Easy Print-Making: great holiday art activity for home or school

Print-making is a fun and versatile art activity that can be easily modified for all levels of language and artistic skill. The method demonstrated in our teaching video (see link below) is simple, allowing you to set up a print "studio" at home or in the classroom without spending a large amount of money.

You will need:

• styrofoam trays (from meat and produce at the grocery store) - clean these well with soap & water, and make sure they are completely dry before you use them
• wooden skewers or pencils - these are used to "draw" the designs into the styrofoam trays (making an indentation)
• paint trays - we used cookie sheets covered with tinfoil (foil secured to the tray with masking tape)
• water soluble print ink - you will have to purchase this at the art store (we used Speedball block printing ink and Nobel LinoPrinting ink)
• paint/print rollers - these are also purchased at the art store, they are durable and made for multiple use (ours were Speedball brand, you'll find them with the print supplies)
• paper - many kinds of paper will work, so feel free to experiment - in the video we used paper that we already had on hand (cartridge paper, rice paper, black art paper)

Basic method:

Draw out design ideas on sketching paper. Adam used markers to do this, but you could also use pencils - the advantage of drawing with markers is that it reduces the urge to constantly erase and "fix" a drawing.

Transfer the drawing ideas you like to the styrofoam trays (cut off raised edges so you are working with a flat piece of foam). This is where you will use a wooden skewer or pencil to press/indent the lines of the drawing down into the foam to create a "relief" drawing. Make sure the lines are indented well so that you get a clear print. The paint will stick to the areas around the lines.

Mix your paint on the paint trays. If you have multiple people using the trays, try to keep each tray to a colour "palette" that includes no more than 2 primary colours (eg. red & yellow, yellow & blue, blue & red) so you don't end up with "muddy" colours as they mix. That being said, have fun mixing your colours and also experiment with adding white and black ink. Print plates can easily be cleaned by running them under a tap. Or you can layer ink colours on the same print plate without cleaning in-between to get a different effect. There's no wrong answer here.

Use a roller to mix and transfer the paint to the styrofoam print "plate". Then you can either place the print plate paint side down on the paper & flip both over so the paper is on top, or you can put the paper on top of the print plate (whatever works out easiest for the person you are working with - the first technique allows better control over where the print is on the paper, but adds the potentially tricky motor step of flipping paper & print plate together without smearing/smudging the print).

Then use a clean roller (not the one you used to apply the paint) and roll on top of the paper to transfer the ink from the print plate to the paper. You can check the print by placing a finger in the middle of the paper and carefully lifting up one edge (to see if enough ink has transferred to make a clear design). Remove the paper carefully so the print doesn't smudge/smear. Then set it aside and let it dry.

Watch the video for more ideas on how to use this basic print technique to get many interesting effects:

if video doesn't play in your browser click this link: Print-making with Adam

Have fun and Happy Holidays from Autism and the Art of Communication!!

Teaching Nonverbal and Less Verbal People - Adam paints a self portrait

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." 

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Adam writes and draws about our portrait painting class

Adam is an intelligent young adult on the autism spectrum who is less verbal and uses drawing and other art forms for communication. I first met Adam when he was just 3 years old and profoundly nonverbal. My job as a speech-language pathologist was to help him learn to connect and communicate with the world around him. What actually happened over the next couple of decades was more interesting - as much as I taught him, he taught me more. So at this point, I'll say that together Adam and I have discovered some effective ways to get around the barrier of imperfect verbal communication and give voice to the intellect and creative soul within. With Adam's permission, we now share some of what we've learned.


In the Art Studio:

Portrait teaching setup (Adam's easel on the left, my instructional model on the right, iPad photo reference and painting materials in the center)

You need a space that is friendly and comfortable for the student. The art studio we are working in is one that Adam's dad set up for Adam and his mom (who is also learning to paint). We have a generous work surface so that materials can be visually set out in an organized way. There is room for Adam (a tall guy) to step back and move around. Also important to consider lighting (need to see clearly, but not aggravate sensory sensitivies), sound environment (reduce background noise) and air quality (allergies, eg. free from mold & mildew).


