Visual Supports

Visual supports are a fantastic way of helping young people with autism make sense and order out of an often confusing world.  They are commonly used in educational settings but can be of equal, if not more, use in the home.

There are numerous benefits to using Visual Schedules with individuals with Autism and there is also significant research supporting their use for individuals on the Autism Spectrum . A Visual Schedule can be the key to increasing independence and managing anxiety for students with Autism. This can make a huge difference to the child and in turn diminish meltdowns, anxious behavior and foster positive growth.

Verbal instructions or directions only last for the split second they are given.  A child with autism can often be distracted elsewhere, or by focussing on one particular word used in the instruction.  Visual schedules can offer the following advantages:-

Utilizing your child's visual strengths, therefore providing a receptive communication system to increase understanding;

Helping your child to learn new things, accept new challenges and broaden their interests;

Providing tools that allow your child to use skills in a variety of settings;

Increasing your child's flexibility and ability to orient within the world;

Assisting your chid to remain calm and reduce inappropriate behaviours; and

Developing independence and resulting self-esteem.

My approach to visual aids is a dynamic one.  They are not to be put in place to be left `because they are working.'  They need to be constantly reviewed and updated as your child matures and develops.  Just as a visual timetabe for a Y1 class would look very different to a school timetable for a Y10 pupil, so the visual supports used in the home can change and develop over time.

I offer a range of options to suit the individual needs of the child.  I can support in putting in visual aids for short individual tasks, such as going to the toilet; for longer periods of time, such as morning routines before going to school and evening routines leading up to bedtime; and for even longer periods of time which can often lack the structure, such as weekends and school holidays.

An initial one hour consultation to discuss your requirements is £30.  I can then produce materials to your specifications and review your child's needs at the same pro-rata rate.

Lego (R) Therapy

Lego (R) Therapy is quite possibly the best thing I have come across in over twenty years in education.  The basic premise is to take a Lego (R) kit you can buy in any supermarket or toy shop and instead of just one person making it, the instructions are seperated from the pieces with one person using the instructions to explain to the other how to make the model.  At a given point, the roles are reversed so different skills are worked on.

So what you may ask?  Well over ten years of evidence-based research and my own observations of using the technique extensively over the last five years have shown the following benefits:-

1.  Joint task focus.  Children who find it hard to share an activity take to this with enthusiasm as there is the focus of the `reward' of completing the model.  Instead of a vague `play together nicely', there is a structure which makes roles clear.  Thus children learn to share, take turns, encourage each other, deal with frustration (believe me - try explaining to someone else how to make a fire engine designed for and 8-year old!!) in a positive and supportive fashion.

2.  Language of communication.  There is the specific vocabulary of the Lego (R); the colours, shapes and positional language, but also the softer vocabulary of instruction and co-operation which is greatly enhanced by this therapy.

3.  Generalisation of skills.  Studies have shown that the vocabulary of co-operation and sharing has been generalised into non-therapy session situations.

4.  Enjoyment.  Many children enjoy building with Lego (R).  There is a multitude of `Social Use of Language' programmes available, but none that have come close in terms of motivation, enjoyment and making progress as Lego (R) Therapy.

More information on the therapy is available here - http://asdaid.org/lego-and-asd/lego-therapy

A course of Lego (R) Therapy included an initial consultation and assessment, eight therapy sessions and then an end of therapy assessment, so ten sessions in total.  It costs £250 for one child on the programme, £400 for two children and £500 for three children, including all assessments.

johnbroom@aol.com

Social Scripts

Whilst many people find they can `read' a social situation and react in a socially acceptable way, many people with Autism can struggle to come to terms with the social, communication and sensory demands of everyday occurances.  In a school context, these could include in a change of classroom, a supply teacher, a change of timetable due to a Christmas rehearsal or a wet playtime.

Outside of school, many parents report to me issues around going on holiday, accessing clubs and activities, using a different mode of transport or a change in family circumstances.  There are also situations involving sensory challenges, such as visiting a dentist, hairdresser or medical appointment.

A social script can help the child cope with these demands.  They contain four basic types of sentence:-

DESCRIPTIVE - this describes the situation in neutral language
PERSPECTIVE - this describes the feelings of an individual, either the child in question or someone involved with the situation
DIRECTIVE - this gives a guide on how to react or behave in that situation
AFFIRMATIVE - this gives encouragement as to why the directive wil be a positive action.

When writing a social script I always observe the following conventions:-

1.  The script is written WITH the child. There is no point writing a script to give to a child without listening to them and agreeing on relevant feelings and actions
2.  There is only one directive sentence, so the script does not become a list of instructions.
3.  Negative language is avoided, just neutral and positive perspectives.
4.  The word `try' is used in the directive.  Therefore if the child can not or does not implement the directive on any given occasion, then in their mind they have still tried to do so, and therefore have had some success in following the script.
5.  The script is worked through with the child BEFORE the situation to be encountered, not as a reactive tool when things have gone wrong.
6.  Over a period of time, reliance on the script is reduced.

