times. Sing, “Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere.”
• Some students need a light compression such as gently squeezing each of their fingers or maybe sitting behind them and placing your hands gently on their stomach, gently massaging when they start to get upset.
• Some students might need “brushing” on their arms with a soft vinyl fingernail brush to help calm them down.
• Students with autism are affected by schedule changes so plan ahead and try to foresee any problems and make adjustments where possible.
• If you have access to a computer, the Edmark Reading Program has been successful with students. However, this has to be purchased in order to use it.
• For those who are visual thinkers, make flashcards with the vocabulary word and a picture. It must have a picture. Flashcards can be purchased at Dollar Tree, the dollar section at Target, etc., that have the word and picture on each card. Then make flashcards with just the words to use after they have learned the words with the picture flashcards.
• Use “Instant Learning Centers” and manipulatives for hands-0n learning.

• Great info:Autism – The Way I See It by Temple Grandin (Different types of thinking in autism)
• The DVD movie, Temple Grandin, is a wonderful movie that I highly recommend!

Here are some sites to read more about autism:

• The 2010 TIME 100 “People Who Most Affect Our World”
• Autism Speaks
• Autism Today
• Autism United

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