Below are links to the two instructional videos that we made from our recent portrait painting sessions (posted on our YouTube channel AUTISMartCOMMUNICATE). These videos highlight and demonstrate some effective teaching strategies when working with less verbal individuals, including:

• use of visual demonstrations
• working from visual models
• effective use of the iPad as a visual tool (takes & displays photos, allows zooming in on specific details)
• verbal language should be clear, slow-paced and match demonstrated actions
• back up verbal language with visual supports (to improve comprehension)
• allow time for processing of verbal questions and instructions
• repetition and rephrasing (of key information) can be helpful
• resist "chattering" (remind yourself to leave quiet spaces)
• SHOW more than TELL
• gentle "hand over hand" can sometimes be useful when teaching a new motor skill
• simplify language without "talking down"
• allow the student to work at their own pace (don't rush)
• student should be mostly calm, relaxed and enjoying the experience
• okay for students to talk to themselves as they work
• specific to portrait painting, be aware that autism can affect the individual's ability to process the human face
• balance direct instruction with developing the student's artistic expression & style
• art activities are a good context for language learning 
• assume competence (and that all of your words are received and understood)

Part 1 (from the first hour-long painting session):

(if the video won't play click this link: Adam paints a self portrait - part 1 )

And Part 2 (from our second one-hour portrait painting session):

(if the video won't play click this link: Adam paints a self portrait - part 2 )

We hope you find these videos helpful and that you try out some of the methods in your own classes and studios. There is a lot of untapped artistic potential in the autism population, and many new artists waiting to learn new ways to express themselves. We would love to hear about your experiences.

We'll end this post by sharing Adam's completed self portrait. He has a bold and expressive artistic style that comes through in all of his art work, and is all his own. I love it:

Self Portrait by the artist, Adam V

Autism and Unspoken Love

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" ~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Can love be understood and experienced if a person can't even say the word? 

There is a common misconception that individuals on the autism spectrum are emotionless, and that misunderstanding is magnified when an individual is also non-verbal (for more on the this topic, read this blog post from our archives: Drawing Out Emotion in Autism - May 2013) My experience (working with many ASD people over the years) has been that while emotions in autism may not be easily named or conventionally expressed, they are certainly strongly felt.



So, on the topic of understanding love, I would like to share a visual story that Adam drew years ago when he was in elementary school and mostly non-verbal. At that time, he was often overwhelmed by the larger world, and to most people he looked like he had two states: sort of okay and distressed. Those of us who were privileged to know him better would also see laughter and excitement (usually connected to the action cartoons that he loved to watch time and again), but he didn't physically convey more subtle emotional states.

One day, I gave Adam a "story starter" picture of a man with a fishing pole, hoping to get some sort of "action and reaction" coherent storyline. The first four frames of the story are definitely action-packed:

Man and fish: part 1 ... drawn by Adam, 2001

But frames 5-8 of the story were an interesting surprise:

Man and fish: part 2 ... drawn by Adam, 2001

... self-satisfied man (thumbs up!) leaves the fishing spot carrying the "catch of the day" and brings it home with a smile to his wife, she in turn cooks up his fish offering and then the two of them sit down to a lovely seafood dinner. A warm picture of love shared between a man and his wife.

Once again, Adam's drawn communication had revealed thoughts, feelings and social understanding that were not at all evident in his interactions with the world. He showed us that he understood the emotions of love and caring for other people and knew how people expressed those emotions in their actions and interactions. Not being able to say it in words or facial expressions or physical actions did not mean that he was unable to feel the emotions or intellectually understand the social dynamic. Even though we set the bar high and believed in Adam's ability, we had underestimated the complexity of thinking he already had - a valuable lesson for all of us, and one that has been repeated and reinforced many times over the years since he drew this story.

More and more non-verbal autistic individuals are finding alternate ways of communicating (through typing, through art, through music). What these individuals show at a surface level is often not at all what's happening underneath. Presume competence, develop alternate communication channels, listen carefully and respect the autism perspective.

