Language Arts in a Charlotte Mason Education
A good place to begin understanding this is by reading pages 199-247 from Home Education (volume 1) by Charlotte Mason, herself.
Under Language Arts, in a Charlotte Mason curriculum you find:
Reading Instruction: Charlotte Mason's method included sight-recognition as well as phonics. AO mentions a few programs that have worked with Advisory members, but use whatever you like. Once children are able to read, they should be reading many or most of their schoolbooks for themselves.
Transcription: We tend to call this copywork. This means practicing the physical skills of learning to write, first by perfectly forming each letter, and later by copying sentences or paragraphs.
Narration: Another word for this is "oral composition." Each time your child narrates, he is mentally composing his thoughts and communicating through words. Written narration begins around age 10, and if you allow a year or two for fluency to develop, then anything like "creative writing" begins about that time. Creative writing will be an extension of written narration.
Grammar: Charlotte Mason didn't have children doing grammar until Form II, so AO places it in year 4. You can use Charlotte Mason's own Simply Grammar, or one of the other grammar programs mentioned on the AO site. As far as what is included in English for the Thoughtful Child--you can probably incorporate that information into your copywork/transcription.
Scope and Sequence for Language Arts?
In grammar there's only a small body of knowledge to learn--it doesn't need to take years and years to learn it, and it doesn't need to start in first grade. Students will pick up grammar concepts without years and years of formal training if they read books. Trust the process! By the end of elementary school, students only really need to know two rules: (1) Capitalize sentences and proper nouns. (2) End sentences with punctuation (a period, question mark, or exclamation point).
It's also useful (but not vitally necessary) to be familiar with thefollowing so that, when grammar is learned later, these concepts aren't totally new. This is only a suggestion. Don't worry if you haven't covered these, and don't feel pressured to rush out and buy a curriculum to teach them. They can be introduced naturally during routine school reading. All your child needs is to be able to identify these in a sentence: The four kinds of sentences (question, statement, command, exclamatory) and the eight parts of speech (conjunction, noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, interjection, exclamation).
When you begin written narrations, you can introduce more punctuation. Don't teach the mechanics of writing before students actually writing! This might be around year 5 or later. Two years after beginning written narrations, you can begin to focus on style.
The most effective way to teach language arts is to get your child reading their school books themselves as soon as possible. When reading aloud, your child's mind may wander. Also, he isn't seeing the words on the page, so he's not seeing the spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, and he isn't being challenged to push his reading levels. When you read all your child's school books to him, he isn't learning to spell, you are. So read aloud a fun story to enjoy together, but your student should be doing his own reading for school.
Read Karen Glass's full Language Arts Scope and Sequence
Spelling and Dictation
I took an hour or two to search the archives for what has been said before about spelling and writing Charlotte Mason style. I compiled the information below from my posts, but there were lots of other good ones by other people. If anyone has time, you might try to search the archives to see what else is there.
First of all: Charlotte Mason differentiates between spelling and reading--and I think she's right to some degree. Phonics rules help immensely with reading (and she does talk about this a little in the pages that lead up to her discussion of spelling in volume 1). They help a lot, but not quite as much, with spelling. Think of words like There and their--and is there really any reason why they shouldn't be spelt thair or thare? Think of the 'r-controlled vowels,' er, ir, and sometimes 'or' (word, work)--phonics gets you to a point with those, but a little memorization is necessary after that.
In general, what Charlotte Mason suggested for spelling is that the spelling word be written properly where the child can study it. He doesn't copy it ten times, he simply looks at it with all the focused attention he can muster up. When he thinks he has memorized the way the word looks, ask him to close his eyes and picture it. Then have him spell aloud. When he can do this properly, you might ask him to write it correctly. We use a whiteboard to do this.
Of my four children who 'do school' currently, the oldest was a natural speller. The other three have varying levels of spelling incompetence.=) I nearly despaired of the second girl ever learning to spell. She misspelled words she copied. I began using Miss Mason's method with her when she was about twelve. I do not know if it was the method or the age, but she did begin spelling better, and I now am not embarrassed for us both over her spelling.
The 11 and 12 y.o. Still need to work on their spelling, but I figure it will improve by high school.
You could also use a good word processing program, one that automatically underlines misspelled words (in case you can't tell, I am not using one in this post and since I am typing on a laptop, I have many errors). Then have him use his right click mouse button--this brings up a box with suggested corrections. He then would instantly have the properly spelled word before him (albeit with several other options, but they would all be spelled correctly) and could choose that. He might take a moment to visualize the word carefully before going on.
Here is what she suggests regarding dictation. I think it's possible that the child selects the passage from his reading (I know that she says this for younger children doing copywork). Oh, and she says children of 8 or 9 should do a paragraph, older children 'a page or two or three!' I assume then that the younger children are not doing this at all (I think I know what they do, and it would require a whole other post to explain). Frankly, none of mine have been ready to write a paragraph at 8 or 9, but I'm just passing on what I understand of Miss Mason's suggestions. Then the child 'prepares' the passage himself (this is onpage 242 of volume one). This preparation involves having the child slowly look through the passage and anytime he comes to a word he thinks he can't spell he is to look at it attentively, then close his eyes and picture it with his eyes shut. After a bit of this, the teacher or mother asks him what passages he is still unsure of, and at this time may point out others that she thinks might give him trouble.
He looks these over again, using the same method--just trying to look at the word carefully enough that when he closes his eyes he can picture it accurately.
If there are any words still worrying him, the teacher writes them one by one on a chalkboard or whiteboard (this could work in a classroom, but the whole class would be suggesting words, so some words would be covered that some of the children are not worried about). Again, the child looks at the word writ largely on the board, looks until he has a picture of it, and then she erases the word and moves on.
The child decides when he is ready for dictation. Now, where I am very skeptical is that this whole process, she says, should take only five to ten minutes!
Finally, the teacher starts giving dictation. She enunciates clearly, reads a clause at a time, never repeating herself. She does not say 'comma' or give any other indication of punctuation except for her voice inflection.
At this point she is ready with her stick it note or masking tape or label with which to quickly cover any misspelled word.
At any rate, this is dictation Charlotte Mason style, or at least, how she recommended at the time she wrote volume one. She may have changed her practices later, as she did in other areas.
However, it's a very important part of Charlotte Mason that Handwriting is the preliminary step in copywork or dictation. Until a child knows how to make each letter and make it well, with little mental effort or decision (in other words, habit) letter practice is pretty much all that copywork encompasses.
So dictation isn't begun until copywork is mastered, and copywork actually begins as handwriting and letter form practice. Once these are mastered, it is for exposure to the best in writing. Copywork done properly forces a child to slow down and absorb the punctuation details, notice capitalization, and internalize sparkling prose (For this reason, a child's own stories are not the most ideal source for copywork a la CM).
