An understanding of sensory-based behaviors combined with applied behavior analysis (ABA) may help teachers improve the behaviors and learning of children with autism.
Learners with autism may: 1) be sensory seekers who are on the move; 2) have a low response to sensory input and seem passive or aloof; or 3) have a large response to sensory input and have anxiety. These sensory needs may cause the child to act in certain ways, thereby causing some problem behaviors. The authors suggest that teachers address these sensory-based needs in order for learning to take place. If teachers can see the sensory needs of the child, then the teachers may be able to suggest other behaviors that meet the child’s sensory needs and also allow for learning to take place. The purpose of this article was to describe ways that teachers might meet the sensory-based needs of students.
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A wild ride
Jun 17, 2008 by AnonymousIt just goes by so fast. All of the planning and preparation to get away for one measly week (not enough time!) and the vacation is over in a flash. We’ve gotten back to normal; the laundry is all done and the bags are all unpacked and put away. We had a really great time, the kids especially! Thomas tried new things this year that we couldn’t get him to do last year and he wore his blue Speedo goggles faithfully all week.
Thomas still has a problem with swimming in the lake. We tried to get him in a few times but the closest we got was when my Aunt Suzy convinced him to splash on the shore. That was better than nothing! The rest of the time, he sat on the pier and watched everyone in the water. My Uncle Jeff and Aunt Paula brought a huge eight-person round floating lounger for people to sit in, and we tried to get Thomas into that too, but he wasn’t going for it. Thomas and Hayley mostly swam in the pools and played with other kids’ toys. We did notice as the week wore on that Thomas was having a generally difficult time adjusting. Going on vacation right after school ends for the summer requires a lot of adaptation on Thomas’ part and we could see that he was really struggling. I find it so interesting that Thomas was clearly having fun and enjoying himself, yet he was struggling inside at the same time. It’s hard to describe that to someone unless they see it firsthand. Thomas was particularly difficult in the evenings while we were trying to get dinner on the table or getting ready for bed. He did a lot of “wrestling” with Hayley (whether she was willing or not). He definitely needs more sensory input at these times of change. Thomas also had difficulty with what experts and teachers call “compliance.” To you and me, that means listening and doing what the hell Jonathan and I say. We had some upsetting times when we had to remove Thomas from group situations because he was being too rough. The last night, we all had a big potluck and ate each other’s leftovers before heading home on Saturday. Thomas was actually hitting us; punching right in the stomach. I realized that he was acting out the boxing game on the Wii because after he punched, he would fall on the ground and start counting to ten. Funny, but unacceptable. I warned him once that if he did it again, we’d leave, so we did. He was really upset and he knew what he did wrong because he kept telling us that he was sorry and that he wouldn’t hit again but we had to put our foot down, especially in front of all those people! It’s interesting how much more motivated a parent is to be firm when there’s an audience, isn’t it?
Thomas did ride the waverunner with Jonathan a couple times. On Sunday in particular, everyone wanted to ride with Jonathan and he was exhausted by mid-afternoon. Thomas dictated whether to go right or left and how fast he wanted to go. He mostly likes to go slow, but he enjoyed it very much. I told him that Jonathan has been dreaming of riding the waverunner with Thomas since before he was born, but I don’t think he gets it. Hayley rode a lot as well. She was very agreeable all week, ready to try any activity that anyone suggested. She rode a lot with my cousin Suzy, but mainly wanted to see the big balloon outside the boat rental place nearby. Whoever rode with Hayley got to idle around the pier a lot.
We went out to eat several times during the week; once for breakfast on the way to Missouri, two nights out during the week and then twice on Saturday on the way home. Thomas kind of ran hot and cold with that. Out of the five times we ate out, two of them didn’t go very well with Thomas. All in all, it was alright. Three out of five restaurant meals were peaceful. On Wednesday night, everyone went to our favorite Mexican eatery, then played mini-golf, then rode go-karts and finally we ended up at the frozen custard place. We all do this every year and it is typically a late evening but we decided to go ahead and try it with the kids. Dinner went fine, but mini-golf was hard for Thomas. He kept saying that he didn’t want to play but we sort of dragged him along. We just kept finishing holes and telling him to come on, come on to the next hole. By the eighteenth hole (I still can’t believe we made it!), he was actually enjoying himself.