"All people with autism must be offered some way to communicate because we have minds, and thoughts, and feelings ... Life is beautiful the autistic way." Henry, 14-yr-old with non-verbal autism who communicates by pointing to a letter board (from his Roses are Red for Autism blog)

Karaoke as Curriculum: teaching through musical passion

It's December already! ... and what better way to start off this festive month than with a gift of music. I'd like to welcome back my guest blogger Carole (Kevin's mom) who has been using Kevin's love of music to happily teach language and literacy:

Picture drawn by Kevin

And now, here's Carole:

"When you raise a child on the ASD spectrum, a child who doesn’t just pick up skills, and learn naturally like other children, you become painfully aware of how incredible those early years of learning really are. You see other children learn to mimic, speak, understand, read cues, watch and follow. It’s phenomenal how much is learned in such a short space of time, and apparently so effortlessly. For the rest of us, there is an overwhelming void, and we have to decide what to teach, when to teach it, what is the priority, and figure out how so much can be taught without overwhelming our little ones. For my adult son, I still find myself deciding on his behalf, what, when and how to teach. If you’re anything like me, this can be a little overwhelming at times, and the responsibility of deciding for another adult what they need, or should know feels a little like making choices that shouldn’t be mine. I recently wrote to someone, and I shared that my middle aged brain prefers the KISS method, (keep it simple stupid) because frankly that’s about all it can handle. Then it occurred to me, that’s exactly the approach I use when teaching my son.

Teaching an unwilling student is painful at best, so I have always taken the things he loves, and tried to incorporate as much curriculum as I can in them, so that it never feels like work. It also allows me to teach skills that don’t necessarily fit his development at that moment, but hopefully will be there at the ready when the time comes. So for example, my guy has very limited speech, he reads but comprehension is very limited, and his auditory processing has always been a huge issue. So the question becomes, how do you get him to make more utterances, and practice the motor part of speech, and do you put the effort into improving his reading ability when the comprehension is not there? What if miracle of miracles, one day that comprehension kicks in and his reading is lacking, or suddenly he finds his words but has a hard time getting them out there, because he’s never practiced? I still believe that anything is possible for him, and I don’t want to think I didn’t raise the bar in expectation of that. So this is one example of how we took one of Kev’s delights and although he didn’t know it, turned it into curriculum.

Kevin loves music, and always has. As soon as I realized that, I had him listening to every genre of music I could find, and often you would hear me singing conversations to him (never in public!) So when we decided to hire a worker for a couple of mornings a week, how serendipitous was it, to discover she was a singer with the most beautiful voice – and karaoke began. It began slowly, he would cough a lot, unused to using that voice. He could only sing in the key of the song, and so we had to find songs in his register only. He couldn’t read, and vocalize quickly enough to sing along, so we had to start with very slow songs, and he had trouble with the reading.

Video of Kevin doing Karaoke:

Click this link to see video on YouTube (if your browser won't automatically play the inserted video clip)

Today, it’s his favourite activity, and we’re all kitted out with microphones for the computer, and a huge playlist from youtube. He can harmonize, it doesn’t need to be in his register anymore. He reads so much better, but we continue to have the lyrics on screen and the singer in the background, so that he hears when he reads a word incorrectly and learns to correct. He reads quickly, his inflection is great, his speaking voice is slightly less robotic, and although you will hear coughing, it is much reduced. Although he’s never going to be a rock star, the anticipation in his face as he awaits karaoke time speaks volumes, and it also happens to be my favourite time of the day too.

So I urge you, follow their lead, how can it ever be wrong when it brings them so much happiness? Once in a while you may even get some validation for following your intuition!"

Well said Carole! You always get the best learning at the point where passion and fun meet - when you find that sweet spot, everyone has a great time and the skills you teach stick.