Finely crafted, well written sentences are the best sources. In our home we have a different selection each day of the week. One day is poetry, another Bible, another from their history, another from Science, and one from their literature selection. A copywork selection from the foreign language being studied is also good. Hymns may also be used.
Until you are sure a child can form all his letters correctly, you would not give him a selection to copy, and at first you would still watch carefully to see that he formed them properly--shaping them properly, starting at the right point on the paper, holding his pencil properly.
You could still practice spelling (by the way, Miss Mason recommends spelling practice be based on word families) but with letter tiles instead. You could use magnetic letters, scrabble tiles, whatever--and the child can rather painlessly practice spelling this way (spell the word you dictate, using the tiles, then picture it in his head clearly).
From volume 1 of Charlotte Mason: No work should be given to a child that he cannot execute perfectly, and then perfection should be required of him as a matter of course. For instance, he is set to do a copy of strokes, and is allowed to show a slateful of all sorts of slopes and all sorts of intervals; his moral sense is vitiated, his eye is injured. Set him six strokes to copy; let him, not bring a slateful, but six perfect strokes, at regular distances and at regular slopes. If he produces a faulty pair, get him to point out the fault, and persevere until he hasproduced his task; if he does not do it to-day, let him go on tomorrow and the next day, and when the six perfect strokes appear, let it be an occasion of triumph. So with the little tasks of of painting , drawing, or construction he sets himself--let everything he does be well done. An unsteady house of cards is a thing to be ashamed of. Closely connected with this habit of 'perfect work' is that of finishing whatever is taken in hand. The child should rarely be allowed to set his hand to a new understaking until the last is finished." Page 160
Value of Transcription--The earliest practice in writing proper for children of seven or eight should be, not letter-writing or dictation, but transcription, slow and beautiful work, for which the New Handwriting [a handwriting text] is to be preferred, though perhaps some of the more ornate characters may be omitted with advantage.
Transcription should be an introduction to spelling. Children should be encouraged to look at the word, see a pciture of it with their eyes shut, and then write from memory.
Children shold transcribe favorite passages--A certain sense of possession and delight may be added to this exercise if children are allowed to choose for transcription their favourite verse in one poem and another. This is better than to write a favourite poem, an exercise which stales on the little people before it is finished. But a book of their own, made up of their own chosen verse, should give them pleasure.
Small Text-hand--Double-ruled lines--should be used at first, as children are eager to write very minute 'small hand' and once they have fallen into this habit it is not easy to get good writing. A sense of beauty in their writing and in the lines they copy should carry them over this stage of their work with pleasure. Not more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour should be given to the early writing-lessons. If they are longer the children get tired and slovenly.) 238, 239 (this section of volume 1 in the six volume series is especially useful for the language arts. Pages that follow cover dictation, spelling, composition and more).
Copywork is a very different thing from composition (although the material you use for copywork should also be a model of good writing).
Charlotte Mason's approach to composition begins in the primary years with the skills developed through oral narration (thus one reason for using the most excellent books you can find). The child learns to express himself clearly, to pay attention to detail and sequence, to use appropriate vocabulary, etc. Rather than having to contrive a subject for composition, the subject and material is provided. Original writing (diaries, letters, stories, poems) should certainly be encouraged if the child is interested, but it is not taught formally at this stage.
Older children transition into writing their narrations, and at that point (the junior grades) Charlotte Mason mentioned having them write occasional compositions on such topics as current events and things they had observed in nature. This process (developing writing through narration--which can take many forms, including journal entries, putting something into verse, writing a new scene between fictional characters, writing a news item) continues through the school years. I've also heard that in at least one PNEU school, the reading of Shakespeare on Friday was followed up with a period on Monday when the students (of around 12 and up) wrote out what they remembered and understood from the reading. The high school students of CharlotteMason's day did study composition more formally as well.
The ability to write well was certainly never downplayed by Charlotte Mason; but she did believe that it could be developed in a more natural way than by requiring much original work at too early an age.
This is my own experience with a reluctant writer, poor speller, auditory learner boy of similar age.
We did nothing but copywork up through age nine. My son misspelled words during copywork. When he wrote something (on his own--I never assigned it), his spelling was truly appalling. At age 10, we began writtennarrations, and I tried working on a few basic spelling rules. They didn't stick. I remember we spent two weeks on one rule. In a written narration soon after, he correctly some big word, but misspelled three words that should have followed the rule he supposedly knew.
I was never consistent with dictation--we rarely did it--because it was a frustration to both of us. A year or so ago, Donna-Jean wrote about dictation being the antidote to bad spelling (or something like that). It really stuck in my mind, and I think she is right. I should have been doing dictation from age 8 or so. I kept waiting for that natural improvement, and I admit that there was some of that.
This child is 11 now. He does written narration several times per week, and we still have spelling issues. We do dictation twice per week (last term it was just once per week), and I am again introducing some basic spelling rules. His spelling will probably never be great--he more auditory than visual, by far, and tells me cannot picture a word in his mind. (He mis-pronounces words to himself in order to remember how they are spelled. I used to do that!) At least you know you're not alone!
I would begin dictation with him. I think it is very important to take dication from the books your child is reading for himself. Those are the words he is "seeing" again and again, and he will have more success with that than with dictation from a harder, read-aloud book.
When Charlotte Mason said that children "prepare" a paragraph, or whatever, I think she meant that they looked it over and were prepared to write any part of it. But, I still think only a few sentences were dictated. When we do dictation, I have my son read over the paragraph, look at the words, punctuation, etc. . . . but then, I only dictate one or two sentences. For older children "preparing" 2-3 pages, maybe a paragraph would be dictated. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think they really wrote that much. The mental exercise of looking at the words intently beforehand was half the point of the practice.
Oh--one more thing that I have done with my son is let him learn how to type. He types his written narration, and so the physical act of writing is not a burden to him.
I believe that Charlotte Mason would say that narration is oral composition. So, in effect, every time you ask your child to narrate they are composing on a selected subject. When an AmblesideOnline student starts to write narrations, starting about year 4, we hope that they will be able to transfer their oral skills to the written page. We hope that their developing sophistication with oral storytelling will also transfer, though from what I have observed from my own children, it takes a while because they tend to simplify and shorten their storytelling if they know they have to write the story down.
Copywork or transcription is a method of teaching handwriting and reinforcing spelling and grammar usage. It does not really teach composition, though it should provide good examples.
I don't have any experience with Writing in Excellence, so I can't comment from my own experience with the curriculum. It does sound like it could be quite compatible (possibly with modifications) with the Charlotte Mason methods of teaching, and may also provide some valuable input to the teacher. I do have some comments on what was shared, however.
