Hello all! I am an Early Childhood Special Education teacher (first year). I teach 3 and 4 year olds that have disabilities plus a few regular ed students. I have a sweet little autistic boy that is 3 years old. I am learning how he works, but any suggestions on how to work with autistic 3 year olds would be great. He is totally non-verbal. For the most part, I have figured out how to keep him calm and involved. He does start screaming super loud when he doesn't want to do anything. I also have a child with Emotional Disabilites and have a lot of problems with him. I can get through to him every once in awhile. He just has so much anger in him and wants to do only what he wants. He kicks and punchs me and my aides most of the time, screams, throws things, rips things off the wall, and storms off slamming the door. Any suggestions?
does ur autistic student get aba therapy? Last school year i worked with autistic 5-8 year olds and they all had ABA....if not then you could try some of thier methods.....for the screaming/tantrum try a close ended task....basically some sort of task that he can complete on his own and has a clear begining/end.......we used dropping a set amount of clothes pins into a bowl (it was built into a shoe box) or a specific puzzle......basically what we would do is sit the student at thier desk and do the task hand over hand with them and then they would have to do it alone....they could move on when they had completed the task 1 time independantly with no inapropriate loud noises....this could probably be used for any student who has tantrums....as for violence we actually used a "safe" area in the room the was sectioned off with room dividers and the close ended task was taped down to the desk (he had to match pictures) that way he couldnt hurt anyone or himself with the same rules he had to complete the task independantly and no staff could go in that area with him till he was calmed down (he kicked, pinched, scratched, ect)
I've never heard of ABA. He gets speech therapy, OT, and PT. The safe area is a good idea but we don't have room for that. We are located in a small house on the school campus. There is no place to have a safe area in there. Thanks for the ideas....will try them.
Quoting Lillette:
does ur autistic student get aba therapy? Last school year i worked with autistic 5-8 year olds and they all had ABA....if not then you could try some of thier methods.....for the screaming/tantrum try a close ended task....basically some sort of task that he can complete on his own and has a clear begining/end.......we used dropping a set amount of clothes pins into a bowl (it was built into a shoe box) or a specific puzzle......basically what we would do is sit the student at thier desk and do the task hand over hand with them and then they would have to do it alone....they could move on when they had completed the task 1 time independantly with no inapropriate loud noises....this could probably be used for any student who has tantrums....as for violence we actually used a "safe" area in the room the was sectioned off with room dividers and the close ended task was taped down to the desk (he had to match pictures) that way he couldnt hurt anyone or himself with the same rules he had to complete the task independantly and no staff could go in that area with him till he was calmed down (he kicked, pinched, scratched, ect)
has your autistic student been evaluated for spd by an ot? sensory processing dissorder. It usually accompanies alot of autictic children also it may help you with you emotional student. alot of times kids with spd are miss labled especially seince you mentioned that they get OT my bet is its for spd. I have A book that may help you. You working with these types of kids ither way is a must read for you. If I was finished with my copy I would mail you mine!
Sensational Kids By Lucy Jane Miller
also try getiing down on 1 knee and speaking directly asking him to speak to you and that you care and want to know what is going on. These kids have had so so many people in and out of there lives trust is usually the issue. Find out what there hobbies anf favorite tiys are and they will start to open up. Please feel free to contact me if you need anything else. Good Luck and dont give Up!
It is frustrating that they have put you in such a difficult situation withouth the proper supports in place.
Look for these very inexpensive and easy to read books, they can help you and teh rest of the class.
1.- Educating the young child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, moving from diagnosis to inclusion to education by Michael Abraham $ 10.98
2.- Sensory Integration, A guide for pre-school teachers by Chrisy Isbell and rebecca Isbell $19.95
Both are great books and will definativelly help you understand some of teh reasons behind some of the behaviors and how you could implement some easy strategies to try to help the children. I give you kudos for trying to help the kids. I am disapointed that your school distrcict could put them in your classroom without giving you proper training in how to deal with them. Another thing you can read on is call ABA Applied Behavioral Analysis. It will help you identify ABC Antecedent, Behavior and Consequence. Feel free to e-mail me if you need more info or suggestions. Good luck and thank you for trying.
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- carrieoke
on Sep. 2, 2009 at 7:16 PM