Written scripts and visual cues may help children with autism learn to use scripted statements in social situations. Prior research has shown that the use of written scripts can help to teach children with autism to approach their peers. The purpose of this study was to see if written scripts and visual cues can help children (ages 7-12) with autism. All three children increased the use of scripted (but not unscripted) statements after intervention. The children also learned to not repeat things as often (perseverative speech). The authors suggest that written scripts may help children with autism do a better job of talking to their peers in context.
Autism Therapy: script
definition of script: not yet defined.
No Factsheets to Display
- Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, by Ganz, JB, Kaylor M., Bourgeois B., and Hadden K., published in 2008, summarized Oct 6, 2008
Visual cue cards may be able to help children with autism learn play skills in a play therapy setting.
This study was designed to see if visual cues would help preschool children with autism learn play skills. The use of visual cues did result in increased play. The children in the study used the script phrases that were shown on the visual cue cards. The children had a very small increase in the use of unscripted phrases. The authors suggest that such visual cue cards may be quite helpful in play therapy sessions.
Naturalistic settings (as opposed to tightly controlled settings) can help children with autism learn to generalize (apply new skills to new situations).
Teaching children with autism can be hard. Teachers have to find the balance between teaching new skills and teaching children to apply the learned skills to new situations. This review article describes when it is best to focus on the new skill and when it is best to focus on applying the new skill. The authors also describe tools for school psychologists, teachers and others looking to learn more about naturalistic settings. The authors list books that describe in more detail the three most popular naturalistic therapy techniques: incidental teaching, pivotal response training, and script fading.
Aspiritech, a company in Illinois, hires people with Asperger’s to test software. The focus and memory for detail that many people with Asperger’s have are skills that make them great software testers. Aspiritech pays between $12 and $15 an hour and trains the employees as a team so that they can build social skills. Marc Iazar, Aspiritech’s autism specialist explains, “For many of them, software testing is not going to be their lifelong career, but while they’re here they’re going to improve their job skills and they’re going to learn what kind of behavior is expected on the job and they’re going to have more to put on their resumes.” Aspiritech is a non-profit organization whose software testing offerings include compatibility, functional, and regression testing, and testing case and test script development.
Read original article: Asperger Syndrome Helps to Test Software
Paper Mill Playhouse decided to adapt their production of “Stone Soup and Other Stories” to children with autism. Together with Autism New Jersey and the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center at Rutgers University, the live children’s theatre worked to make the play, the seating area, the volume, and the lighting appropriate for children with sensory issues. Pushcart Players, the acting troupe, worked to make the script and acting more literal because sometimes kids with autism have problems with body language and innuendo. The lights will be left on halfway, and the volume in the theatre decreased. Also, children will be allowed to leave their seats at any time with parental supervision. The day before the special June 11, 2011 Matinee, the Playhouse is holding a “Meet Your Seat” event so that parents and children can become familiar with the theatre. Paper Mill Playhouse and Pushcart Players say they are committed to perform several more “sensory-friendly” plays.
Read original article: Theater Adapts a Show for Children with Autism
Jet Fuel Only, a band out of Chico, CA, was originally formed when Dan Goodman "promoted music as an educational, brain-developing therapy for his sons." He hoped that his three boys, one with Asperger Syndrome, another with a speech impediment, and a third with a more profound form of autism, would learn socialization, increased speech, and music. The band's story has been featured in People magazine, and has attracted a movie script writer.
Please comment on script or other autism therapy topics.
Twitter
Facebook
By Email
RSS Feed
No Comments to Display