Ihave a concern that requiring that children to select words from some material they are about to narrate from, and then requiring that they narrate using these words or covering those topics may direct the attention away from the flow and meaning of the story as a whole. It may also serve to squash a child's enthusiasm about telling a story about a particular reading. Enthusiasm is precious, and in storytelling it gives our words power and style that really is very difficult to teach. I believe that Charlotte wanted to harness enthusiasm and use it to help teach good habits of composition. Children more readily provide detail and color their stories through careful word selection when they have some enthusiasm for telling the story and an attentive and appreciative listener.
However, not every child narrates enthusiastically (though I dare to say that they can narrate about something enthusiastically), and some children and teachers may profit from more guidelines or structure. I just don't know enough about this particular curriculum to say any more.
Question: "I know that Charlotte Mason states in Book 6 that narration in Form IA and B was mostly oral, however she also says that children in Form IA from ages 7-9 have more copious composition, implying that she gradually added composition in the:form of written narrations."
Just a point of clarification here--Charlotte Mason was still talking about oral "composition." Just beyond the note about "more copious," she says, "All their work lends itself to oral composition and the power of such composition is innate in children and is note the result of instruction.":
Question: "At what point should we expect our children to make:the transition from mostly oral to mostly written compositions?"
Compositions begin to be written somewhere between 9 and 12. That's not much of a guideline, and probably most children will be ready between these ages--at 10 or 11. But even at this age, "composition" is simply written narration, and does not involve instruction about paragraphs, etc, . . . Not until Form III--jr. high level--does composition become a matter for direct attention.
Written narration never completely replaces oral narration, and I'm not even sure it ever surpasses oral narration in quantity. Common sense tells us that children cannot write as much or as fast as they can tell. Also, as you move into the high-school level, the pupil's written narrations become more complex and thoughtful, not just factual re-tellings, and no one can write like that for several subjects every day.
I really think there are no hard and fast rules for this. There are no doubt children of 8 and 9 who are truly ready to write narrations (in fact, I remember one AmblesideOnline child of 6 who did so voluntarily). And there is no reason to hold them back if they can do this. The average child will be ready by 10 or 11, anyway.
I began written narration last year with my then 10yo son. By the end of the year, he was doing one written narration per week, plus one longer, more focused written narration once per month. This year, he is typing well enough to use the computer for his narrations, and he writes about 3 times per week, plus does the occasional, longer narration. Most of this work is not spectacular, and at this point, he is still building his skills and getting into the habit of getting his thoughts "on to paper."
"Composition" is not taught as a subject; well-taught children compose as well-bred children behave--by the light of nature; it is probable that few considerable writers have been taught the art of "composition." [from a Parents' Review article by Charlotte Mason]
Here are a few tips (just my own opinion, not wanting to sound like an expert here) for being the Mom when your children do their written narrations--especially early ones!
1) Don't read them.
Let me repeat this one:
DON'T read them.
Have your child read them to you!
My editing-eye catches every misspelled word, I sigh (even if not out loud, I sigh inwardly) and go off on a mental tangent about why this child can't spell and what I'm doing wrong and what she's doing wrong and how they'll never succeed in life if they can't spell and how bad this makes us both look if she can't spell--and meantime, my astute child is reading my face for reaction and knows I am disappointed in something she has worked on with diligence, enthusiasm, and eagerness.
So my second point is like the first, just said positively:
2) Have your child read aloud their written narration to you!
I can't tell you the number of times my dd has read her narrations aloud to me and suddenly said, "Oh, wait! I spelled that wrong!" or "Oh--wait! That didn't make sense--I forgot to put this word in . . ."
It doesn't mean that her then-self-edited version is perfect by any means . . . but our relationship is preserved for yet another day! :-)
Here's an important point--what is narration for?
Narration is your child/student connecting with the material, getting in touch with the facts clothed in literary language, getting to know an artist, a poet, a general, a mythological story, a brave young girl, a foolish animal, a truth . . . and then relating those ideas articulately. The articulate part will develop and grow (though it is often evident in beginning narrations . . . I think I mean the articulate part will get more "polished"), because this is teaching composition skills!
Do you remember writing a first draft? Well, written narrations are like that--they are written with the intent of writing, of expressing . . . with one exception--they are not meant to be re-written over and over and over. That would kill the spirit of the child to have to correct and re-write every narration (assuming you are requiring somewhat frequent narrations).
I have read of some parents really doing this to death, missing the point of narration entirely. They go over a written narration, have the child re-write it again and again (in some perceived lesson on penmanship), then they use that same narration for dictation and for copywork. That is not how CM teaches! Narration is about the art of writing--and by writing, I mean 'composing' if you will, not spelling and handwriting, etc. (They will learn that better from copying works that are already established as great!:-)
To me, listening to my child's written narration is listening to their heart. I can "hear" what they understood and valued--and I can offer respect to their composition by listening.
Two added things--1) I do then look at the written narration. I make gentle comments like "Next time, you might want to remember to make breaks to show where the paragraphs go." I also note (sometimes mentally) the misspelled words--to use in dictation of other material, and to watch to see when they improve.
2) There are written narrations that we correct and do over. These are ones my child wants to save in particular, or ones that reflect a larger 'project.' (My 16 yod is at this moment writing a narration of a book assigned to her on the Cycle of American Literature. She is writing lengthy narrations on two American writers discussed in the book, Emerson and Poe. She typed one up and e-mailed it to me--she no longer reads them aloud to me!--and I noted right away that she misspelled the writer's name in every instance. Of course, she was required to re-do this correctly--but I still read her work and gave her my evaluation of it, despite the misspelling.)
Writing a narration is hard work (for all who think it is not, stop andnarrate orally a chapter you have just read in a book. And try to write on it. It is very difficult!)
Love in Christ,
Transitioning from oral to written narration should be taken slowly:
"I do think this improves with time. I also choose one problem area at a time and work on that. It might be run-on sentences, or it might be passive sentences. Use your word processor to help you. I have mine type with the spell check and grammar check on. With the grammar check, they are supposed to ask me before they make changes, as this is more prone to computer error than the spellcheck.
My 17 y.o. was a terrible speller when she was 11. She started to improve at about 14 or so. That's when I started really implementing Charlotte Mason's method of having the child just look at a word from a spelling list, trying to visualize the way it looks. I think that practice helped her develop her own skills and start paying some attention to what she was writing (prior to this she would mispell words she was copying). My 11y.o. is also a very poor spelling. Recently she's been motivated to exchange e-mails and letters with a friend in another state who is a fellow Lord of the Rings nut. She's been using the spellcheck and she commented to me today that she thought her spelling was improving because of this. I know the word processor may not seem very CM, but I think it fits with Miss Mason's principles perfectly.
Writing Strands is one good program. Children around 11 or 12 are about the age Charlotte Mason recommends beginning some more formal grammar and composition instruction. The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, is also useful for composition.
How much time should be spent on each facet (penmanship, copywork, phonics, grammar) of language arts?
