Coloring (Painting) Steps
1. Scribbling (Random drawing)
2. Correct pencil grip for scribbling on paper (pea-picking, tong exercises), (thumb, index finger, middle finger hold the pen, small fish muscle close to the table)
3. Coloring within boundaries, from wide to narrow boundaries, from small areas to large areas, from geometric shapes to physical shapes
4. Copy coloring. Position copy coloring, color copy coloring
Painting Steps
5. Coloring as required
6. Drawing (copy drawing). Line straight line geometric shape same line geometric shape external form physical shape situational composition
7. Completing shapes
8. Independent painting
9. Painting as required (verbal requirements, written requirements)
10. Thematic painting (Beautiful Home)
11. Creative painting (Imagination ability)
Writing Steps
The first three steps are the same as painting
4. Drawing lines within a domain (maze walking), shapes from large to small, distance from near to far, from wide to narrow, path from simple to complex
5. Connecting dots, from two points to multiple points, dot distance from near to far, connecting straight lines to connecting curves, in numerical order
6. Connecting dots to shapes, from geometric shapes to physical shapes
7. Tracing (strokes, numbers, Chinese characters)
8. Independent writing, strokes from few to many
9. Writing as required
Writing abilities that should be possessed
1. The upper arm can rotate and has some strength,
2. The wrist can rotate
3. Fingers can coordinate activities
Common issues:
1. Incorrect sitting posture (parents assist by pressing down on the child's body from behind, face-to-face)
2. Not knowing how to hold the pen correctly
3. Lack of boundary sense when coloring (best to provide hand-over-hand assistance for empty shapes)
4. Uneven coloring, only coloring one place
5. Not looking at what they're doing
6. Inaccurate proportions
Paper-cutting Steps
1. Practice tearing paper (correct tearing method: holding paper with both hands and tearing it forward and backward) along lines
2. Able to open and close scissors to cut paper arbitrarily, practicing clenching fists and opening them
3. Learn continuous random cutting
4. Cutting along lines (lines from thick to thin, lines from short to long, from straight lines to arcs to curves to right angles to semi-circles)
5. Cutting and pasting geometric shapes (from large to small)
6. Cutting and pasting physical shapes
Assistance precautions:
1. Both hands coordinate, eyes follow the scissors
2. Tear paper along the lines, holding paper with both hands and tearing it forward and backward
3. Hold scissors correctly
4. Assistance method is best with two people, one behind and one opposite the table
5. Stop at turning points
6. Scissors perpendicular to paper
7. Clear goal, tell the child how many lines to cut before resting
8. Timely assistance and reinforcement
Puzzle Board
One, Select single-piece puzzle board
1. Quantity taken out increases gradually, cannot take all pieces out at once
2. Shapes go from regular to irregular, such as starting with squares from simple to complex
3. Present different orientations to children to teach them to rotate directions
4. Follow instructions while combining cognitive abilities
5. Let children use both hands simultaneously to practice bilateral coordination
Two, Combine shapes
1. Number of blocks increases gradually
2. Patterns increase in complexity, such as individual circles, squares
Three, Match and assemble according to patterns
Four, Assemble according to geometric shape shadows
Stringing beads
One, Training purpose: bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination
Two, Stages,
1. Hard wire, holes from large to medium to small
2. Soft wire, holes same as above
Three, Teaching methods
1. Partial imitation stringing, matching pairs
2. Complete imitation stringing, including color, shape, quantity
3. String as required
4. String according to a pattern, such as red yellow blue white
Building blocks
One, Partial imitation building (matching pairs) you build one block I build one block, need to distinguish "yours" and "mine"
Two, Complete imitation building
Three, Memory imitation building, training visual memory
Four, Build according to picture, including 1:1 ratio and reduced ratio
Five, Game, purpose: taking turns, waiting, you build one block I build one block
Precautions:
