Take the autism quiz
Can you turn students' fixations into learning tools?
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Download Paula Kluth and Patrick Schwarz's frequently asked questions about this unconventional approach to student fascinations |
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You'll find the answers to our quiz below, but, first, take a look at the story that became the inspiration for Paula Kluth and Patrick Schwarz's new book "Just Give Him the Whale!":
Pedro, a little boy with autism, was screaming in his kindergarten classroom on the first day of school. Ms. Gomez, the principal, heard the child's cries and walked into the room. She observed two colleagues discussing the best way to deal with the situation. It appeared that Pedro had started crying because the kindergarten teacher had taken away his favorite whale toy. Believing that her new student would be successful without the "distraction" of his favorite possesion, she had decided to try and hide it from him. The teacher's co-teaching partner, a special education teacher, had a different perspective on the situation. "What do you want him to do?" she asked her colleague. "I want him to do his work. I want him to participate," answered the kindergarten teacher. The special education teacher thought for a minute and replied, "Then just give him the whale."
Soon after this incident, the children in Pedro's class started bringing in photos of whales to cheer, support, and connect with him. For her part, the kindergarten teacher began incorporating whales into her lessons (reading whale stories, using whale stickers on worksheets, etc.).
See our quiz answers below, along with other examples of ways you can use students' fascinations to include students on the spectrum (or any student with intense interests!).
1. g. to boost literacy learning: encourage students to read everything they can in their area of interest, and then coax them into other areas by choosing stories that feature their interests or creatively incorporating their interests into the story
Lesson planning was a challenge for Trey, a student who did not speak, loved horses, and had a very active way of learning; he seemed uninterested in anything but playing with horse figurines he kept in his backpack. Trey's teachers got him horse magazines in an attempt to draw him into classroom activities, but then all he wanted to do was look at the magazines. Encouraged that he was at least looking at literacy materials, his teaching team tried to coax him into more literacy exercises by creating classroom books using pictures from the magazines. For a transportation topic, for instance, they cut out pictures of horses pulling carts and people riding on horses. They also pasted some of the photos into their basal reading, adding a pony character to Brrr! A Book About Polar Animals (Berger & Berger, 2000). This last exercise was fun for all of the students, as they never tired of giggling at the sight of a horse standing amid a colony of penguins.
2. h. to comfort: allow the student to carry an item of fascination in times of stress to provide the student a sense of security, confidence, and companionship as necessary
Jimmy, a shy second-grader new to his school, was very uncomfortable any time there was a change or transition in his day. He remained most distressed when he had to shift from one place to another (such as from his desk to the reading corner). After 2 difficult weeks, Ms. Richards, the general education teacher, decided to give her room a makeover that her young student could not resist. Because Jimmy loved the Chihuahua featured in the Taco Bell ads, Ms. Richards decided to make the dog a part of the classroom. She went to the local branch of the fast-food restaurant and asked if they had any placemats she could have. She used the placemats to show Jimmy where to sit at his reading table and where to sit on the group-time rug. She also got him a little stuffed toy Chihuahua to carry around when he was feeling nervous or in need of support.
3. e. to facilitate inclusion: use the student's fascination as a theme throughout the day to engage her and help her feel part of the classroom activities
April, a third-grader who had attended a special education school for 4 years, loved the chef Emeril Lagasse. Since everything in her environment was new to her, April's teachers knew they would need Emeril's help to comfort, motivate, reassure, teach, and support her. To welcome April, they had her classmates decorate the inside of her locker with pictures of Emeril with dialog bubbles coming out of the chef's mouth exclaiming Welcome to Holmes School! and Third grade is fun. April's homeroom teacher, Ms. Alvarez, changed the day's schedule to read "Today's Menu of Events," and added a paper chef's hat to her collection of classroom props for when she wanted to really motivate and energize April and her classmates.
4. a. to develop a relationship with the student: check with the family about a student's interest in advance, then invite the student to lunch and ask questions about his interests
A formal way to use student interests to develop a relationship is to interview a student (or his family) about his area of interest. For example, Kip, a student who loves tractors, was shocked when his teacher, Mr. Rye, invited him to lunch and proceeded to ask him all about John Deere, Case, and other companies that the student revered. This was a turning point in Kip's education, as no teacher had ever treated his love of farm equipment as anything other than a quirk to tolerate.
5. d. to help minimize anxiety during transitions: talk about how the student's favorite characters would cope in situations that the student struggles with and provide reminders of what the character would do when the student faces difficult moments
Mason, a middle school student with a love of cockroaches, struggled with social anxiety. He disliked the lunch room, the bus, parties, and any environment that was loud, unpredictable, and chaotic. He coped with this anxiety either by not entering these environments or by refusing to interact with others if he did. All of this changed when his teacher decided to use roaches to facilitate transitions. Mr. Landry, his teacher, found at a novelty store a plastic roach that Mason could keep in his pocket at all times and wrote "I will survive" on the insect's back in permanent marker. He and Mason discussed how cockroaches have an unbelievable ability to survive, even in the most daunting conditions and circumstances. In fact, Mr. Landry told Mason, roaches are known for their ability to survive a nuclear blast! This lesson, combined with the introduction of the "pocket roach" (as it came to be called) made all the difference for Mason in social situations.
6. f. to build leadership skills and share expertise: have students share their interests by creating "classified ads" advertising what they know and do well, along with "help wanted" ads seeking assistance in areas in which they want to gain skills
Students with autism often complain that they are reprimanded for talking about or otherwise sharing their interest areas. Imagine the possibilities if students were invited not only to share their fascinations but also to serve as classroom experts and teachers in those areas. One way to accomplish this is with the classified advertisement activity. In this activity, all learners are asked to write an ad offering their services or expertise in a certain area (e.g., scrapbooking, organizing, math tutoring, telling jokes). Each student must also write a "help wanted" ad seeking assistance for any area in which she wants to gain skills or abilities. Students might ask for or offer help in anything from designing origami to practicing math facts to learning to play tetherball.
7. c. to expand communication skills: program vocabulary and questions into a student's augmentative device related to her area of interest to motivate and encourage its greater use
Devona, an eighth-grader, was less than responsive when Ms. Rice, her speech therapist, asked her to use her communicative device to complete a fill-in-the-blank worksheet; it was unclear if she understood the tasks or even understood how to use the device. Ms. Rice decided to ask Devona about a topic she knew she loved: monster movies. Devona particularly liked the movie Young Frankenstein, so Ms. Rice programmed information about the movie into the device. She prompted Devona to walk around school, find peers, and hit a key to ask the question, "Do you know the movie Young Frankenstein? Can I tell you about it?" She immediately became more interested in communicating and began seeking out Ms. Rice to program new messages into her device.
8. b. to expand social opportunities: explore extracurricular activities, the Internet, and other avenues to provide (safe) exposure to and interaction with others who share the student's passions
Some students who find conversation and common methods of social interaction a challenge are amazingly adept when the interaction occurs in relation to an activity or a favorite interest. For instance, Patrick, an eight-grader, had few friendships and seldom spoke to his classmates until a new student came into his English class wearing a Star Wars T shirt. Patrick's face lit up and he bombarded the newcomer with questions and trivia about his favorite films. The new student, eager to make a friend, began bringing Star Wars memorabilia to class. Eventually, the two students formed a lunch club where a handful of students gathered to play video and board games related to science fiction films.
For more ideas, be sure to see "Just Give Him the Whale!" 20 Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of Expertise, and Strengths to Support Students with Autism by Paula Kluth and Patrick Schwarz.