~ Sheila B ~

note: for those who are interested in the research, here's a recent reference provided by Carole:

Fronto-Temporal Connectivity is Preserved During Sung but Not Spoken Word Listening, Across the Autism Spectrum.
Sharda M, Midha R, Malik S, Mukerji S, Singh NC.
Autism Res. 2014 Nov 5.

!

Drawing to Communicate: making sure your message is received!

This morning I received the kind of message that totally recharges my "therapist batteries".

In a recent post (click here to read "Drawing for Communication: how to get things started"), I wrote about Kieran, a young boy on the autism spectrum, who was beginning to use his newly developed drawing skills to communicate. Earlier today, his mom sent me an update by e-mail:

"We were chatting about having an outing ... either to Carp Market or the beach at Fitzroy Harbour Provincial Park. Kieran was in the room when we were talking and said that he wanted to go to the beach. We acknowledged his input, but I think he wanted to make really sure that we understood - he got a piece of paper and a pencil and drew this for us!"

Yay, triple yay for Kieran! He used his new drawing communication skills to make sure that his important message was received by his family (who were happy to accommodate his wishes in the family schedule for the day).

Being able to clearly communicate your thoughts and wishes to others (who will listen to and respect that communication) is the strongest strategy for short-circuiting difficult behaviour and melt-downs - knowing that you're "heard" makes all the difference.

Thanks so much to Kieran and his family for allowing us to share this story .... Sheila B


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Drawing Together for Communication: how to get things started

Drawing can be a useful tool for developing communication skills in young children, and in older children (and teens and adults) with communication delays.

One of the techniques I commonly use in therapy is "collaborative drawing", where each person contributes to the larger drawing, and the drawing itself acts as a visual record of the conversation or story. Take a look at this video (made with my typically developing nephew Will when he was 4 years old) for a short demonstration of this technique:

click this link if video does not automatically appear in your browser

 

 

Today I want to share with you some interesting developments from one of my young friends on the autism spectrum. Kieran is a bright active young boy (in grade 4) with delays in the development of his verbal language. He is very visual and is a whiz at math and putting together complicated building toys using diagram instructions. For the past two years, his family and I have been drawing things for him, making visual representations of what happens in our toy play and also of situations and interactions from the larger world around him.

During our early sessions, he was happy to have others do the drawing. The drawing was a good anchor for our conversations during play and this helped his focus, his comprehension and his verbal language development. Following our drawing/play sessions he liked to have the big drawings posted on the walls at home so he could look at them, think about them and talk about them with his family.


Then, at the beginning of this calendar year, Kieran started to take a more active role in the drawing process.


He began to frequently tell me what to draw and how to draw it. For example, this "portrait" of him and his cat was drawn in January according to his very detailed instructions:

portrait of Kieran in cowboy hat & tractor pyjamas (drawn by me, directed verbally by him)

He started drawing spontaneously to express himself - here is a picture, also from January, that he drew when his mom was drawing out some challenges from the school day (his suggestion ... how about going to Monster University?):

"I want to go to Monster University"

He has begun to draw collaboratively, adding details and figures to our large drawings (that we do beside our toy play), so now those drawings include his direct visual thoughts as well as his play ideas and what he has verbally directed me to add.

Here's a drawing from February where we explored the difficulty of loud noises and emotional responses to various situations - at the end of our session, he spontaneously added his two cats:



this "big picture" is done on 2 ft x 3 ft paper beside our toy play area
(this day we were playing with trains & plasticine figures)

Kieran's cat Ginger

Keiran's cat Spooky

 

Then at our last session in April, he added multiple details to our picture about Thomas the Tank Engine and friends:

 

Kieran added tracks and faces and smokestacks and many other details

What are the benefits of going after communication in this context?

 

First and foremost, it's fun and relaxed, and it makes formidably difficult skills (communication and social interaction) more approachable and accessible.

 

Second, it stimulates communication development in a very natural context, so the language learned is already generalized to where it's functional and fits.

 

Third, it lets the individual (who is the target of the therapy) set the pace - you can be certain that the information is going in, and they will show you when they have enough information and confidence to give the new skills a try.

