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6869 Superhero, Villain, or Victim: Using Technology to Help Students with ASD Navigate the Social World [CRC Session]

Friday, July 25, 2014: 1:00 PM-2:15 PM

202 (Indiana Convention Center)

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Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may not be aware that sometimes their words and actions can be perceived as harmful, threatening, or intimidating. They can also be targets for bullying. Discover strategies that can be used before and after social events that are easily implemented with accessible technology. Students with ASD may not be aware that sometimes their words and actions can be perceived as harmful, threatening, or intimidating. The lack of social skills from our students with ASD can be easily misinterpreted. What a young student does that we see as cute (such as playing with other kid’s hair) will not be cute in 7 years. While a high functioning student with ASD may think he is stepping in to “save the day” with a peer, others may think that he is in fact being the bully. Students with ASD need to realize that bullying is much more than fighting with their fists (Belviy, 2013). Research shows that we need to prioritize working on appropriate social skills prior to 3^rdgrade (Walker, Colvin, Ramsey, 1995). Unfortunately, we also know that students with ASD can become targets for bullying. A recent study showed that 63% of children with ASD aged 6-15 had been victimized over the course of their life (Zablotsky, Bradshaw, Anderson, & Law, 2013). Many states have taken recent legislative action to prevent bullying and protect children and many now require school districts to directly address bullying.

Not all students entering school have a foundation of basic social skills to build on. Adults need to explicitly teach, train, and model appropriate social behavior for our students while always considering what age appropriate skills our students will need in the future in order to be successful in their next transition. Social accommodations that alter the environment, such as peer mentors and peer awareness, are important for students with ASD. However, teaching our students social assimilation skills helps to develop their own ability to handle social situations independently.

Three child specific strategies will be covered in this session to help students learn and use appropriate social skills. Social narratives, video modeling, and self-management are vital tools along the road to build independence, make friends, and avoid harassment. With new developments in the technological field, personal devices are readily available to use as tools for documenting, reviewing, and training in both antecedent and consequence based scenarios. Since many of our students are digitally native, they have immediate access to engaging tools which we can tap into in order to increase learning within their natural settings. Come and see how the use of today's technology with proven strategies equals independence, power and purpose for our students.

Learning Objectives:

Identify the ways in which students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can become targets for bullying.
Utilize technology based strategies to be proactive in how we teach, train, and model appropriate social skills to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to avoid both being bullied and bullying others.
Describe how the lack of social skills from our students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be misinterpreted and why students with ASD can perceived as bullies.

Content Area: Social Skills

Presenters:

Laura Rinderknecht, M.Ed.
Special Education Intervention Specialist
Hamilton Southeastern Schools

Laura is the Special Education Interventionist for Hamilton Southeastern Schools, providing professional development, training, and coaching for teachers in early childhood through high school. Laura has traveled to multiple countries to work with teachers to understand special needs learners. She has been published in the journal Remedial and Special Education.

Deb Lorenz, M.A.
Assistive Technology Specialist
Hamilton Southeastern Schools

Deb is the Assistive Technology Specialist with Hamilton Southeastern Schools. She has taught special education and worked with assistive technology for 28 years. Deb was the first full time AT Specialist in Indiana in 1994. She has presented at educational conferences and for parent and advocate groups.

Peg Rideout, M.Ed.
Autism Specialist
Hamilton Southeastern Schools

Peg Rideout is the Autism Specialist in the Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation in central Indiana. She has twenty years experience as a special educator in the public schools.

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