I started this week in the new classroom. So far, I like it a lot. It's not perfect, but frankly, I can deal with that. My first order of business is to get the kids to listen to me. Just like any other kids in any other classrooms, if I say sit in the chair, they should sit in the chair, if I say stop sitting on the kid next to you, they should stop sitting on the kid next to them, if I say stop wrecking the room and tearing your clothes off, by cracky they should clean up the mess and pull those pants up.
However, they are autistic. They don't want to listen to you and stop removing their pants, because life is so much better without pants. They usually do not respond to your threats of eternal retribution if they don't keep the pants on, and they do not usually respond to your pleas of endless recess if they keep their pants on. They also don't find work fun, just like any other kid, but they may respond to a work demand by removing pants. And pants need to stay on at school.
There are two main ways to get kids who are non-verbal, very autistic, and cognitively impaired to listen to you.
The first option is to give them no option. You told them the pants need to stay on, and you're going to hold those pants up until the kid realizes that the pants cannot be physically pulled down because you are too strong. You told them to find the number one, and you're going to take the kid's hand and make them touch that number one if you have to. This option has its pros and cons. The upside is that the kid does what you want. The downsides are that the kid doesn't want to do what you want, the kid might be too physically strong for you to make him do what you want, and the kid learns that you're not his friend. Also, it's pretty mean, if you ask me. There's a time and a place to do this, but not all the time.
The second option is to make them see that your way is the most awesome way. Your way is soooo much better than running around the room with nothing but the pure, clean air between you and your rear end. And this is where the Skittles come in to play. This is also where the awesome value of pretzels and the iPad and the TV and the marshmallows are maximized.
It works like this. Think back to when you were in school. If you did your work, behaved fairly well, and were not a jerk to the teacher, you went out with your class to recess. If you ripped up your worksheets and ran around the room like a maniac, you weren't allowed to go to recess. If you were good, you got nice things. If you were bad, you didn't get nice things.
Kids with autism may not be motivated by recess at the end of the day if they keep their pants on. They might not find recess to be all that great, or they might not (like all of the kids in my classroom) have the cognitive ability to realize that if they keep their pants on all day, they can earn good things. They need something much more immediate so that their brains connect keeping pants on with awesome.
So when it comes down to it, the second option for getting kids with autism to do what you want is to give them access to reinforcing food (yes, like Skittles) and activities (yes, like the iPad) only when they are doing what you want. Thus, they can connect keeping pants on with pretzels and chips, and in the long run, that's actually a good thing.
But, and this is the really really big but (heheheheh... butts... heheheheh), you're not going to be giving these kids Skittles every time they do something you want forever. This is something that I try to keep in mind, because it really bothers me to see very capable kids (especially middle school kids) doing things they they can and should be doing by themselves in exchange for a goldfish. You have to fade out the iPad and the Skittles. You don't want the kid to be dependent on sugar to keep their pants on, because then they'll just get fat. The goal of feeding the kid Skittles now is so you don't have to feed them Skittles later.
Which is why I'm currently feeding all the kids in my new classroom lots of Skittles.
And which is also why they're not running around the room with no pants, because they're busy receptively identifying common household items with Yours Truly.
My case in point is Small Girl.
Small Girl is in kindergarten. She's non-verbal, very autistic, climbs furniture, and is my inspiration for the above examples about pants removal. She doesn't want to sit down and learn because emptying the soap dispenser is much more fun.
On Tuesday, our first day back, I walked over to Small Girl, who was spinning around in circles by the backpacks. I asked if she wanted to do some work. She screamed and smacked me in the kneecap. It hurt.
On Wednesday, I walked over to Small Girl, armed with Skittles, pretzels, M&Ms, goldfish crackers, and her favorite toy, empty film canisters. I asked her if she wanted to come over to the table and play with the film canisters. She screamed and jumped off the file cabinet onto the floor. I plopped on the ground beside her and gave her the canisters. She sat on the floor next to me and put rolls of film in and out of the canisters (this is actually a good fine motor activity, just so ya know). Every, like, thirty seconds I gave her a pretzel and praised her for sitting so nicely and playing with the film canisters. She didn't scream and she didn't hit me, so that was a plus.
On Thursday, armed with the above combo of Small Girl's favorites, I asked her to come over to the table and play with the film canisters. This time she jumped up and came over to the table. She played with the canisters and ate M&Ms. This time, however, I was sneaky. Before I gave her an M&M, she had to do something for me first. Sure, she could have an M&M, but first her bottom needed to touch the chair. Sure, she could have a Skittle, but first she needed to put her feet on the floor. She did scream once or twice, but once she realized that she still got what she wanted a few seconds later, she was fine.
On Friday, I asked her to come work with me, and this time, there were no film canisters. She ran right over to the table. I gave her an activity where she had to match identical pictures. Every few pieces that she put in I gave her a small piece of pretzel. Every time I asked her to sit nicely, she did so right away. When I asked her to clean up, she did. And she ate about half the amount of candy that she ate the day before. Later in the day, she cleaned up her snack when I asked, sat with her bottom on the chair when I asked, and put on her shoes when I asked. When we walked out to the bus, she took my hand, I didn't take hers.
To recap, beginning of week, screaming and no work. Middle of week, Skittles, less screaming, and more work. End of week, less Skittles, less screaming, and lots of work. It'll take a while because she's very young and very delayed, but eventually she's going to have to work pretty hard for a pretzel stick or an M&M.
So this is what I did all week with the kids. Not all of them really care about working for candy. One little boy just likes to work, actually. But they're all working pretty well for me, and they all like me, because I smile at them and give them good things.
And yesterday I saw something that hearkened to successful days ahead.
It was playtime. Some of the kids were running around (thankfully, all of them still had pants) and some of the kids were getting into trouble (we don't sit in the sink, that's where we wash dishes). But three of the kids walked on over to my table and sat with their bottoms on the chair and their feet on the floor and were waiting quietly. One kid who is a little higher-functioning pulled out an activity and started matching upper and lower case letters.
No Skittles were in sight.
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