 

 

 

 

Because we have never forced the issue, Kieran continues to willingly taking steps forward, trying new things and gaining confidence daily.

 

I leave you with his latest creation, a plasticine cat modeled after the many little plasticine animals I have made for him during our play over the last year - as you can see, it's a great cat with lots of personality and a happy disposition ... just like the young artist who made it.

 

Kieran's clay creation

 

 

Emma learns to sew

Emma is a young adult artist on the autism spectrum. She has a strong sense of fashion, and her visual art style is bold using shapes and blocks of colour. Because of her love of fashion, we thought that sewing was a skill she would enjoy that could open up opportunities in the world of work. Because of her own personal art style, we decided to start our sewing lessons with applique projects.

Our first project (introducing the use of a sewing machine) was a pocket for an apron (Emma also loves cooking, and is quite independent and happy working in the kitchen).

Step 1: Design the applique. Emma drew these design ideas using the iPad app "Drawing with Carl".


Step 2: Under Emma's direction (and following the bird pattern she had drawn), we cut out pieces of coloured material to sew onto the pocket (she selected the material & told me what shape to cut, I handled the very sharp sewing scissors for this initial session).

Step 3: Then we ran the sewing machine together: I threaded the machine, Emma chose the stitch pattern, then Emma ran the peddle (controlling on/off and speed) and I fed/steered the material past the needle. It was a little exciting in spots because we didn't sew slow! But we ended up with a bright bird on the apron pocket (and neither one of us sewn into the design!).





Emma really enjoyed the sewing and was very pleased with having her design turn into something she could wear. (for this first project, I sewed up a simple apron design ahead of time, and Emma sewed the pocket onto the apron so we could have a completed project in a shorter time-frame).

Our second project was a throw pillow.

Step 1: designing the pattern, once again using "Drawing with Carl" iPad app. Emma drew out several design ideas (including a very funky zebra), then decided to go with this bright bird:




Step 2: I cut out the fabric pieces for the design under Emma's very definite verbal directions (great context for language use, she was highly motivated to tell me exactly what she wanted me to do, and also not shy to tell me when I had done it wrong and it needed to be redone - she has always been a woman who knows her own mind, something I really like about her).

Step 3: Emma approached the sewing with more confidence the second time around, and experimented with various types of applique stitches and with the speed control on the machine. Once again I steered the material while she ran everything else (important to go step-wise when working close to sharp objects, like the mechanized needle on a sewing machine).

This time, Emma sewed the whole project. We used a pre-made pillow form (from IKEA) and sewed a pillowcase (one side was Emma's art design, the other was patterned material she chose to match). We used the machine for all the seams, including the one sewing the side closed after the pillow form was in the pillowcase (Emma chose a lovely decorative stitch style, it looked great). Again, the pillow was done in one session:

I love Emma's bold bright design sense. We plan to continue our sewing lessons, and our next project will likely be shoulder/carry bags that can be used for books or iPads or shopping. Stay tuned for updates!

Sheila Bell


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

"Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living.

 Even the Sun falls down everyday but gets back up the next morning." ~ Unknown

Here is a visual question I gave Adam back in 2001, when he was 11 years old and just starting to tell us his thoughts through his drawing:

Translated to traditional language, I guess it would be: "What will the man do now that his hat has fallen off his head and over a cliff?" (a classic cartoon set-up). Does the man value the hat? Will he take a risk to retrieve it? or will he turn his back, curse his luck and buy another?

In Adam's visual "answer", the man decides to take a risk and go after his hat. Did he slip while reaching? Did he not think it through and just jump? I don't know, but he does seem a bit surprised by the outcome.

As luck would have it, he manages to grab the small stick protruding from the cliff. Whew! Sometimes in life, a bit of luck and quick reflexes allow us to save ourselves from rash choices or bad circumstances. I love how pleased (and unsurprised) the little guy is with this turn of events.

But of course, this is life and one fall can often be followed by another (especially when the author of your life story has a sense of humour like Adam's). The stick breaks and the little person is once again plummeting down the side of the cliff, wearing another expression of surprise at the hand life has dealt him.