Onto the go-karts, and this year Thomas was actually ready to try them! He rode with me in a little two-seater kart and Hayley rode with Jonathan. Thomas loved it! I was driving along, mentally patting myself on the back for helping Thomas to finally overcome this aversion to something we all knew he’d love. He was laughing very deeply in his belly. I’ve never heard him laugh like that! He had a great smile on his face and I thought for sure that we’d just have to find a go-kart track near our house. Unfortunately, Jonathan and I were very short-sighted. We didn’t think about what would come after the go-kart ride was over. Thomas did. After I pulled over at the end of our last lap, I unbuckled our seatbelts and Thomas slid over to my seat and said, “Okay. My turn!” Oh, dear. I took his hand and was able to lead him off the track without much trouble, but he was crying. He was crying very loudly by the time we got back to Jonathan and Hayley, so we picked him up and tried to soothe him. It was kind of sweet, somehow. He loved the ride, but wanted a turn to drive. Next year, maybe we’ll check out another track that said “Mini-karts for kids” on the billboard. God help me, can I actually be thinking of letting my son drive his own go-kart? Honestly, he’d probably be a better go-kart driver than I am.
Thomas recovered from the go-karting disappointment when we told him that we were going for ice-cream. When we got to the custard stand, he said, “Hey! I remember this place!” I’ll bet. I think he remembers it because there is a giant ice-cream cone on a pole outside the place. That’s memorable for an autistic five and a half year-old. A very visual child, Thomas is. Both kids fell asleep on our way back to the resort after what we felt was a largely successful evening.
Now that we’re home again, I can tell that Thomas is trying to re-adjust to being home all day. He doesn’t ask if he has school anymore. I wonder if he remembers from last year that there’s weeks and weeks without school after we get home from the vacation house. The rest of the summer stretches out to what seems like infinity. Yesterday, we visited the park. Today, we visited my mom because we had some work done on the car and she met us at the garage. Tomorrow, there’s an HVAC guy coming to check out our air-conditioning. Enthralling, I know. We’ll go swimming, re-up our zoo membership, basically the same stuff as last summer but I’ll try to keep it interesting. Somehow it always is, and the story of our lives requires no exaggeration.
Information, please
Nov 22, 2007 by dankohnI met with Thomas’ teachers (old and new) on Tuesday morning. As I predicted, there wasn’t really much to say because the old teacher didn’t have much information and neither did the new one. We had a nice time chatting for a while and they both had encouraging things to say about Thomas’ progress so far this year. His teacher enjoys having him in class and feels that he fits in very well with the other kids. He’s had to go back to sitting in a cube chair during circle time as opposed to sitting on the floor as he had been doing. Apparently he was a little too fidgety on the floor. He knows the letters in his name and can write the letter “T.” I also got to see pictures of Thomas playing with a mound of shaving cream – something he wouldn’t have even thought about doing a year ago! That was one of his goals from last year, too – playing with messy things. The teacher told met that she has a hodge podge-type class – there are a couple normally developing kids, some with speech delays and then some high-functioning autistic children. Their hope is that the kids with delays will learn from the typical kids. I think it’s cool that Thomas is in a class with some “normal” kids. Hopefully, this will help prepare him for possibly spending some part of his day in kindergarten in a mainstream classroom.
We will have the opportunity for a conference again in January so I’ll be looking forward to that one a little bit more. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t get more information out of this first conference because we always look forward to it. Jonathan couldn’t come anyway because it was during work hours.
