ASD-S3: Demonstrates the ability to consistently use various visual strategies including environmental structuring, schedules, visual cues and social stories to communicate social information and expectations that support the student's learning as directed by licensed staff.

Facilitator Supplement

Worksheets in this Unit

All worksheets are Adobe pdf files. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view and print the worksheets.

Lesson 1: Underlying Issues That Affect Development of Social Understanding

• Concept to Practice

Lesson 2: Organizing the Physical Environment to Support Social Success

• Concept to Practice

Lesson 3: Strategies to Teach and Generalize Social Skills to Develop and Maintain Desired Social Behaviors

• Concept to Practice

Lesson 4: Strategies to Improve Social Understanding

• Concept to Practice

Lesson 4a: Social Stories™ (Carol Gray)

• Concept to Practice

Facilitated Activity

Many of the activities that paraprofessionals are asked to complete in this unit have several correct answers, as they are scenario-based activities that ask paraprofessionals to utilize concepts and steps that are learned in associated lessons. We suggest that you look at the activities that paraprofessionals are asked to complete within this unit and bring together 2 or more of the paraprofessionals who have completed an activity (face-to-face or through email). Ask them to compare their answers in a discussion format. Were they the same? Different? Ask them how they came up with their answers? Were they based on different assumptions or conditions? Explain. Do the paraprofessionals have personal attributes that make him or her more comfortable making one choice over another? If the paraprofessional is currently working in a school, what conditions within the working environment does s/he think would influence their decisions? How would they influence their choices? (This discussion can greatly enhance the application of the skills learned in these lessons. They can provide opportunities to incorporate district-specific information and policies in the lesson as well.)

Discussion Ideas

Use the questions and discussion ideas listed below to guide paraprofessionals in group discussion and reflection.

Lesson 1 - Underlying Issues That Affect Development of Social Understanding

• Current theories of autism that shed light on underlying issues affecting the ability of a person with ASD to process social information including: an impaired theory of mind, a weak central coherence, limited joint attention, and reduced emotional referencing. What are these concepts? What might these theories look like in the behavior of students in a classroom? How might a paraprofessional be sensitive to these issues?

Lesson 2 - Organizing the Physical Environment to Support Social Success

• Why do you think organized and structured environments reduce anxiety among students with autism? What are some of the approaches to organizing and structuring the classroom environment covered in this lesson? What are the times or routines during a typical classroom day that would probably present the greatest challenges for students with ASD? How might a paraprofessional respond to these time/routines to support a student with ASD?

Lesson 3 - Strategies to Teach and Generalize Social Skills to Develop and Maintain Desired Social Behaviors

• This lesson describes 3 strategies for teaching and generalizing social skills: The use of direct instruction, highlighting social information, and the use of visual strategies. Discuss what these strategies are. How would these strategies change between elementary, middle school, and high school levels? Why would they need to change?

Lesson 4 - Strategies to Improve Social Understanding

• This lesson covers three effective strategies for helping students with ASD improve their social understanding: Situations-Options-Consequences-Choices-Strategies-Simulation (SOCCSS), comic strip conversations, power cards, and the incredible 5-point scale. Discuss how these difference strategies work and why they may be effective for students with ASD. Which strategies would be perhaps more effective at elementary, middle school, and high school? Why do you think so?

Lesson 4a - Social Stories™ (Carol Gray)

• This lesson covers “social stories,” a specific strategy for helping individual’s with ASD understand difficult social situations and concepts. Discuss how this strategy works. Why do you think it has been effective with individuals with ASD? What grade levels or age levels do you think it would be most effective?

The Para eLink is sponsored by the Minnesota Paraprofessional Consortium, in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education, located at the Institute on Community Integration in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.

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