And sooner or later, in real life or cartoon life, we have to hit bottom. Going by the man's face, this was a hard landing (one that would have you sitting on a donut pillow for at least a week or so).


We all fall down. Sometimes we fall multiple times without rising in-between - we can fall far and hit bottom very hard. We get the wind knocked out of us figuratively and literally. We may say to ourselves "I don't know how to recover from this one, it's too big, it's too hard, it's one too many, I can't get up". So we lay there for a while ... but then what?

In Adam's story, the man simply takes a breath, retrieves his hat (which he had the good luck to fall beside, rather than on), dusts it off, puts it on his head, stands up and walks on.

The drawn end of this story is very interesting to me in light of who Adam has revealed himself to be over the past 13 years since he drew this story. He is a person who faces many challenges every day, including communication disconnects, sensory overload, debilitating allergies and medical conditions ( click here for a piece of the medical back story ). I have seen him laid low time and again, and time and again I have seen him stand up, pick up his figurative hat, and walk forward. He doesn't get angry, he doesn't do "poor me", he just gets up and goes on.



Here's some advice that I give to the kids and families I work with (and that I follow myself when I'm having a "smart day"):

When you've fallen and you don't think you can get up, consider your alternatives: staying where you are is not usually a good one, and if you're as low as you can go almost any choice or action could potentially put you in a better spot.

So take action. Do something. It's a strategy I use when I clean up a particularly large mess (I hate housework): if I think about it too hard, I'm frozen into inaction ("this mess is too big", "no one could clean this up", "we just have to move"). So instead, I go "round and round" doing something: "this coat doesn't belong in the sink, I'll hang it up", "no one needs 4 hockey sticks in the living room, so I'll put 3 in the garage", "why is there a live turtle in the dining room? don't think, just put it back in the pond" (I have 3 boys and a small house, we have had some memorable messes). As each bit of mess goes away, the overall picture changes and new ideas and solutions present themselves ("oh look, the broom was buried under the dirty laundry! the perfect tool for sweeping the baking soda & vinegar science project volcano eruption off the ceiling!"). Before you know it, you step back and realize that this problem might be fixable after all.

When you fall down, don't just lie there .. do something. Take one small step and then another. No matter the problems or circumstances, action feels better than inaction, and each action plants seeds that can change things for the better.

Postscript (courtesy of my good friend Bernadette who recently sent this video my way)

A final musical word from the late great Pete Seeger - as I tackle problems big and small, this song (one of my favourites) reminds me that things usually work out better when I manage to put aside my worries, take action, plant the seeds and see what happens:

 

 

Inch by inch, row by row,
Gonna make this garden grow.
Gonna mulch it deep and low,
Gonna make it fertile ground.
Inch by inch, row by row,
Please bless these seeds I sow.
Please keep them safe below
'Til the rain comes tumbling down.

Classroom Solutions - helping noise-sensitive students to cope

September can be a difficult month in the school system, as everyone (students, teachers, parents) gets used to new classrooms, new groups, and new expectations. 

 

 

 

This picture, drawn by Owen (and used with his permission), for me perfectly encapsulates the feelings of distress and irritation that can develop on all sides of the classroom dynamic, especially during the early weeks of the school term.

Here are some ideas to help you and your noise-sensitive students through any current rough spots, while laying the ground-work to create a learning environment that will be effective for the school year ahead:

1. Look at the problem from all sides:

Owen drew his perspective for me, clearly showing that he felt his noisy classroom situation was not working out for him, but also not working for the other students and the teacher. During our discussion, we used clues and tried to "guess" what was in the minds of the other people in the situation. This helped Owen to understand why some of the other students might be distracted and having trouble settling down to work, also why the teacher might be finding it frustrating as well (trying to teach when people weren't focused and listening).

It was important to him that I shared his drawn perspective with the teachers, so that he was sure they were aware of how upset he felt.