We're less specific partly because so much of this depends on the needs and abilities of the student, and because we DON'T want to have to say "do this, do ten pages, use this book." The original sample PUS programs (from the 1920's) were not always very specific either; the how-to's came from CM's books and from the Parents' Review magazine, and the sample programs would simply state that Form II children should do pages 40 to 50 in the grammar book over the term, and that they should both work on their handwriting program plus copy two lines of Shakespeare perfectly per day.
Re language arts/English, I'd suggest looking at the goals that you want each of these components (penmanship, copywork, phonics, grammar) to accomplish, and see whether there is in fact some overlap. (Don't forget the across-the-curriculum work that's accomplished by written and oral narration, too.) I haven't used ILL (Intermediate Language Lessons), for instance; but if you already have a grammar program, plus they're doing copywork and regular dictations (say once a week), plus narrating from their history/literature/science, plus reading poetry, then do you really need ILL? Again, I haven't yet had the opportunity to see the Imitations books, but how does that overlap with work you could be doing with the AmblesideOnline books? Would you use the Imitations books mostly for a resource, for suggestions to enrich the narrations; or would it be a whole extra course?
You might also look at the time each child will be spending on school. Of course this will vary, but, for instance, my 9yo is up to about 3 hours per morning and she often has some extra reading. How do you break down your time?--say roughly, 30 minutes for math, 1 hour for reading (together or alone), 30 minutes for miscellaneous subjects like picture study and languages--that might leave you an hour, a third of your morning program, to devote to English subjects (spaced throughout the morning, not all in a block, probably). So that hour might be broken down into 10 minutes copywork, 20 minutes grammar lesson or something of that sort, 15 minutes working on spelling if needed, 15 minutes misc. . . . my point is that you have a limited amount of time, and you want to spend it carefully, on the things that are most needed and most productive.
If you and your child are feeling burdened by having to fit in a lot of misc. English lessons on top of the good books that should be the core of the program, then yes, I would think you should probably cut it down some. Keep your goals for your own children in mind--do you want them to produce neater copywork, to master adverbial phrases, to write good business letters, to narrate clearly?--what are your goals for the next few weeks or months? Ruth's Beechick's advice has always worked well for us--we have to teach the child, not the book.
Writing CM style
I think dictation is the area I have seen the most growth in my very reluctant 9 1/2 year old boy . . . (we've had tears too) I would encourage you to try again because it is the stepping stone to his written narrations. I used Robert Louis Stevenson poems, one stanza only at first and found them very simple, rhyming and manageabe. Take it in really small steps and be very encouraging. I also let my son copy his own narrations that I had transcribed from his oral narrations before he ever began writing on his own. It was rewarding for him to see his own thoughts on paper without having to trouble over the spelling etc . . . He is writing some of his own narrations now and I don't worry too much about the spelling. I hope that helps. The Charlotte Mason way works, but it is very different with each child, and definitely takes patience.
Narration is recommended for children of about 6 and up. I have an almost-5-yo who sometimes narrates to me, but I don't pressure her to do so. It's an acquired skill (not an easy one!), and it's best to start out short. A whole Bible chapter is probably too much, for example; one episode, one Aesop's fable, one part of a fairy tale or history lesson, would be enough at a reading if they're just getting their feet wet. It's also fun to use alternate forms of narration, such as acting out a story or drawing a picture, or having the child pretend they are the main character and tell about what happened. Often a discussion question or two can follow narration, and if the books touch their imaginations, the children may ask the questions themselves. (A sure sign of comprehension!)
You'll find that many specific comprehension skills are learned through narration--sequencing, main idea, details--and it's also good practice in listening, in speaking skills, vocabulary, and the more general idea of putting words together and telling a story.
To get down to the nitty-gritty skills such as where to put a period, you can teach those as they do copywork (you can also have them use a handwriting curriculum along with copywork--Charlotte Mason did), and dictation (you can let them "study" for it first). Or have lessons in those things when you feel it's time to teach them. (Example: my 10yo has mastered most of the mechanics such as punctuation, but I've noticed in her own writing that she rarely uses paragraphs. Mental note to spend some time working on that this fall.)
You'll see other things on scope and sequence lists for primary grades, such as homonyms and rules for dividing words into syllables. Again, you can teach those in a few short lessons--we like Ruth Heller's picture books about types of words. (Fred Gwynne wrote a couple of books about The King Who Rained, but I found those went over my daughter's head. Five in a Row uses a picture book called Truman's Aunt Farm.) It's easy to make up word games with things like homonyms--just make it the day or week's challenge to come up with the most interesting examples. Re syllables-my personal feeling is that too many rules about that are irrelevant at this age, except if it's a particular spelling problem that needs to be explained; I did teach my dd what syllables were, and we related them to music, such as counting the number of hand claps as we chanted lines of nursery rhymes. It's something to do while waiting for the bus. But if you want to teach syllables, go ahead.
Hope this helps some.
I hesitate to respond because my children do not have good handwriting, and because I am not very diligent about doing what I ought to do. So, please, don't look upon this as advice from one qualified to give it, but rather as a report. I will report what I understand of Charlotte Mason's suggestions for handwriting. This is not to be taken as an indication that I have done very well with implementing her ideas in this area. On the rare occasions where I have implemented them, I have seen improvement. I use the feminine pronoun throughout because my letter writers are all girls. Charlotte Mason suggests that copywork begin with a single letter of the alphabet, and you do not move on until the child is able to form about six copies of that letter perfectly. The key seems to be for the parent/teacher to watch while the child writes, stopping her from forming a letter improperly (bottom to top rather than top to bottom, for example). Then have her compare her work to the model and together you look for errors. Have her notice that her 'a' is open at the top rather than closed--you may need to direct her attention to the areas she needs to notice (Look at how the letters sit on the lines--what's the difference between yours and the model?) If I had done this from teh start, and we had only worked on single letters of the alphabet until the child could form them with nearly perfect execution, and I had been diligent to sit and watch them write--well, I think my girls would have legible handwriting. As it is, three of them write exactly like their father.=/
Too Much Grammar? article by Ruth Beechick
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Attention and Concentration
Tegan finds the other students in the class very annoying and distracting, and isn’t getting her work done.
Points to note
• Students with ASD tend to be easily distracted. The student might find it hard to concentrate because of background noise, flickering lights or the movement of others about the room. Classrooms that are very bright and colourful can overload the student with visual information. Many students find it particularly hard to ‘filter out’ background noise and visual information.
• Stress and anxiety will affect concentration levels. See the Behaviour Management section for more information.
• The student may have another condition such as ADHD that affects their ability to concentrate.
• Strong perfume, deodorant or other smells may be overwhelming to the student, causing irritation and an inability to concentrate.
• The student may have trouble understanding what to focus on; and may be unaware of the ‘big picture’, concentrating instead on small, irrelevant details.
• The student is likely to have an obsessive interest that can intrude on thoughts. The student may pay little attention to an activity that does not fall into their particular area of interest.
