Eye Tracking and Autism

The research world has recently come alive with lots of information on eye tracking and how it affects those with the diagnosis of Autism. There are studies on how eye tracking can assist with the actual diagnosis and then there are studies on how eye tracking can help teachers in the classroom, like this one published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

One known fact is, if you have a problem with eye tracking, you are likely to have an issue with reading. Liken it to trying to read a magazine while riding in the back of a pick-up truck while it is going down a bumpy dirt road. That is what children with eye tracking issues experience when they are trying to read. It is a struggle to keep their eyes on the straight line of text. Their eyes may jump (unconsciously) from one line of text to the other and therefore the information they are taking in is jumbled. Eye tracking issues cause problems with information intake even when reading is not involved.

There are lots of programs available to work on eye tracking issues and Do2Learn developed one specifically for early learners many years ago. We knew the importance of eye tracking, emotions, and facial recognition, so we combined them together in a “two games in one” game pack. Fantastic Faces combines our Feelings Game and our Eye Spy game. Eye Spy teaches those early concepts of eye tracking that are so very important for children with Autism to focus on. The Fantastic Faces combo also provides trackable progress reports and printable activities. (this combo is only PC compatible)

Feelings Journal

Today I am bringing in a Guest Blogger to review Do2Learn's Feelings Journal.  Kaitlin Moncol is my daughter who you have all had the pleasure of reading about in past blogs. She is weighing in on this great product that offers specific information about different types of emotions.  For more info click here. Should you have any questions for Kaitlin leave them in the comment section and we will pass them along for her responses. Take it away Kaitlin!

Feelings Journal

Hi!  I'm the new guest blogger, Kaitlin, and I would like to talk about the Feelings Journal. The Feelings Journal is like the journals bought in the bookstore, but a lot more structured. I find it's structure makes it really easy to use because it's not just pages with blank lines. Some pages ask how you're feeling and why you feel that way. Other pages are more like worksheets by giving you an emotion and an activity related to that emotion. I even found some activities that I wish I could have used during high school English classes because they would definitely have been helpful. The best part of the structure is that it's not boring. When I wrote in a plain journal I got bored really easily. It just didn't motivate me. Even if it was an assignment in school, I was not motivated to do it at all. This journal motivates me because it gives easy directions and sometimes pictures, which I really like.

Another thing I really liked about this journal was the super, awesome, amazing cover. It has a design that is modern for today's world. I like that it is a mostly purple colored cover, but that is just my preference.  I also really like the paint splatters on the cover. Not only are designs on the cover, but they are also on the individual pages. They are different for the worksheets and the journaling pages. They are in black and white, so they would not distract from any writing thoughts.

I think that teens and young adults should write and/or draw in a journal. It helps get their feelings our when they don't want to talk about them. I know that when I was a teenager, I did not always want to talk about my feelings. It's not to offend you guys; we just don't always like to talk when we are upset about something.  Parents, I think you should get the Feelings Journal for your son or daughter because it might make it easier for them to express feelings in a productive way. Teachers, I would suggest getting this for a student who might be going through a hard time. That's all I have to say about this! Can't wait til next time!

Kaitlin in her younger years!

Special Education Teachers Are Awesome!

Special education teachers have jobs that are more challenging than ever these days. There is more and more paperwork that must be filled out, even if it is on computers, it still takes valuable time to get it done. With the economy causing systems to make budgets cuts, these teachers are having to do more with less. The student to teacher ratio is beginning to change in some classes, so some teachers have more students then ever and these students have individual educational needs that must be met according to IEP guidelines. How are these teachers doing it? They are educating our students with special needs and doing a fabulous job!

• They love their students—It is obvious that special education teachers love children.

• They engage their student's parents—These teachers make sure there is a home-school connection. This may be by sending a newsletter by email, phone calls, daily notes, etc.

• They are creative educators—With each student in their class having an IEP and each IEP having individual goals, these teachers have to be creative to come up with ways of meeting multiple goals at the same time. That is the ultimate in multitasking.

• They create safe classrooms—Special educators have classrooms where their students feel safe to make mistakes as they are learning. You will often find that these classrooms are where a lot of “typical” students will gather because they feel the security within that class provided by that teacher.

• They have patience—Oh do they have patience! Special education teachers know that they may have to go over and over an educational directive many times before it finally clicks. They also know that they may have to change the approach and these teachers never give up.

Special education teachers are so incredible and so vital to our students. We know (as mentioned in our How To Spot A Great Teacher post) that graduation time is coming up soon and student teachers are in classrooms. We are grateful to those individuals who are going into special education and we have the perfect online resource to help them get started. Our Teacher Toolbox is a compilation of advice from Dr. Claire Coles' team of experts at the Marcus Institute and the Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

We also have the perfect Graduation gift to help them get their new classrooms started. In fact it is a wonderful resource for ANY special education teacher! Our Special Needs Handbook for Teachers will help create an organized and efficient classroom where special needs students will thrive. Resources to help students develop problem solving in reading, language and math skills are included with a whole lot more.