2. Figure out what you control and what you don't:

This is a critical part of the problem-solving process, because anger and frustration are driven by feeling powerless to change a difficult situation. Finding out where your power is (what do you control?) gives a starting point for effective solutions.

Here is a simple visual that I have often drawn for my students to show them what they control and what they don't:

Essentially, you have direct control over everything that is connected to your brain - your thoughts/feelings, your words, your actions. Your words and actions may "influence" another person's choices (this is the world of social cues), but you can't control what another person chooses to do, say, think or feel.

* aside: it's interesting how often I have to remind myself of this exact thing when I'm sorting out difficult situations in my own life *

3. Define the problem and generate a list of possible solutions:

Owen is extremely noise sensitive and his ability to process spoken information in the presence of background noise is not strong. The classroom was noisy and several students were being disruptive. Owen was able to define his core problems as: (1) clearly receiving the teacher's lesson and instructions, and (2) being able to focus and do his work.

Once we had clarified what the real problems were, Owen and I were able to come up with a list of potential solutions:

 

Notice that all of these strategies have to do with things that Owen has direct control over in the situation - they let him know that he does have power to change things for the better.

4. Get help for what is out of your control:

Even with the above solutions, this is a difficult on-going situation for Owen to manage (noise is a huge irritant that disrupts his thinking). Owen and I have known each other a long time, and he has confidence that I will act as his advocate and "go-between", explaining his distress to the other adults. He also has great confidence in the teachers at his school - they have helped him solve difficult situations many times over the years, and he is 100% certain that they "have his back".

True solutions to challenging school situations require on-going collaboration between the student, teachers, parents and any other professionals involved. Keeping good lines of communication going helps everyone to stay calm and have confidence that solutions can be found (no matter how difficult the events of the day may have been)

ASD Adults and Life-long Language Learning

One of my strong interests when I went through graduate school for speech pathology was the connection between the brain (neurology) and language learning.

At that time (early 1980's), conventional wisdom in the field of neurolinguistics was that there was a defined window for language acquisition. Scientific studies of people who lost language skills because of acquired brain damage (resulting from something like a head injury or stroke) showed patients had a different capacity for language learning, depending on their age - pre-puberty the brain was plastic and had a good ability to relearn language skills, but post-puberty that learning window seemed to close.

I never really questioned this until several years later when I started working with adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum. Everyone was post-puberty and many had severely limited verbal language skills, with some completely non-verbal. I found myself mixing my clinical experience with stroke victims (including the use of non-conventional communication means like drawing) into my language development therapy techniques. And I learned an interesting thing: the neuroplasticity necessary for new language learning that was not supposed to exist in this population, did exist. Many of the students desperately wanted to crack the code of conventional communication, and their brains were capable. The limiting factor was more me than them - I could see the potential, but was only beginning to discover the tools that might be effective to bridge that communication gap.

Fast forward a couple of decades and I have more tools in my therapy toolbox - my ASD students have been my teachers, and working with the same individuals over time has taught me some very important things about language learning and ASD:

1. The early years may not be optimal for language learning because neural pathways are developing in a different way at a different pace - if the world is a screaming wall of sound, you can't pick out the words.

2. Written words can help to sort out the string of sounds at the ear, so the person can begin to make sense out of auditory language.

3. Drawing can be a clarifying communication tool that helps therapists/teachers/parents to explain and highlight important information about everyday life, and that can help ASD individuals to explain their perspective and experience of the world.

4. Most importantly, language learning is a life-long process and significant language learning can happen in the adult years, so don't give up trying to reach and teach.

And so for today, an illustration of point #4: 

Adam (age 23) has started writing complex sentences in the past couple of months. We begin with a picture (one of his favourite topics is animals):

Adam then uses Word Mover (iPad app) to write a sentence about what he sees (I love this app because it lets you create sentences like a puzzle). After that, he writes the sentence out and illustrates it with a cartoon drawing:

In this instance, he has spontaneously and purposefully made a lengthy compound sentence (using a clause introduced by a preposition "under ....") to express a complex thought. His picture is a projection of his thoughts about the animals and their feelings - he gives the animals personality and connection (it's not copied, it's "inspired by").