The above protocols come from the best evidence-based practice in the area and have proved successful with dozens of young people I have worked with in education and home contexts.

The fee for an initial consultation, ice-breaking activity with the child, writing of the social script and follow-up review session is £100.

Five Point Scales

The first technique I want to share is the Five Point Scale.

Most people with Autism find it very challenging to read the nuances of their own and other peoples' emotions.  They tend to think in binary terms of happy / sad or calm / excited.

The main purpose of a Five Point Scale is to help that person reflect on differing degrees of emotion within the areas of anxiety, anger, excitablity, noise level, social intimacy - the possibilities are pretty much limitless. 

Here is an example of one done to address anxiety with doing a test in school:-

And another based on the child's special interest in Superman.

 

Where I have found them really effective is in giving the child a simple tool of communication to express how they are feeling.  So instead of a loaded question such as `What is the matter?' or one that is highly challenging and complex to a person with Autism such as `How are you feeling?', a straightforward `What number are you?' can be used.  This means the child can give a one word answer and then both the child and adult can then have an agreed strategy to implement at that number.  For example when I worked in a school where I implemented these with most children I worked with, children were only presented with the challenge of going to lessons when they self-identified as a `1' or a `2'.  Beyond that strategies were used to help them get to that status.

 

I have found them incredibly useful with a wide range of children and cannot speak highly enough of them.

 

To introduce a Five Point Scale with your child at home would typically involve four sessions.  The first would be a consultation with parents / carers as to the issue to be addressed and an `ice-breaker' meeting with the child.  The second and third sessions would involve working directly with the child with an adult present to identify and agree the different points on the scale and actions to be used.   The fourth follow-up session would be after a couple of weeks when reflection would take place and any tweaks and alterations could be made.

 

This programme would cost £100 for the four sessions.

About Me

I'd like to post a little bit about my background and understanding and experience of Autism.

I started teaching in the early 1990s as a History teacher in a secondary school in the north of England.  As well as a love for my subject I also developed my career in pastoral work as I was very interested in the education of the whole child, not just how academic progress was made.  I became Head of Year and Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator within 5 years.  Shortly afterwards, the school became the Local Authority's choice for its new Autism Base and I was fascinated at the learning and behaviour styles of the new pupils who came into my care.

This led to me gaining a post in a Specialist Autism Base within an MLD school on the south coast where my knowledge of working with pupils with Autism was greatly enhanced.  From here I moved to leading an Autism Provision in a mainstream secondary school in the north of England and then onto a post as a Specialist Advisory Teacher in a large authority in Yorkshire.  I have been fortunate to benefit from a huge amount of professional training in Autism during the past decade, including a postgraduate qualification from the University of Birmingham.

Over the years I have gained two main assets that can benefit your child:-

1. A philosophy that is totally child-centred.  I believe in the art of the possible, of starting from where the child is and working with those strengths and abilities in order to address areas we wish to improve.  I do not see Autism as a `disability', but as a way of looking at and experiencing the world that is different to most people.  Therefore I celebrate each unique individual and seek to help them adapt their perspective to understanding a complex and challenging world.

2.  A range of evidence-based techniques and strategies that I have seen prove successful with a large number of young people over a number of years.  These are the products which I am offering through my service.  However I do not come and merely deliver a programme; I tailor it to the needs of the individual and seek to provide firm and measureable outcomes by the end of each period of work.

Briefly the programmes I offer are:-

Five point scales
Social Scripts
Lego(R) Therapy
Understanding Autism
Visual Schedules
Understanding demand avoidance in autism

In addition I am available for consultation on a range of issues relating to your child's autism including demand avoidance, planning for changes, toileting, evening and bedtime routines and managing family conflict.

I shall be posting up a little bit about each intervention over the coming days.

John
johnbroom@aol.com

Welcome

Welcome to this new blog, which will be a space to post up and share some of the many fantastic interventions and therapies I have come across in working with children and young adults with Autism during the past 15 years.

I am currently priviliged to work as a Specialist Advisory Teacher with hundreds of children with Autism and their staff in mainstream schools in a northern local authority in the UK, and have previously worked in Specialist Autism Provisions, both in mainstream and specialist schools.

In this job, you never stop learning, and every day I meet many fantastic children and adults, and can honestly say I come home from work feeling that I have made a real impact on the lives of young people with Autism.

I am just starting to extend my work into private consultancy and tuition, so if you would like to know more, please get in touch at johnbroom@aol.com.   I shall be posting up more details of this in the coming days.

I live in the north Sheffield area, and am available to work in Sheffield, Barnsley and South Kirklees.  I am willing to consider commissions further afield with a contribution towards petrol costs. 

Prices for each intervention are shown in the post describing it.

Thanks for reading!

John