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Will You Be My Friend?
Social Interaction for Children With Autism By Emily Gorovsky
such approaches as using reinforcements or incentive systems. Reinforcements can be as basic as verbal praise for a job well done, while an incentive system might involve giving a child a type of token when a task is completed or a skill is learned. These tokens can later be redeemed for a special treat or reward (candy, coloring book, watching a movie) that has been effective in improving the learning abilities of your child.
The authors also suggest chaining behavior, or dividing a complex behavior into smaller steps in order to teach a particular skill, such as setting up and playing a board game with another child. In chaining, individual skills are taught one at a time with more skills being added gradually until the child can set up and play the game independently.
Modeling is another technique that works well in a classroom setting. Teachers and other students can demonstrate an appropriate way to perform a task, such as writing one's name on a test or cleaning up after an activity. The child with autism can then follow this example while using the skills that he or she learned. Modeling a skill fosters interaction between children with and without special needs and allows a typically developing child with more social skills and a greater variety of experiences to help teach children with autism, says Mesibov. Giving children with autism enough time to observe other kids before jumping into a new activity will make modeling more effective. As an added benefit, this observation allows children with different needs and abilities to learn from each other and interact on their own terms.
Often, a typically learning child will need some guidance on how to approach and interact with a classmate who has autism. This is an issue that Leslie Carbo, a mother and fifth grade Language Arts inclusion class teacher at Pointers Run Elementary in Clarksville, Md., emphasizes to her students at the beginning of each school year. "Respect all students and be kind – nothing less will be tolerated," says Carbo. "We should recognize and be grateful for the differences in all of us."
This attitude of tolerance sets a tone of inclusion within the classroom for the entire year.