• Students with ASD may ignore group instructions because they don’t think they are part of the group.
• Attention may be poor where there is a receptive language difficulty. The student may not take in what is being said; and may just ‘tune out’.
• The student with ASD can have difficulty predicting how long an activity will last; this uncertainty may cause anxiety which will affect concentration.
• During an activity the student may get stuck but won’t ask for help and starts doing something else. Teachers may interpret this as poor concentration.
• It is common for people with ASD to be very rigid and selective in their choice of food, i.e. choosing to eat foods of a certain texture, taste or colour. A diet that is nutritionally inadequate will affect ability to concentrate and behaviour.
• You will find that the student is far better at absorbing information from a documentary program or using educational software than listening to a teacher in class.
What you can do
• If appropriate, play background music to mask out unwanted noise.
• When demonstrating an activity you’ll need to remind the student what to focus on. Visual cue cards may be more effective than verbal prompts because words ‘disappear’ quickly.
• Try to incorporate the student’s particular topic of interest into activities to increase attention and motivation. This could be as simple as placing a sticker related to the student’s interest in the corner of a worksheet.
• Use the student’s name frequently when addressing the class as a whole. This will help the person recognise they are part of the group. If the student has an aide, ask them to repeat the instruction individually if necessary.
• Keep your language clear and uncomplicated, giving one instruction at a time. Give the student sufficient time to process the instruction, then check understanding.
• Try to keep tasks as relevant and functional as possible. The students might have little motivation to complete a task that has little relevance or personal meaning.
• Make sure the student understands the activity, knows how to start and when to finish. Use a kitchen timer or clock to show how long the activity will last; this will help the student develop a concept of time.
• If concentration deteriorates throughout the day, it could be due to low energy or a poor diet. The student may need a consult with a dietician or doctor to check if they are receiving adequate nutrition.
• If all else fails and the student just won’t pay attention, some time out to let off steam may help.
Creative Writing and Literacy
Points to note
• Students with ASD are often fantastic readers but struggle to write coherent structured pieces or creative pieces of writing.
• Students with ASD are often very good at reading because they have terrific visual learning skills. Some can decode words beyond the level of their comprehension. This is known as hyperlexia.
• Comprehension can be difficult for students with ASD because they have ‘theory of mind’ deficits. They can have difficulty understanding the motivations and intentions of others (and therefore, the characters in story books). They may have an understanding of the story but are unable to answer questions about it. ‘Why’ questions are particularly difficult as they require the ability to reason.
• Some students refuse to read anything but non-fiction; this allows the gathering of facts and knowledge on preferred interests.
• Most students with ASD are visual learners. When learning new words, it is best to take a ‘whole word’ approach rather than a phonetic approach, as this may teach the student only to sound out the word, not the word itself.
• In creative writing, the student might lack imagination, have difficulty getting started and organising thoughts in sequence. The student may not provide enough information to ensure reader understanding, assuming that the reader knows as much about the plot and characters. The student may only write on a limited range of topics and may be unable to write about anything outside personal experience.
What you can do
• If the student is stuck reading books on one topic, encourage books on related topics.
• If the student has an impaired imagination, may have difficulty relating to fantasy stories and prefer to read about things that are real and of interest.
• Computer programs that teach comprehension and creative writing will be of great benefit to the student and encourage him to work independently.
• Encourage the student to make his or her own story using computer images – photos, pictures and drawings. Encourage the student to describe what is on each page to develop the story.
• Practice sequencing using images that show a series of events. Ask the student to retell the events in their own words. This will help develop an understanding of questions such as “What happened before …?” and “What happens next …?”
• After reading a story ask the student ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ questions. Many will find these questions confusing, so it may help to provide two alternative answers to prompt the correct response. Move on to ‘why’ questions as verbal ability and comprehension improves, again providing prompts.
• In creative writing, allow the student to write about personal experiences. Then, to develop creativity, pose questions like, “What would have happened if…” and have the student write an alternate version.
• If the student has difficulty starting a creative writing task, try using pictures or cartoons first to aid organisation of thoughts.
Effective Rewards and Motivators
Points to note
It is important to reward positive and desired behaviour in young people with ASD. This helps motivate the person to repeat the preffered behaviours and to take pride in their achievements. Finding out what rewards and motivates an individual with ASD is very important to ensure success when teaching new skills and encouraging positive behaviour.
Motivators are important because:
• Students with ASD lack an inbuilt desire to please others.
• The student may become anxious when asked to do something that is unfamiliar, preferring familiar activities and routines that help the student feel safe and secure. It’s important to identify and use appropriate rewards and motivators to encourage development of new skills.
• The rewards that motivate other students may not appeal to a young person with ASD.
• The usual things we say or do to praise a student for a job well done may have no real meaning to the student with ASD. For example, “Nice job” or a pat on the back.
• Rewarding positive behaviour helps the student understand what is acceptable behaviour
What you can do
• Assess the student’s interests to establish what will be the most effective rewards and motivators. This information can be listed on the Student Summary. Conduct regular reviews as interests can change over a period of time.
• Creative teachers can work the student’s preferred interest into lessons and activities.
• Allow the student free time at preferred interest if work is completed before the other students. Reading, drawing, playing a computer game or visiting the library are all good activities.
• Give the student ‘Behaviour Bucks’ as a reward for good behaviour. Photocopy dollar ‘notes’ that can be used to buy a larger reward. A great method for teaching money maths.
• A student that particularly dislikes homework may be motivated to improve behaviour or complete class work if excused from homework for a day.
• An extension of the pass card, is a reward system with positive reinforcers printed on cards. The cards are given out at random for good work/behaviour. The student can then trade these in at appropriate times.
• Another tangible reward system is a sticker card with a grid of squares. The student earns one sticker for good behaviour. When the grid is full it can be traded in for a reward. Use stickers that relate to the student’s interest.
• When the student is working toward a reward have a picture or photo of it as a visual reminder. Make sure the student understands exactly how many points he needs to earn rewards. A social story can help the student understand the reward system. See Social Stories.
• Use a communication book between home and school to report on progress, skills learnt, behaviour etc. This will give parents the opportunity to learn about and praise their child for good behaviour.
• Initially offer the student frequent rewards to improve motivation – you can be more selective later.
• Change the reward system regularly to keep up the student’s interest and motivation.
• A student with challenging behaviour may hear nothing but negative comments, so be quick to praise even minor improvements in behaviour. This will help improve self-esteem.
• Make your praise meaningful. Instead of ‘Good job’ or ‘Well done’ try these phrases;
You’ve certainly worked hard.
You must have been practicing.
You’re really learning a lot.
Now you’ve worked it out.
You’re doing much better today.
That’s a real improvement.
I’m happy to see you enjoy working.
You’re getting better at it every day.
You remembered everything!
You’re very good at that now.