1. Place the blocks on the side where the child can easily reach
2. Maintain consistent direction
3. Start with colored blocks if possible
4. Don't just stack upwards, also build outwards
Clay modeling steps
1. Let the child recognize playdough. It’s soft and used for playing.
2. Encourage the child to have a desire to play with clay.
3. Squeeze the clay, bring four fingers together with the thumb.
4. Roll the clay into a ball, alternate hands to form a sphere.
5. Pinch the clay.
6. Roll into a long strip.
7. Roll into a ball.
8. Flatten (press with palm).
9. Press indentations (using items or fingers).
10. Pinch sharp edges, using thumb and index finger.
11. Shape with tools.
12. Create simple shapes with one piece of clay (imitation and following instructions).
13. Combine flat shapes.
14. Combine clay pieces to complete 3D shapes.
Paper folding steps
One, Basic actions
1. Correctly hold the paper, left and right thumbs underneath, other four fingers on top pinching the paper.
2. Correctly flip the paper.
3. Rotate the paper.
Steps:
1. Press flat.
2. Fold randomly.
3. Mimic folding in half, including edge to edge, corner to edge, corner to corner, edge to corner.
4. Mimic two-step folding.
5. Mimic more than two-step folding.
6. Mimic folding simple shapes.
7. Independently fold simple shapes.
8. Mimic folding combined shapes (flat).
9. Independently fold combined flat shapes.
10. Mimic folding 3D shapes.
11. Independently fold 3D shapes.
Two, Completion action steps:
1. Place the paper properly.
2. Eyes focus on the paper.
3. Correctly hold the paper with both hands.
Precautions:
1. Let the child recognize edges and corners.
2. Recognize midpoints and midlines.
3. Recognize the front and back of folded paper.
4. Parents' paper folding direction should be consistent with the child's, either all fold outward or inward.
5. Can give the child a pre-folded crease to start with.
Language development steps
One, Action pronunciation stage
Two, Imitation speech stage
1. Single sound.
2. Repeated sounds.
3. Two-sound combinations, such as 'a', 'y', 'y', 'f' (clothes, aunt).
4. Three sounds.
5. Short sentences.
6. Long sentences.
7. Compound sentences.
Three, Response stage. Occurs spontaneously alongside imitation speech.
1. Acknowledgment: 'Hey'.
2. Answering questions, specific: What is this?
General question: Is this...?
Yes/no: Is this...?
Choice question: Is it...or...? Is it...not...? Want...don't want...? Put the less preferred option last.
3. Abstract sentences. Answering why questions, answering if questions.
Four, Active expression stage
1. Situational expressions.
2. Emotional expressions.
3. Using questions, using: "What is this?" "Where is...?" "What corresponds to...?" "Who...?" etc., asking questions to seek answers.
4. Descriptive language
Describe pictures/items with one sentence.
Describe items with several adjectives.
Describe how to do something.
Describe a topic.
Describe similarities and differences between things.
Five, Communication stage
1. Exchange information.
2. Relay information as required, using names instead of 'he/she' etc.
3. Emotional communication.
Chapter Six Social Skills Training for Students with Autism
Training Goals
6.1 Students with autism are not adept at learning general social behavior patterns through daily social activities and do not understand others' expressions and actions. Therefore, teachers must systematically train students' social skills and help them early on to recognize and follow social norms, enabling them to learn socially accepted behaviors, making it easier for them to be accepted, develop appropriate interpersonal relationships, integrate into the community, and live independently as adults.
6.2 Additionally, teachers should assist them in improving inappropriate social, emotional, and behavioral problems. How to handle students' behavioral problems will be detailed in the next chapter.
Training Content
6.3 Social interaction skill training content may include:
(a) Contacting others and building relationships
. Increase students' awareness of human presence. For example, activities in front of students to attract their attention, or games based on their preferences to stimulate their interest and response;
. Guide students to make eye contact with others. Teachers can proactively adjust to their eye level or touch their bodies to encourage eye contact with people. Once eye contact is made, immediately speak to them or make facial expressions/actions to elicit responses;
. Create opportunities for students to need others' help. For example, placing toys they like in places they cannot reach, or suddenly stopping activities they are interested in, prompting them to signal to the teacher for toys or to continue the activity, thereby mastering the skill of seeking help from others.
(b) Train game skills to improve foundational learning abilities
. Provide various toys and demonstrate methods of playing with them, such as pushing cars, stacking blocks, etc., avoiding students only wanting to play with toys or objects in a certain way;
. Train focus, such as observing how others act or play with toys;
. Train imitation abilities, such as imitating others' speech or actions;
. Guide students to participate in group games so they can learn to follow simple game rules, such as taking turns, cooperating, etc.;
. Enhance imaginative abilities, such as pretending to be a teacher, doctor, etc.;
. Establish a reward and punishment system to help students understand the rules of winning and losing, learning to face victories and defeats.
(c) Learn general social norms
. Learn social etiquette and language usage, such as saying 'Good morning', 'Goodbye', 'Sorry', 'Thank you', especially emphasizing maintaining eye contact with people when speaking or signaling;
. Obey simple rules, such as listening, sitting quietly, waiting, following orders, not interrupting when others are talking, etc.;
. Learn to share with others, cooperate in completing activities, such as sharing food, playing group games, etc.;
. Learn appropriate social responses, such as responding to others' requests;
. Learn to actively interact with others, such as initiating greetings;
. Expand social circles, arrange opportunities for students to interact with different people, enhancing and training their social abilities to adapt to various social situations.
(d) