Transition Toolbox—Transition 101

Transition services as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are intended to help youth with disabilities make the transition from the world of secondary school to the world of adulthood. A good transition plan should consider the individual’s strengths as well as needs in determining the best fit for the individual in terms of vocation, living arrangements, post-secondary education, etc.

It is important to understand that when the individual leaves public secondary school, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), not IDEA, becomes the law that guides access to rights and services for the adult. Inherent in ADA is the expectation that the individual will advocate for his/her own needs.

• Can s/he evaluate and state his/her strengths and preferences?

• Should s/he disclose anything about his unique learning and performance needs? 

• Can s/he effectively self-disclose about his needs and define accommodations that will enhance his/her performance in post-secondary education and work?

• Do the parents and the student recognize the importance of self-advocacy in post-secondary education and work?

Because of this law, it is crucial that the secondary educational program promotes the capacity for self-determination in the individual, supports the individual in self-identifying strengths and preferences, and helps the individual define accommodations and needs that will help him/her succeed in the adult community. 

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Previous Transition Toolbox blogs from Do2Learn.

Transition Toolbox—What's the Plan?

Transition Toolbox--Do2Learn Does It Again

Transition Toolbox—Where Do We Start?

Summer Learning Can Be Fun

Learning should not stop just because summer break begins. Studies have shown that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (and other special needs too) need continued structure and reinforcement of the goals they were striving towards during the school year.  Often teachers will send home packets of worksheets and handouts with ideas of how parent's can continue working on these goals during the summer break. In other cases the student may qualify for Extended School Year services during the summer to help prevent regression. In either case, it is always good for parents to have a plan in place at home for continued structure and ideas for fun and successful, meaningful activities during the summer.

Please take this opportunity to look over some of our previous blogs for some ideas:

• Flash Cards-The Power of Something Simple
• How To Keep Structure On The Weekend
• Feelings Journal
• Graphic Organizers-Let's Make It Visual!
• Fine Motor Skill Deficits-Starting Early Counts

Check out the Academics section of the Do2Learn website to discover lots of ideas to help you fill your summer with fun activities!  Here is just a sample of what you will find.

Dot-to-Dot Letters

Dot-to-Dot Numbers

Safety Sign Coloring Pages

Sequencing and Autism

Sequencing is the task of putting things in order, which can make sequencing activities very appealing to individuals who have Autism Spectrum Disorder. The ability to put things into sequential order demonstrates a number of skills including recognizing people, places and objects as well as concepts of time. Sequencing activities for students can help develop a number of different skills that are necessary for life skill tasks and communication.

“What's the Order” is an interactive game from Do2Learn that helps students master the techniques of time sequencing. Players watch a video of a live person doing an activity and then are challenged to put the individual actions into the right order. This game utilizes both:

• Linear time—first, then
• Relative time—before, after

The videos are of actual people, there are printable activities, and teachers/parents can track progress with performance reports.

JobTIPS Included In OCALI Employment Guide

Do2Learn recently heard the fantastic news that our JobTIPS program has been adopted for use in the OCALI Employment Guide!

OCALI or the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence serves families, educators, and professionals working with students with autism and low-incidence disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairments, other health impairments, and traumatic brain injuries. Please visit the OCALI website to learn more about their mission.

The Customized Employment Guide in which JobTIPS is featured in the Sensory section, recommends evaluating and preparing for the sensory environment of the employment setting. To do this they advise using the following:

• Environmental Demands Rating Worksheet
  
  
  
• Dealing with Environmental Demands Worksheet
  

We are thrilled to know that the Do2Learn JobTIPS program is being used to assist so many individuals as they are exploring career interests, seeking and obtaining employment, and successfully maintaining employment.

Transition Toolbox—Where Do We Start?

Transition planning is a methodical process that defines the core skills that will be priorities during a student's transition years of school. Transition planning requires that the transition team selects core skills on which the student can build a career and a meaningful life. Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) continue to develop life and work skills throughout their lives so the goal is to define those core skills that will be a foundation for future success. Prioritizing these goals requires thoughtful assessment and planning as well as the recognition that the transition years only set the stage for future skill development, self-advocacy and career opportunities.

Because schools are setting the student's stage for a career, effective transition planning must be based on the individual needs, strengths and interests of each student. Individuals with disabilities who are served in special education are eligible for a free and appropriate education up to 21 years of age, or older in some states. During their high school years, extensive planning for the transition out of school and into the next phase of their lives should take place. This planning must begin very early in high school to assure that all of the process is completed.

If an individual is going on to post-secondary education or into the competitive work force, there are critical areas of instruction that must be addressed within the presentation of the standard course of study in high school. These areas include:

• Specific job skills (vocational skills)
• Social communication
• Work behaviors
• Social problem solving
• Self-organization necessary for finding and keeping a job
  
  

Transition Planning must start very early in high school.

Transition Toolbox—What's the Plan?

Transition Toolbox--Do2Learn Does It Again

Emotions Color Wheel—Part II

The Emotions Color Wheel has even more uses then we discussed in Part I of this blog series. The color wheel can be used to teach individuals with Autism about relationships to others. Also it can be used to instruct how much information to share (and the intensity of the emotion to show when sharing that information) with others based on the relationship the individual with Autism may have with them.