Handwriting Difficulties and Note Taking
Brody is reluctant to take notes – he hates making mistakes that are permanent, but is more co-operative when he can use a computer.
Points to note
• The student with ASD may have fine motor difficulties that it make it hard to write neatly. it may be difficult for the student to a pen properly.
• The student may be a perfectionist who insists on always forming letters perfectly. Activities may never be completed because the student does them over and over to make them perfect. The student may be an extremely slow writer, or may write well at the beginning of an activity but gets tired quickly.
• Some students with ASD insist on writing in capital letters.
• The student’s handwriting may suffer if anxious about writing well or stressed by some other issue.
• The student may have difficulty taking notes from the blackboard, as this involves reading the words, keeping them in memory momentarily, writing them down, often while listening to verbal instructions from a teacher or the chatter of peers! It is very difficult for students with ASD to attend to more than one stimulus at a time.
• Sometimes a student is so self-conscious about poor handwriting that written work may not be handed in.
• The student with autism may suffer a condition called Dysgraphia, where the persons writing skills are much lower than their age, IQ and education level.
What you can do
• Some students may need to use paper with larger lines to keep letters even and uniform.
• Students who insist on writing in capitals may have learnt to write this way prior to school entry and have become ‘stuck’. Individual teachers can decide whether to tackle this issue. There are many other ways of recording information.
• Show the student how you handle mistakes when you are writing.
• Some students write better if their writing surface is raised to a 15-degree angle.
• While handwriting difficulties need to be addressed, consider alternative methods of recording such as using a laptop or mini tape recorder. These can be useful when the student needs to record a lot of information.
• Give the student advance warning that they will need to write in the session and how much is expected.
• Assign a note taking buddy – have another student photocopy his notes to ensure the student with autism has a complete set. Summarise key points in a handout. Note also that some students with autism have great difficulty reading the handwriting of others.
• For those with anxiety about making mistakes social stories can help.
• Allow the student to type written work. Ask the student’s parents if they can transcribe the work if the student is not a competent typist.
More information on Dysgraphia can be obtained from http://suelarkey.com.au/media/Tip_Sheet_-_Dysgraphia_and_Typing.pdf and http://www.autism-help.org/comorbid-dysgraphia-autism.htm
Improving Organisational Skills
Points to note
• People with ASD tend to have poor executive functioning skills. This means the student might have difficulty with organisation, task sequencing, planning, prioritising and getting started.
• A student with ASD can easily become overloaded and confused coping with the social demands of school life. This added stress affects the ability organise themselves and their belongings.
• The student may not see the point of being well organised and may have little motivation to please others or master new skills.
• The student can have particular difficulty remembering which items to bring from home and what to take home each day, the materials required for certain classes, knowing where to put answers on a work sheet and finding their way around school.
What you can do
• The student will benefit from having a map of the school. Use highlighters to colour code classrooms, home room, canteen, etc.
• Use a homework assignment book or sheet. This should clearly state what is expected as well as listing the books and resources needed to fulfil the requirements. Have the student’s parents check and sign the book and copy important dates on to a calendar.
• Encourage the student to use a calendar at home (preferably one related to a special interest) as a constant visual reminder of important dates, assignments due etc.
• Talk to the student’s parents about providing a suitable place at home to complete homework. It is essential this space is free from distractions.
• It is important the student has time to ‘unwind’ at the end of the day so traditional forms of homework may be off the agenda. A home work assignment that meets the unit requirements but can be completed relating to a topic of interest, using a computer and multi media resources, may be far more motivating for the student to complete.
• Use different coloured plastic tubs or trays to organise workspace.
• Suggest the student use a colour coding system for notebooks, text books and folders for each subject.
• Use a visual or written timetable that shows the items that are required for each lesson.
• Allocate a time each week for ‘housekeeping’ and a general tidy up of the student’s work area, locker etc. The student may also benefit from having a larger locker if this is possible.
• Enlarge worksheets onto A3 size paper and using a highlighter, mark the spaces for each answer.
• The student may need some help getting started with an activity. A physical prompt may be necessary. Try providing a list, sequencing the tasks to reach the goal of the activity.
Learning To Ask For Help
Points to note
• The student may have difficulty asking for help and will work on something until their frustration is very high or they have a meltdown. The young person may not know that other people may be able to help them.
• Even a student with good language skills may not recognise the need to tell someone about feeling frustrated, or that something is troubling them.
• A student who is being harassed or bullied may not complain about or report incidents unaware that teaching staff actually need this information in order to take action.
• A student who appears lazy or avoids work may in fact be unable to get on with the task.
• Young people with ASD are often worried about appearing different and will be reluctant to seek help from aides and teachers in case they get teased or called stupid.
What you can do
• The student with ASD needs help to understand emotions and how to convey them.
• If you ask an open question, the student may say ‘no’ when meaning ‘yes’. For example, instead of saying “Are you too hot?” you might say, “If you are feeling too hot then you need to take off your jumper.” Instead of saying “Do you need help?” say “If it’s hard then you need to say ‘I need help’”.
• The young person with ASD might be very insecure about appearing stupid so have an agreed code or signal to encourage them to ask for help.
• Be aware of the tasks that cause the most difficulty. Work alongside the student and help recognise when he is having difficulty. Teach a standard phrase to use, such as “I’m stuck” or “I can’t do this.” Older children who don’t want to draw attention to themselves could use an agreed signal to alert their teacher that they need assistance.
• Appoint an understanding peer or staff member to counsel and debrief the student following an incident. Make sure they have private 1:1 time to discuss the situation in detail.
• There may be a tendency for the student to apply one problem solving strategy and apply this rigidly. The student will need assistance to think ‘outside the square’.
• When the student has completed a task, talk through the sequence of steps and reflect on what has been learnt from the exercise.
Memory, Recalling and Reflecting on Learning
Points to note
• Many people with autism have excellent memories and can recall events or information in intricate detail, particularly facts, dates and information on their topic of interest. Many people with autism have excellent rote memories.
• According to some theories, many learning difficulties experienced by people with ASD arise from a failure to develop an experience ‘of self’. It is as if they have difficulty experiencing events as happening to themselves, rather it is like they are watching a video of life. This lack of experiencing self has a profound effect on the student’s ability to process information.
• When you ask the student with ASD a question, responding may take some time as the person has to stop thinking present thoughts, process the meaning of the question, come up with an answer and then respond.
• The students might have difficulty accessing and retrieving memories without a specific cue. It is not that the information is not there, but the student may not have a meaningful framework in which to link events and personal memories.
• The student may have difficulty responding to an open question, such as “What did you do on the weekend?’ but he may be able to answer questions when given alternatives, such as, “Did you go the park or the beach on the weekend?” This type of questioning gives a prompt to retrieve the information from memory.
What you can do
• Be aware of the student’s difficulties with open questions, only use these if you feel the student can give an appropriate response. Otherwise, ask questions that give a cue as to the correct response.
