Blog Archives

Visual Timers: Show and Tell

9/18/2015

Visual timers can be a great tool to help with transitioning from one activity to another. They provide a visual cue for when an activity will end, or another activity will begin. They make a time limit a little more concrete. Instead of just telling a child, "In five minutes, we will be going to the gym," you can also show them using a visual timer. You can even put a picture of the upcoming activity next to the clock, so the child will know what will happen when the time is up. Here are some examples of visual timers available from Amazon.com.

Time Timer, 12 Inch

7" Time Timer Plus

Learning Resources Time Tracker

Teacher Created Resources 5 Minute Sand Timer

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RFFC Colors: A Fun Train-Themed Activity for Children to Receptively Identify and Sort by Color

9/16/2015

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http://www.positivelyautism.com/downloads/rffc_colors.pdf

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Dimensions of ABA Flashcards

9/12/2015

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Here are two free sets of flashcards on the characteristics/dimensions of ABA. These are particularly helpful if you're taking college classes on ABA or preparing for the national exam.

Dimensions of ABA Flashcards by allisone82

Characteristics of ABA by PositivelyAutism.com: Set the flashcards to "Definition then Term" when first studying, then you can switch to "Term then Definition."

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Free ABA Tutorial to Help Your Children or Students

9/9/2015

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Positively Autism's free online ABA tutorial has been revised and updated! We've made the tutorial more user-friendly with more examples and videos.

If you're a parent whose child is in an ABA program or if your child's school uses ABA, this tutorial will help you understand ABA so you can help your child at home. It also provides some pros and cons of ABA programs so you can decide which type of ABA program might be the best fit for your child.

If you're a teacher or paraprofessional, this tutorial will give you a good background in ABA for working with your students with the support of your district's BCBA or behavior specialist.

If you're looking for a job as an ABA therapist, this tutorial will give you the background knowledge you need for your job interview and to get started with working with children with autism under the supervision of a BCBA.

You'll find the tutorial here: http://www.positivelyautism.com/aba/

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"Road Sign Matching" Folder Games Pack

9/6/2015

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Kids with autism are much more motivated to learn when activities are based on their interests! If your children or students love transportation or vehicles, these folder games are great for working on matching shapes, letters, and numbers.

Download the games here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Road-Sign-Matching-Folder-Games-Pack-2077159

The cost for this folder game set is a $2.00 contribution to Positively Autism. Thank you for your support!

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How Peers Can Help Communication and Social Skills

9/5/2015

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Involving a child's school peers or other same-age children can be helpful in teaching social and communication skills. Peers can be taught specific ways to interact with children with autism to help encourage these skills. For example, they may help interact with children involved in an activity, encourage play, or help with schoolwork. This approach can be called a "peer network."

In a recent study, researchers looked at using peer networks to help elementary school students with autism improve their social communication skills. Four children with autism participated in the study. A peer network program was created for each child. In each peer network activity, a child with autism sat between two peers at a small table. The teacher used games, puzzles, or other cooperative activities to work on specific social communication skills. Children were taught phrases they could use to talk to their peers about the game or activity, such as saying "I have a green one," This is fun," "I did it," and "Nice job." Cards with written phrases and visual cues were use to help children remember to say the phrases.

The study's authors reported that all four children improved their communication skills. More specifically, two children increased their initiations with peers and three children showed improvements in responding to peers.

The researchers believed that these parts of the program may have contributed to its success:

Providing children with a choice of games/activities (giving choices is a GREAT way to motivate kids with autism - see the video below for easy examples),
Providing visual cue cards that listed comments children could make about the game/activity (we all know how helpful visual cues and supports are),
Using a point chart. Children could earn points for participating throughout the session. The points could be used to choose a prize from a "treasure box" at the end of the session.

For more information and details about the how the peer networks used were used (and specific data about the results), read the article:

"The Use of Peer Networks to Increase Communicative Acts of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders" by Debra Kamps, Rose Mason, Kathy Thiemann-Bourque, Sarah Feldmiller, Amy Turcotte, and Todd Miller

Journal: Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities (2014), Volume 29, Issue 4, pages 230-245

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Visual Timers: Show and Tell

RFFC Colors: A Fun Train-Themed Activity for Children to Receptively Identify and Sort by Color

Dimensions of ABA Flashcards

Free ABA Tutorial to Help Your Children or Students

"Road Sign Matching" Folder Games Pack

How Peers Can Help Communication and Social Skills

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