I love to see errors in the sentence construction - they show me that I'm looking at meaningful language learning rather repetition of memorized language "chunks".The spelling error in "hideing" indicates that he's using his own grammatical rules to change verb tenses (add "ing" to the verb for present tense), and the missing word "of" in "family (of) elephants" shows me that he's using a rule he's made about modifying nouns with adjectives (he's used the same structure as "baby elephant").

And that's what gets this speech pathologist excited! Especially when this level of language development was not predictable from his language level in his childhood or early teens. It means that I don't know the ceiling on his learning potential.

.... here's a few more recent sentences and pictures from Adam for your enjoyment:

I'm a big believer in life-long learning. My best advice to parents, educators and therapists would be to let go of any preconceptions about how and when things are usually learned, continually modify your teaching methods to match  the individual's learning profile, and never underestimate the power and plasticity of an intelligent brain ... SB




Note: Recently, someone asked me if there were any neurolinguistic studies connected to the type of therapy I do (using drawing/art to teach communication and language skills). I am not aware of any, but I think it would be an interesting thing to study. If anyone reading this blog knows of related research (or is connected to an academic institution and has an interest in this area), please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

iLanguage: creative language teaching using the iPad

The visual touch screen interface of the iPad brings many possibilities for creative language teaching - today I'd like to share with you a few of the ideas (and apps) that I've been trying out in recent therapy sessions with ASD individuals:


1. Action verbs:

Concrete nouns are relatively easy to teach using objects and static pictures. But action verbs are more complicated because they (by their nature) involve movement - so it's hard to be certain that what the therapist thinks they're teaching is what the student is actually learning.

Here's a short video showing Adam creating sentences using Word Mover (a creative writing app that works like magnetic fridge poetry). I would give Adam one or two words, he would add more and put a sentence together. Then we used Stop Motion Studio Pro HD (an iPad animation app) and small clay figures to "illustrate" the sentence meaning - because the end product was a film clip, rather than a static picture, it was easier to see what Adam understood and where he might have gaps in his interpretation of the language meaning:

CLICK HERE: Using iPad apps for Language Teaching

Here's another video showing Kevin using Word Mover, traditional pen-paper drawing and FlipBoom Cartoon (a different iPad animation app) to illustrate the meaning of a short story he wrote (using one of the words he had just spelled in Montessori Crossword, another app I really like for the structured way it connects written letter patterns to the word sound patterns):

CLICK HERE: Kevin's Jogging Story

And here's one more video (from Kevin's session today) where I would give Kevin a verb (in Word Mover) and then he would write a complete sentence using that verb. He uses both pen-paper drawing and the FlipBoom Cartoon animation app to illustrate the meaning of the sentences he's written. (note: I am a big fan of grammatical errors - they show me that I'm getting original generative language rather than rote language chunks):

 

CLICK HERE: Kevin Writes & Illustrates

2. Creative Writing:

The Word Mover app is also useful for writing "starters" and inspiration. You write one or more words and then let your student write additional words and arrange the words into a sentence. I'm finding that the "puzzle" nature of the exercise and the ability to modify (add/delete/rewrite) without visible "errors" at the end is encouraging more risk-taking (trying out words that are not well-known, trying to write sentences that are more grammatically complex).

I gave Michael the words "boy" and "horse" - he changed "boy" to "cowboy", and added some more words to make the sentence "A cowboy needs a horse". He drew an illustration by hand (marker on paper) and then he made an entertaining animated short (using FlipBoom Cartoon) of a cowboy unwillingly transforming into a horse. He was calm and focused and expressed a complete (and funny) original idea. Watch the video:

CLICK HERE: Cowboy & Horse by Michael

So go ahead, get creative, use the iPad technology to its best advantage - it is a wonderful direct visual interface that can help you make the world of verbal communication less mysterious and more accessible to your students with autism.