Are you using the "assistance" correctly in the round-based teaching of autistic children?

Autism, also known as "autism", is a pervasive developmental disorder that begins before the age of 3. It is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social interaction disorders, communication disorders, narrow interests and stereotyped behaviors. The latest data shows that the prevalence of autism is 1 in 54, with a male-to-female ratio of 3 to 4:1.

Today, I would like to talk with you about the application of “assistance” in round-based teaching in the rehabilitation teaching of autistic children.

The turn-based operation teaching method is also called "decomposed trial teaching method" or "discrete unit teaching" or DTT for short. The specific process of DTT consists of five elements: instruction, response, assistance, reinforcement, and pause.

To complete a DTT operation round, to achieve reinforcement, and to continue the training activities. To help children establish a connection between instructions and correct responses to ensure the correctness of their responses, assistance is essential, and how to use assistance appropriately is particularly important in teaching.

Definition of aids: An aid, also known as a "prompt," is an additional stimulus used in training to intentionally elicit the child's correct response (the desired response).

What are the assists?

Physical assistance: helping the child to complete the correct response by touching his body, including full body assistance and partial body assistance.

Posture assistance: Use gestures, head movements or facial expressions to help children make the correct response. After the teacher gives the child an instruction, if the child cannot make the correct response immediately, timely assistance can be given according to the child's ability, and the child can be prompted to do what by pointing at the target with a finger.

Positioning aids: Place the stimulus (the item that requires the child's attention) in a position where the child can easily give the correct response.

Language assistance: Use language to supplement/describe instructions to indicate the correct response the children should have, and give (all or part of) the correct answer in the language stimulus.

Visual aids: Use pictures or real objects to prompt children. When training, you can use objects or pictures related to the activities in the instructions as prompts.

In actual operation, the child's reaction ability often does not develop so smoothly. Once you find that the child cannot complete the correct behavior after the assistance level is reduced, you should return to the assistance method that enables him to respond correctly in the next round. It is important to remember that "making the child complete the instruction action is the key." After several rounds of assistance, it is very important to observe the child's reaction and "wait" for a while before assisting each time you issue an instruction. But be careful not to wait for more than five seconds, and avoid the child's wrong reaction.

Summarize:

Assistance is like navigation, helping children learn a certain project. As children become more familiar with the project, the frequency of the use of assistance will gradually decrease until it is completely withdrawn.

Assistance is a method to help children acquire a new skill. We need to master the skills of assistance to help children recognize and understand the learning content. Let children acquire skills in a relaxed and pleasant environment.