Thomas has really needed the sensory input lately. Especially at night I’ve noticed that he has a really hard time settling down and being calm. After he’s had his medicine he calms down a little but right before dinner to right after his bath he’s a ball of noise and energy. Usually a good rubdown helps tremendously. He’s been clapping his hands very loudly and doing some hand-flapping lately too which is odd to me. I thought that hand-flapping would have presented itself a lot earlier in Thomas since that is a fairly common self-stimulation behavior. I think that the hand clapping is Thomas trying to imitate me since I clap my hands to get the kid’s attention sometimes. He must like the noise because he claps as loud as he can rapidly many times before somebody (usually me) asks him to stop. He has been talking a lot lately and asking what printed words say. He’ll point to the light switches and the knobs on the stove where it says “Off” and ask what it says. He knows exactly what it says but apparently likes to hear me say it. I know that he most likely will recognize words rather than read them and sound them out (at least at first). I’m pretty sure he recognizes the word “off” by now. Thomas has also shown an increased interest in books. His teacher said that they have individual book time every day and that Thomas will sit on the floor and look at a book for several minutes which she said was really great in terms of attention span.
They’re doing a “pet store” unit at school right now. I got to see what the kids have set up in the classroom and how they play with it. Thomas has emerging interactive play skills. He still engages in parallel play but is beginning to interact and ask questions when he’s playing alongside others.
Thomas has a great imagination, too! He was reading a Clifford (The Big Red Dog) book last week and his teacher asked what he was reading. He said, “I’m reading Clifford, but I gave him a new name. His name is Kobe.” The teacher had read a book she wrote about her dogs’ trip to the pet store and one of her dog’s names is Kobe. She thought is was cute that he remembered that and wanted to make it a part of the book he was reading.
Thomas’ last teacher was in on the conference too (sort of at my request just so I could gather as much info as possible) and she said again that she loved having Thomas in her class and was sorry to give him up but knew that he needed the higher-functioning class to really get the social interaction he seems to want so much. She said that when she sees Thomas in the halls, he says “hi” to her and says, “I’m going this way, okay?” or “We’re going outside now!” He just gives her a heads-up to let her know what’s going on and she thinks it’s very funny. Thomas is sort of a regular at that school now since he’s been there for two years and everyone knows him.
Over the river and through the woods to my folk’s house we go tomorrow for Thanksgiving. My pumpkin pies were not the disaster they might have been had I attempted to make my own crust. Most people are either a cook or a baker. I am a baker for sure, but one thing I cannot seem to get the hang of is the elusive flaky and buttery pie crust. Mine always end up crumbly. Or they’re too small; I can’t roll them out big enough but still thick enough. Or they crack and end up dry and tasting like dust. So I found those amazing little refrigerated piecrusts and went to town. I’ve officially given up on making my own crusts.
Thomas is excited to be eating turkey tomorrow and has been wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. He said it to his bus driver on Friday without any prompting or urging from me. He must have heard someone else say it on the bus before he came home, but still! It was very cute. I got Hayley to try some extra (cooked) pie filling but Thomas would have none of it. I can’t blame him. Really, pumpkin pie filling doesn’t look too appetizing on its own. Grainy-looking orangey-brown lumpiness. But it was tasty! And Hayley seemed to enjoy it. I’m sure that I can interest them in the whipped cream if nothing else.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thomas' Story
Oct 16, 2006 by AnonymousMy almost four year-old son Thomas is a delightful child in so many ways. He can sing the alphabet song. He can recite entire scenes from movies he likes. He's got a great throwing arm. He shows lots of affection with hugs and kisses. He tries to ride our dog as if she were a horse. He does all of these things and so much more, despite being autistic.
He was diagnosed with autism at the age of three-and-a-half years with the help of both the staff at his developmental preschool and a neurologist. After I completed the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) with his neurologist, Thomas was placed at the moderate to severe end of the spectrum.
The journey to diagnosis was a long and frustrating one. Every time my husband (not me; I was in some degree of denial about Thomas' behavior) mentioned autism to any of Thomas' three therapists (speech, developmental, and occupational), they always replied that they were not qualified to make that kind of diagnosis, but they didn't think he was autistic. We got very tired of hearing that nobody was qualified to make a diagnosis, and since none of his therapists "thought" that he was autistic, we didn't see the need to seek the advice of a neurologist. I still wish that somebody would have had the guts to tell us that they suspected we were up against something very serious.
