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Parents: Invitation to Participate in a Survey on Autism and Employment

1/27/2017

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I received a message from a fellow doctoral candidate asking if any of Positively Autism's readers might be interested in participating a survey for his dissertation. I'm posting the information below. I appreciated it so much when the Positively Autism community helped with the survey for my dissertation, and here's opportunity to help another student working on autism research. This study is not affiliated with Positively Autism. Please read the study information to see if you might like to participate.
Invitation to Participate in Study

Dear Participant:

As a doctoral candidate at Lamar University, I am conducting a study for my dissertation to better understand the relationship between various parental factors which may impact the successful employment outcomes of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between parental factors and the successful employment of adults, age 26 or older, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the United States. I plan to use this information to develop higher-quality, research-based parent training programs aimed at providing parents the tools they need to help their children with Autism Spectrum Disorder obtain and maintain employment. The results should be of interest and value to parents, educators, related professionals, and any other professionals who work with individuals with Autism and their families.

I hope to have at least 88 parents from across the country participate in this study. Criteria for participation include the following:

The participants must be a parent of an adult, age 26 or older, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder by a licensed professional.
The participants must also have current knowledge of their adult’s employment status.

Your responses are confidential and your name will not be associated with any research findings. In addition, no names or other identifying information will be collected in the survey. The data will be stored electronically in a secure manner.

This study has been approved by the Lamar University Institutional Review Board. You are free to decide not to participate in this study or to withdraw at any time without adversely affecting your relationship with the investigator or Lamar University. There is no compensation to participate in this study; however, benefits of participation may include a contribution to scholarly research, as well as direct benefits to the subjects through the provision of the study’s summary and recommendations regarding how parents can best support their children with Autism Spectrum Disorders to obtain and maintain employment.

If, after reading the above information, you would like to participate in the study, please go to the following link to sign the electronic consent form and access the survey through Survey Monkey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PFWPASD


If you have any questions before, during, or after the survey, please feel free to reach out to the researchers below...

Name of Primary Investigator: James Williams, MRC, CRC - JWilliams109@lamar.edu
Name of Dissertation Chair: Dr. Ken Young – JKYoung1@lamar.edu

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Electricity Safety Activities

1/20/2017

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I made this set of activities for some of my students as part of a unit on electricity. These activities teach some basic electricity safety rules for common situations (such as how to safely unplug something). I like to combine these activities with live modeling and supervised practice of the guidelines contained in the activities.

The "Electricity Safety" Activities are on sale at a discounted price through the end of January.


Below, you'll find links to the other activities I've made about electricity. I absolutely believe that science education is important for all students, including students with autism. I plan to make more science activities in the coming months. Subscribe to the Positively Autism, and you'll be notified when I add new activities.
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New Free Activity: Mini-Unit on Columns, Rows, and Intro to Tables/Graphing

1/14/2017

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In this free activity set, students learn about rows and columns. The activities are designed to prepare students to use tables for graphing and interpreting data from graphs. It's ready-to-use and each page tells you exactly what to say and do with the students. Get it here:
http://www.positivelyautism.com/downloads/ColumnsRowsGraphingMiniUnit.pdf

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Guest Blog: Top 10 Autism Books for Teachers

1/7/2017

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By Curriculum For Autism
Here’s my Top 10 list of recommended reading for teachers of kids with autism:

  • “The Autistic Brain”, Temple Grandin - in this Temple Grandin details the latest research into how the minds of people with autism. She explains why not everyone with autism is a visual thinker.

  • “The Autism Checklist”, Paula Kluth - this book gives a great summary of the adaptations teachers need to make to include kids with autism in their class.

  • “10 Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew”, Ellen Nottbohm - written by an autism-mom, this book is a must read for all teachers.

  • “Carly’s Voice”, Arthur & Carly Fleischman - Carly is a young woman with autism who is unable to speak, but communicates by typing. This book, mainly written by her father, is her true story.

  • “The Way I See It”, Temple Grandin - In this book Temple Grandin shares her opinion on many topics relating to autism.

  • “The Out of Sync Child”, Carol Stock Kranowitz - Many kids with autism also have sensory processing difficulties/disorder. This book provides lots of information and advice about SPD.

  • “Intensive Interaction and Sensory Integration”, Phoebe Caldwell - Pheobe Caldwell has been working with people with autism for over 30 years, most of whom are nonverbal. In this book she explains how it is possible to communicate with nonverbal people with severe autism.

  • “Anxiety To Meltdown”, Deborah Lipsky - This book discusses the triggers for meltdowns, and explains the differences between meltdown & tantrums.

  • “Autism Movement Therapy”, Joanna Lara - Music & Movement Therapy is not only fun, but it can help kids with autism develop new skills. This is an inspiring and encouraging book.

  • “Running With Walker”, Robert Hughes - A true story of a boy with autism and how his family find therapies which help him learn.
Thank you to Curriculum for Autism for sharing this blog post with us.
All guest blogs published on Positively Autism may not necessarily represent the views/opinions of Positively Autism.
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Teaching Daily Living Skills with Video Prompting

1/2/2017

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What is Video Prompting? Video prompting is similar to a picture schedule showing steps in a task (such as washing hands or brushing teeth). A short video clip is made of each step in a task. You watch the first clip, then do that first step (as shown in the video). Then, you watch the second clip and do the second step, and so on.

Why is Video Prompting Useful? Using videos to teach is helpful because people with autism tend to be visual learners. Video instruction capitalizes on this learning style. It also may be more motivating than in-person instruction because many people with autism may prefer technology and electronic screen media.

The short video clips of video prompting allow the viewer to process smaller amounts of information at a time. This may lead to faster mastery of a task.

Video prompting allows a person to gradually learn the steps of a task, which can help build confidence.

Which Daily Living Skills Has Video Modeling Been Used to Teach? Video prompting works well for daily living skills that involve a sequence of steps. Examples may including doing laundry or dishes, putting away groceries, preparing a simple meal, setting the table, using a copy machine or other office equipment, etc.

How Do I Use Video Prompting to Teach Skills? The first step in using video prompting is to define exactly which skill you want to teach, and list out all the steps to complete the skill. This is not as easy as you might think! You need to think about how small you want the steps to be. For example, is it enough to list the steps for getting reading in the morning as (1) brush teeth, (2) wash face, (3) get dressed, and (4) brush hair? Or, do you need to break each of these steps down into smaller steps? This will depend on how well the person with autism learns from video instruction, and their current skill levels.

To make the list of steps (called a task analysis), a good strategy is to observe someone else do the skill, and list each step they do as you watch them. Some additional info about writing a task analysis is here. An example of a task analysis for washing hands is here.

Once you've got the task analysis, you film someone doing all the steps in the task. You can break the video up into the individual clips, and add text or voice-over describing each step on the video if you would like.

Like you would with any prompt, you want to try to reduce the person's need for the prompts if possible. Try to help the person rely less on the video and complete the steps independently as he or she gets more comfortable with repeated practice.

Reference/More Info:

Comparing Video Prompting to Video Modeling for Teaching Daily Living Skills to Six Adults with Developmental Disabilities
By Helen Cannella-Malone, Jeff Sigafoos, Mark O’Reilly, Berenice de la Cruz, Chaturi Edrisinha, and Giulio E. Lancioni
Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 2006, 41(4), 344–356



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The information provided on this website is for instructional purposes only, and should not be construed as professional advice on any subject matter. If you need assistance 
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