Making this purchase for your favorite special education teacher will be received with such appreciation. They really need all the support and encouragement they can get these days for all the wonderful ways they are providing priceless education to our children.

Fine Motor Skill Deficits – Starting Early Counts

When we think of fine motor skills the word dexterity often comes to mind. These skills are the coordination of small muscle movements, such as in the fingers and hands, (also toes, lips, tongue, etc.) along with the eyes. Often a child with a fine motor skill deficit may have difficulty with handwriting, painting, using scissors, and even dressing themselves or tying shoes. You may even be surprised to know that fine motor deficits can affect facial expressions and eating.

A Doctor can make a referral to an Occupational Therapist who can do an evaluation to see if there are fine motor skill deficits and recommend specific interventions for your child/student. This may also happen within a school setting as well. If you already have that information, or just want to encourage those skills in your child/student, there are lots of activities that are done everyday that work on those fine motor skills. For example, just passing an object from one hand to the other is a wonderful activity that works on fine motor skills. Picking up those little o-shaped cereal pieces are great for the pincer grasp. Building towers with blocks and cutting with scissors, not to mention learning how to tie shoes, all work on fine motor skills. Plus they are all so much fun!!

Do2Learn has a Fine Motor SkillsActivity Book available that is designed to improve fine motor skills. It contains activities that provide positive sensory feedback and enhances hand-eye coordination. These activities also exercise the muscles needed to manipulate a pencil in a mature tripod grasp. Work on this grasp is needed to prevent fatigue during handwriting activities.

For more information on fine motor skills development and activities be sure to check out this page.

Graphic Organizers – Let's Make It Visual!

Graphic organizers are offered as one of the many accommodations on IEPs (Individual Education Plan) in the United States, but often parents are unsure of what they actually are and how they can help their student. Because of this lack of knowledge they may pass over this much needed accommodation or even fail to see the usefulness of such a tool in the home. Let me assure you that you want to make certain your child's teacher is utilizing these types of visual organizers with your child if he or she is a visual learner.

Graphic organizers are tools designed to break down and teach important information in a visual way. It also takes the abstract and allows for it to be taught in chunks or sections. By teaching difficult concepts in such a visual manner you are allowing the student to absorb each piece of information at their own pace and for the student to build on information that has been previously taught.

Do2Learn offers several different types of graphic organizers that were developed in conjunction with Spectrum Resources of North Carolina, Inc. Please click on the links to get more detailed explanations of each graphic organizer and the best way to use each one. We also have links there to free printable blank ones for your own use.

• Behavioral Thermometer

• Brainstorming Map
• Circle Organizer
• Concept Map
• Data Chart

• Data Diagram
• Decision Making Guide
• Hierarchical Organizer
• Relationship Target
• T-Chart
• Topic Tree

These organizers can be modified to suit your child's/students individual learning needs. Again, please be sure that if you have a child who is a visual learner, that graphic organizers are an accommodation that is checked on the IEP and used in the class and at home.  Good luck and have fun!

Self-regulation and The Classroom

Self-regulation means to bring order to one's self or by one's self. Not an easy task for a child with special needs in a classroom of 8-28 other children. Not an easy task for that child in any situation due to the difficulties in communication, sensory problems, attention issues, etc. that accompany most developmental delays and special needs.  How do we know that a child with special needs is having an issue with self-regulation in a classroom? Typically we can see the above difficulties lead to behavior problems that disrupt the class.

Often these behaviors are misinterpreted as intentional. Let's take a look at some of the behaviors you might see from a child with special needs in the classroom and the possible strategies to try.  These strategies may be very helpful in ending/preventing behavior problems all together in some cases. 

Child can not sit still: self-regulation issue is the child is overstimulated and cannot calm themselves.

• Provide frequent breaks
• More ideas here.
• Have student sit on a barrel seat so they can move with out disturbing others. See Example below.

Child shows aggressive behavior: self-regulation issue is the child may not be able to control actions and/or emotions.

• Use social stories to help the child understand the cause and effect of their actions. See example below.

• More ideas here.

Child appears unmotivated: self-regulation issue is the child has problem sustaining consistent energy output.

• Provide consistent feedback.
• Use genuine praise.
• More ideas here.

Child appears defiant: self-regulation issue is inefficient intake and sustaining attention causing poor understanding.

• Maintain predictable work schedule. See example below.

• More ideas here.

Child is impulsive: self-regulation issue is the child can not inhibit responses and has in-the-moment thinking.

• Teach student to count to 10 before making a response.
• Use a schedule to maintain consistent daily routine to limit the impulsive actions. See example below.

• More ideas here.

Child appears uncaring: self-regulation issue is that the child lacks awareness of cause and effect reasoning.

• Practice role playing games to teach appropriate social skills.
• Try using the Feelings game to demonstrate facial expressions.
• More ideas here.

Children with poor self-regulation can interrupt an entire classroom. They can be overly sensitive to change and transitions, inattentive or physically hyperactive. The good news is these children benefit from structure and predictability!