• Be patient when asking questions. Try not to interrupt or finish sentences for the student as this may interrupt thought processes and they will have to start over again.
• There are several strategies to try that may help the student to memorise specific information.
• when talking about experiences, discuss the student’s personal response, feelings and thoughts.
• Students might need assistance to identify these feelings,
– working the information into a diagram or picture form,
– helping the student to establish links between new information and information already known. Use visuals wherever possible.
• When a new skill has been learnt it is helpful to reflect on this learning before moving on.
This can be done by;
– identifying key points,
– asking the student to clearly state what they have learnt,
– making connections between what has been learnt and prior knowledge in the subject,
– making judgments about how this new skill or information will be useful in the future.
When Gary tries to play football with the other kids at lunchtime he ends up in a fight, he doesn’t understand the rules of the game and runs away with the ball.
Points to note
• Many people with Autism have some degree of motor clumsiness. Some have an odd gait when walking or running. There may be a lack of co-ordination between the upper and lower limbs or left and right sides of the body.
• This motor clumsiness may cause the young person with ASD to have poor ball handling skills, particularly if visual perception is a problem. For example, to the inability to anticipate and catch a ball being thrown in their direction.
• Poor ball handling skills can lead to ridicule by peers and exclusion from games. Unfortunately, when this occurs, the student has limited opportunities to practise skills and enjoy the social aspects of sporting activities.
• Many of the rules of team sport are invisible and complicated, free flowing and very difficult to for a person with autism to follow.
• A student who is tactile defensive will dislike the physical contact of team sports.
• People with autism sometimes have poor core strength, muscle tone, hyper mobile joints and may tire easily, all of which make physical activity difficult.
• The young person with autism might have a very strong sense of justice; and will get very upset if someone has cheated in a game. Young people with ASD often expect to win and become very upset when beaten as they like to know there is a predictable outcome to an event, i.e. they expect to win.
• Proprioceptive difficulty leads to an inability to judge the position of one’s body in space. The student may not be very good at imitating others and balance may also be affected.
• The student may have auditory sensitivities and the acoustics of a gymnasium can be unbearable. The sound of whistles, bouncing balls and voices echoing off the walls can be painful.
What you can do
• A physiotherapist or occupational therapist can put together a program to assist with co-ordination, core strength and stability.
• Individual activities may be more suited to a person with ASD. Gym programs, swimming, karate, tennis are all more solitary physical activities that people with ASD tend to be able to participate in better than team activities. These activities can also help build coordination and skills.
• Ball handling skills can greatly improve the student’s acceptance by peers. The young person may never be an outstanding player but ball skills can be improved through a regular physical education program. Ball handling skill can be practiced 1;1.
• If auditory sensitivity is a problem, the student may like to wear ear protectors. Have an agreement that the student can leave the gym if feeling overloaded.
• Use a social story to teach rules of games and develop an understanding of fair play.
• Teachers may need to pick class teams to ensure the young person with ASD is not left out or picked last for team sports.
• If the young person is not able to participate well in team games they may like to be score keeper or umpire.
Transfer of Learned Skills
Points to note
• People with ASD can be very rigid in their way of thinking. They can have great difficulty transferring the skills learnt in one setting to another, similar setting.
• Problems with memory recall lead to difficulty searching the memory for useful information. Unless they are specifically cued, the student can lack the ability to spontaneously search for knowledge that can be transferred to a new situation.
• Sometimes a student can display certain skills at school but cannot perform them independently at home, or vice versa.
• This inability to generalise skills can be a big problem if the student’s teacher is unaware of just how rigid the child can be.
What you can do
• It is important to always generalise what is being taught with a range of examples and situations. The student needs an opportunity to learn the same thing in different situations to encourage flexible thinking.
• Practice each new skill with a range of practical examples in different settings. Then move on to more complex ideas.
• There needs to be good communication between home and school. Keep a record of skill development in a Communication Book and send it home with the student each day. Newly acquired skills can then be practiced at home.
• When a new skill has been learnt, reflect on the learning experience by talking about what has been learnt and how this skill might be used in the future.
• The student should also be given the opportunity to enjoy what was learnt. Reflect on the achievement, pointing out to the student their feelings of pride.
Homework is a contentious issue for students with ASD. Many students have a strong resistance to the very idea and have great difficulty completing any homework tasks at all.
School is very stressful and often students with ASD need their downtime afterschool to cope.
- Students with autism have poor functioning in the areas of goal setting, planning, organising and prioritising tasks, managing time effectively, solving problems and staying on task. These issues can make homework very difficult.
- Assigning homework to a student struggling with the stress of school may be more than he or she can cope with.
- The student may see no point in doing school work at home if they have already covered the topic in class- in their mind it is done and there is no reason to go back over it again.
- The student may see school work is done only at school and may not want to do it at home, as home is the domain for other things.
Common problems and strategies
The student spends hours on a task when it was only intended to take a few minutes.
Be explicit with task requirements. Define specific tasks and the expected duration of each. Encourage the student to use a timer or stopwatch to manage time effectively.
Poor time management; student leaves assignments to the ‘last minute’.
Give an expected start date as well as a completion date for large assignments. Review progress regularly.
Memory problems, forgetting homework instructions and resources required.
Use a homework diary. Assign a responsible peer to act as a ‘homework buddy’ for the student to telephone if he has difficulty or forgets what to do. Fax or email a copy of homework to parents.
Refuses set homework or does not complete tasks satisfactorily.
The student is likely to have difficulty getting started and figuring out where to begin. Close supervision is needed. Speak to the student’s parents about providing assistance and guidance or hiring a homework tutor. If this is not possible, homework tasks could be completed at school during breaks under supervision of a teacher or integration aide. Strategies used for students with ADD or ADHD can also be useful.
Poor handwriting. The student may refuse to hand in work for assessment because he is self-conscious of his poor spelling or messy writing.
Allow student to use a computer for written assignments.
Student has difficulty with homework format, eg. essays.
Allow alternative assignment formats, eg. oral reports, demonstration, use of a video or audio tape recorder or computer presentation. Where sequencing and structuring of written language is a problem, permit students to submit assignments written in ‘dot point’ rather than essay format.
Student is not able to explain the formula or reasoning they used to reach a correct answer.
The strategies and thought processes used by the student may be based on intuition rather than conventional thinking. They may be unable to demonstrate or verbalise the steps they used to reach a conclusion however these do tend to be accurate. You may have to accept their reasoning at face value, even if it seems illogical to the neuro-typical mind.
Close communication between home and school is important to ensure the support of parents to get homework done, but also for schools to understand when tasks need to be modified or when the student is experiencing significant stress and will not be able to complete tasks.
How can I help my son develop his independence?
• Teens with autism are like their typically developing peers, often seeking independence and to get away from parents and carers on their own.