We had many concerns about his behavior. He crashed into me and my husband all the time, on purpose. He spent the winter of 2004 - 2005 rocking and bouncing his head on our couch cushions. He repeated everything that he heard, word for word, including identical intonation and inflection. He didn't seem very interested in playing with other kids, and when he did, he went about social interaction the wrong way. He would approach another child, a complete stranger, and either hit the child or hug them instead of saying "Hi." Transitions were also very difficult. Leaving the park must have been quite a spectacle as I strapped Thomas' neurologically typical and easy-going little sister into the back seat of the double stroller and then attempted to force Thomas into the front seat while he struggled as best he could to land a well-placed foot or fist in my face. It was enough to make me not want to take him out of the house anymore. I kept at it though, and it seems to be paying off.
Thomas left the Early Intervention program of therapies at the age of three and began school in January of 2006. He was only attending on Tuesdays and Thursdays for two-and-a-half hours in the morning. He was in a class of ten with all of the children displaying some degree of developmental disability or delay. He had good days and bad days, and because of the difficulty his teacher was having getting him to accept the school routine, she suggested that we switch Thomas to a five-day per week schedule. We'd talk more about that at his Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting in May, she said.
I will never forget that meeting. It was on Tuesday, May 9th. Somehow I knew going in that it was not destined to be a "happy" meeting. My instinct was more right than I could have realized as I sat at the end of a long table filled with stacks of papers and Thomas' entire educational staff. Everyone took turns talking about Thomas' behavior, and very little of it seemed good. By the time the school social worker was talking (she was maybe the fourth person out of ten) I was in tears, my mind was in a haze and I could think of nothing but going home and crying for a long time. Unfortunately, the worst was still to come as everyone had finished talking and the social worker said, "All of this suggests autism to me. We'd like you to take him to a neurologist for a diagnosis." There was a quiet nod of assent from the other people at the table, and Thomas' teacher looked at her hands in her lap. Weeks later, I realized that it must be just as difficult for educators to go through those tough meetings as it is for the parents.
I did take Thomas to see his neurologist the very next week. His diagnosis was confirmed and he was allegedly moderate to severely autistic. I don't really agree with where Thomas' neurologist placed him on the spectrum, because he is at his absolute worst at the doctor's office, like most children.
After a long summer, Thomas started going to school five days every week on September 5th. He takes the bus each day and is doing a great job, so far. We're still working on transitions, and he has actually gotten a lot better recently with that. He seems to do better transitioning for everyone but me. (I still have a long, scabby scratch-mark on my face from a particularly nasty incident while leaving Chuck E. Cheese last Friday.) Thomas continues to have a lot of echolalic speech, but he seems to have good days and bad days with it. Of course, social interaction is a problem, but even that's been improving. Probably the most troublesome aspect of Thomas' behavior is that he is constantly seeking sensory input. He really hurts me and my husband sometimes by jumping on us and crashing into us when we're unprepared for it. The chiropractor bills are staggering. (Luckily, he abstains from jumping on his little sister.) If he's not getting enough auditory input, he makes the most irritating noises, like banging toys into walls or slamming doors. It's hard for me to try to redirect him instead of just taking toys away or taking doors off their hinges, so I try to remind myself that he's not making noise just to be obnoxious, he needs the input.
Parenting Thomas continues to be a struggle with small rewards throughout our day. Just this evening, I was whining to my husband because he got home very late from work and I was frazzled after a long day with the kids. Thomas didn't even look up from where he was playing at the sink to say to my husband, "Mommy is getting very sad, Daddy." Of course, I immediately stopped my moaning and started laughing. Through all of this, there are many small, bright moments of clarity in Thomas' behavior that make us laugh or smile. We treasure them all.
My husband and I are going to attend our first Autism Support Group meeting on Wednesday night. I'm not really sure what to expect, but I'm looking forward to exchanging information with other parents in our same situation. We're also about to hit potty training hard, after attending a workshop on the subject at the school last week, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about in the coming weeks.