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1/25/2017 3:07 PM
I have a student who uses touch chat effectively to communicate basic needs and wants. I understand the need to allow this student his newly aquired voice at all times. However, he repetitively asks for an item and perseverates to the point of repeating the request continuously throughout a lesson. I am considering turning down or even muting his device so it is not disruptive to the rest of the class. He also has a goal on his iep to stand and gain teacher attention to obtain a request... with the volume down, we can also work on this. Does this sound like a fair strategy?
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Muting touch chat for this particular student has been an effective strategy. It has increased his independence in initiating a need/want, as he is now approaching staff and tapping us on the shoulder before his requests are addressed. We used PECS style prompting by a silent partner to teach this. Although he continues to perseverate on a variety of vocabulary throughout the day and during lessons, it is no longer disruptive to the entire class.
cscheidt@nsseo.org - 5/10/2017
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That sounds fair to me. I've had an autistic kiddo that would go back to the same silly phrase that made him laugh and laugh. We eventually took this button off his device. I'm not familiar with touch chat so not sure if you could do that with this.
Christa - 2/7/2017
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Gaining attention is such an important skill: without it an individual can't really initiate communicate, since they are dependent on someone already attending to them. Is there there some way to hide the symbol for the item the student perseverates on when it is inappropriate to request it? Or somehow label it as not available?
charity.rowland@gmail.com - 1/25/2017
Hi Charity,
Thanks for your response. We have tried to cover the iPad with a large laminated "not" symbol when it is not his turn. He simply pushes it aside. We've also tried to hide symbols. As soon as we hide one, he chooses a different symbol to perseverate on instead. He went from repeating "eat macaroni and cheese" to "drink chocolate milk". Today during a lesson, he refused to say anything other than "I want play". Even when a response was modeled for him or when we navigated to an appropriate page and gave him open ended questions, as soon as he could he navigated back to his original "I want play". When the activity was over and it was time for a break, he made a choice from the play page and requested bike when he was interrupted and asked what he wanted to play... But during the lesson, he couldn't seem to break this cycle and appeared quite stuck. Hoping we can figure something out soon.
cscheidt@nsseo.org - 1/26/2017
I'm wondering if you could disable the navigation using Guided Access and circling the part of the screen that would navigate to the area where he is asking for things that aren't appropriate for that time. Is he using activity-specific pages (e.g., "math class" folder with the necessary core & fringe on that page)? If you could put it on that page, use the Guided Access to disable temporarily the navigation to the other "fun" areas, it might be a solution. Personally I would keep something like, "I + want + something different" or "I + want + break" or "I + want + different", so that the student has the opportunity to express his desire to "NOT" be doing math but in a more appropriate way that can be acknowledged, "I know you WANT + DIFFERENT but TIME for MATH" or something like that.
Lisa W. - 2/20/2017
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The only way I know that he wants something is because he fusses or whines when he's unhappy or uncomfortable, and he smiles, makes noises or calms down when he's happy and comfortable. Does this statement describe your child?
She doesn't come to me to let me know what she wants, but it's easy for me to figure out, because she tries to do things for herself. She knows what she wants, and her behavior shows me what she wants. If she runs out of something to eat, she will just try to get more, rather than trying to get me to give her more.
Does this statement describe your child?
He knows how to get me to do something for him. He uses some of the kinds of behaviors below to communicate:
Does this statement describe your child?
Each question you will see is related to a certain message that your child might be able to express using a variety of behaviors. Read the question and decide whether your child is able to express the message described using any of the listed behaviors. If the answer is YES, then you must also decide whether your child has mastered the use of each behavior or whether it is still at an emerging stage. Check either the mastered or emerging box next to any behaviors your child uses to express the message. Use the following definitions to decide whether a behavior is mastered or emerging
– Does this independently most of the time when the opportunity arises
– Does this in a number of di erent contexts, and with di erent people
– Does this inconsistently
–
Only does this when prompted or encouraged to do so. Only does this in one or two contexts or with one person.
Each question you will see is related to a certain message that your child might be able to express using a variety of behaviors. Read the question and decide whether your child is able to express the message described using any of the listed behaviors. If the answer is YES, then you must also decide whether your child has mastered the use of each behavior or whether it is still at an emerging stage. Check either the mastered or emerging box next to any behaviors your child uses to express the message. Use the following definitions to decide whether a behavior is mastered or emerging