• Teens with autism will mature physically at the same rate as their peers, but will take longer to develop social, sexual and emotional maturity.
• Parents often worry about the ability of their teen with autism to look after themselves in the real world and want to shield them.
• To be able to be as successful and as independent as possible in the world as adults, the teen with ASD must build skills and understand their rights and responsibilities.
• Preparing the young person for independence will ensure they are more likely to be able to care for themselves in the future when a parent or carer is no longer able to care for them.
• Teaching basic skills and expecting the young person to participate in their share of household activities increases the sense of fairness in the family and lessens the burden on siblings and parents.
Things you can do to increase independence
• Often young adults with autism will struggle with hygiene and self-care if not prompted to shower. The young person with ASD needs to master these tasks and understand why it is important to be clean and well groomed each day.
• Teach and reinforce the basics of hygiene and self-care; toileting, showering, bathing, dressing and grooming
• Visual schedules and sequences or electronic reminders can help prompt these tasks.
Caring for belongings
• Teach the young person to care for their belongings appropriately and to have a special place to put important things such as keys, wallets, watches etc.
• People with autism can sometimes be messy, disorganised and lose belongings if they do not have defined spaces to put things.
• Some people with ASD are big collectors or hoarders and have difficulty letting go of things they no longer need.
• Ensure the young person has an organised way to keep their collections and make regular bedroom cleaning part of the schedule at home.
Cooking and meal preparation
Involve the teen in basic cooking to build food preparation skills and basic kitchen safety concepts. There are many great photographic step by step cook books available for people with disabilities/autism that can help.
Social stories of visual prompts/reminders may be needed to support kitchen safety concepts.
• Practice preparing breakfasts and school lunches (can be done the night before)
• Practice making basic packet cake or muffin mixes- this helps develop basic skills such as mixing, pouring, breaking eggs, and with following step by step directions.
• Get the young person with autism to take responsibility for one meal a week- planning, shopping for ingredients, cooking and cleaning up.
• Remember that practice makes perfect and sometimes mum or day may need to get out of the way to let the person make a mess, experience failure and success in their own way.
Household chores/pet care
• Get the teen to assist with chores such as washing clothes, vacuuming, yard work and gardening. Give them responsibility for specific tasks such as feeding and walking pets or bringing washing in from the line.
• Often teens with autism will pick these skills up easily if they repeated often and visual aids are provided.
• Shopping- involve the teen in food shopping – shopping provides a great opportunity to practice maths skills such as weighing and measuring, counting and calculating prices.
• Changing sheets and making beds is also an important skill to learn. The young person with ASD may have difficulty with this task due to motor coordination difficulties, but it is important to keep practicing and for the person to do as much of the task as they can.
• It is important the young person has some concept of responsibility for their own money, including their pension/part of their pension to manage savings and paying for their own expenses.
• Open a bank account and teach the young adult how to make deposits and or withdrawals, and save up money for something they want. Reward money for helping with tasks can be banked.
• Internet banking may be a great skill for young people with high functioning autism to learn, but they will also need to know how to go into a branch, fill in a deposit or withdrawal slip and line up in a queue.
Using the Library
Ensure the young adult has their own library card and knows how to borrow, care for and return books or resources. Having your own library card, borrow books and caring for them teaches responsibility and develops a sense of self.
Start teaching the teen about public transport including which bus or train to get to school or into the city if needed, how much it costs, how to read the timetable and which stop to get on and off at. What to do if the bus or train is late or isn’t coming, the best places to sit when using public transport and who and how to ask for help.
Using a phone
Often people with autism are not good at using a phone. This may be because they can’t see the person they are talking to and miss out on the visual cues needed for understanding. They may also find operating a phone /mobile difficult. Practice using a phone and calling the parent/carer, program in the numbers, identify situations when they may need to call.
It is important the young person understands
• The role of the emergency services
• Who they are
• What they do
• Emergency situations and when to call 000.
• Practice what they may need to say or do.
• Use a social story or visual reminder or script – have it on the wall near the phone
• Keep name, address and phone number details also by the phone
It is important to practice an emergency evacuation of your home with and identify a meeting place.
The person with autism may not know what the beep of the smoke detector means or automatically know to get out of the house if there is smoke or a fire.
A visual strip or social story may be needed.
The young person needs to know to get out of the house and not to hide if the smoke detector goes off.
Teach road safety in a variety of settings- as a pedestrian, as a passenger. Ensure the teen can use the traffic lights or pedestrian crossings and knows where to cross safely. Being able to safely ride a bike, scooter or skateboard with their peers is also important for a teen with ASD. Teach and enforce the importance of helmets and seatbelts.
• Some teens with autism may aspire to get their licence like their typically developing friends. Some people with high functioning autism can successfully gain their L plates/ P plates and learn to drive.
• This may not be a goal for all young people with autism but parents need to keep an open mind to the possibilities.
• Many young people with ASD pass the initial L plate theory based test quite successfully, but have issues with the coordination and concentration required to drive and gain a full licence.
• Understanding and keeping within rules and lines and obeying signals is easy for people with autism, dealing with sudden change in road conditions and the intentions and actions of other road users are not.
• See Vic Roads for further information relating to driving and people with disabilities or impairments.
Health and medical care
The teen with autism may want to take on some of the responsibility for their own health, well being and medical appointments.
Arranging appointments, attending an appointment (or part of the appointment) on their own, having their own Medicare /health care cards is part of growing up and taking responsibility for their health. Knowing where to seek health services is also important.
Sexuality and relationships
It is important the person with autism has a reasonable and factual understanding of sex, masturbation and a concept of what their rights and responsibilities are in a relationship. The young person with autism will also need to understand how to know when someone is taking advantage of them to avoid being exploited sexually, physically emotionally or financially. For more information on sexuality see Sexuality health and hygiene.
Cigarettes, Drugs and Alcohol
A young person with autism may have many questions about cigarettes, drugs and alcohol and may even want to experiment with these substances.
It is important that the young person with autism learns about
• What these substances are
• What they do
• What they look like
• Legal issues with using these substances
• Health issues that arise from using these substances.
It is critical the young person learns;
• NEVER EVER to take any pills, powders or liquids from people at school or in the community.
• They also need to know to tell someone if they are offered a substance or alcohol.
• Remember that young people with autism are easily set up by others and may not know they are in a dangerous situation and who they can trust.
Key reminders for teaching skills for independence
- Patience is critical. It can be exhausting at times but worthwhile.
- Break tasks down into steps.
- Use visual prompts for each step if needed.
- Repetition is key.
- Encourage and reward desired behaviour.
- Get out of the way and let the young person make mistakes and learn from them.
- Let the person make a mess and clean it up again as part of the learning experience.
- It does not have to be perfect. It is the attempt that counts.
- Make participation in these tasks and learning part of the daily/weekly routine.