• With a stranger you would keep all of your emotions in the outer levels of the Emotions Color Wheel because it is safer.
• With friends that you are closer to and you know very well you can show more intense emotions.
• With an authority figure you would show less intense emotions than you would with family members or close friends. For example, if you are upset by a grade you got on a paper, you might be 'distraught' when when talking about it with a friend, but when discussing it with a teacher it would be wiser to be 'disappointed'.

The less you know someone the further it is from the center of the Relationship Target circle, the less intense the emotional expressions should be and the further it should be from the black center of the Emotion Color Wheel.

Do2Learn also offers a Relationship Target worksheet, shown below that is FREE, that you can print and use in your home and classroom. This helps to visually illustrate the categories of people within a social system and to individuals with Autism determine the levels of appropriate social interactions for each classification.

Feelings/Pain Scale

I had a wonderful question cross my desk this week from a mom who has three children with Autism. She was looking for a way to teach them to communicate with her when they are not feeling well or are in pain. Like this mom, I too struggled with this very same issue when my own daughter was younger. In fact, we still do have problems with this type of communication when she is not feeling well or is in pain.

Individuals with Autism may not even realize they are sick or in pain, so we have to teach them a concrete and visual way to express this, even if they are verbal. Do2Learn does a great job of giving an overview of Reciprocal Communication and giving examples of how to use visuals in working with individuals who have Autism on identifying illness/pain.

Perhaps one of the best FREE tools that D2L has to offer is the free Feelings Scale. Below is a small version that you can click on and it will take you to the full size that is printable. Laminate it and keep it in a handy place. I would print several so that when your child is injured or sick you can assist him/her in identifying where that pain or sick feeling falls on the scale. I have noticed over the years that Emergency Departments throughout the United States utilize similar scales for pain indicators too. It sure beats the old 1-10 scale that was never helpful to an individual with Autism.

If you have questions please post them on our Facebook site or you can post them here on this blog. I can also be reached at kat@do2learn.com . We love helping others out and your questions could help the thousands who read this blog!

Transition Toolbox—What's the Plan?

Do2Learn's JobTIPS Transition Toolbox will be a huge help to transition teams and educators as they ponder the following challenging questions that arise for students who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

• How can educators best prepare students with Autism Spectrum Disorder for post-secondary educational and work environments?
• How can a transition team take optimal advantage of the unique interests and strengths of students of ASD?
• While addressing the standard course of study how can the transition team support the goals of self-advocacy, judgment, and social integration in ways that meet the goals of IDEA?
• How can educators apply ASD intervention practices that have been identified as evidence-based to transition programming in an integrated fashion?

The JobTIPS Transition Toolbox intends in five units to help transition teams answer these challenging questions.

Of course the answers to these questions, vary greatly depending on the individual with ASD. One thing that we know for certain, is that the move from school environments into adult residential, vocational and community environments is a very challenging transition. This transition can take much time beyond the end of high school to get to meaningful and fulfilling routines in all three areas. Both residential competence and community integration are important areas of focus in transition planning.

More to come, so stay tuned!

Transition Toolbox--Do2Learn Does It Again 

Transition Toolbox—Where Do We Start?

Emotions Color Wheel—Part I

Most individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have a difficult time accurately labeling their own emotions and the emotions of others. The Emotions Color Wheel can help teach these individuals with ASD (and anyone who has difficulty in this area for that matter) to group feeling in a visual and structured way.

As you can see each emotion is assigned a color, but within each emotion there is a range of intensity. Less intense on the outside to more intense in the center as shown in the example below.

Here is another visual way of looking at how lighter colors = less intense emotions and darker colors = more intense emotions.

We want to teach individuals with ASD that it is safer to stay with the lighter color emotions, the less intense emotions, because they make those around them feel more comfortable. For example people are more comfortable if you are 'unsure' rather than 'hysterical', 'aggravated', rather than 'enraged' as shown in the example below.

We can teach that the emotions toward the center can cause other people around us to become more emotional and more intense with their own emotions. As teachers we can use the Behavior Thermometer and teach our students to keep their emotions below a 3 to stay out of the center of the Emotions Color Wheel to avoid strong responses from others.

Stay tuned for Emotions Color Wheel Part II—coming soon!

Job Charts In The Classroom and The Home—Why?

Job charts provide routine and visual structure which is perfect for the classroom setting and at home. Let's look at what having jobs at home and in the classroom can do to enrich and prepare a child with ASD for the future.

Children need to help take care of the classroom and their home.

• This helps children become invested in the class room itself and learn to take care of the materials in it. The children also learn to value their own property at home and that of others that live with them.
• Give each student a chore or job to help maintain the classroom.
• At home give children a chore/job that they can complete successfully and be sure to praise and show the child that others in the home have chores as well.
  
  

Children need to try their best on each task.

• This helps to establish a work ethic and reinforce the value of learning.
• Avoid having students grade each others papers. This helps lessen the anxiety and embarrassment some children may feel knowing a peer will know their grades.
• Post the job chart where it is easily visible and set aside a time for these jobs to be completed. Ideally this would be the same time each week.
• Each week change the jobs around so that the children get the opportunity to learn and try new skills.  Do this at home as well.
  
  

Do2Learn offers more information about how establishing classroom routines assists students with ASD on their website. Here is an example of a classroom job chart. This chart can be easily posted for viewing and the names and jobs switched around for variety.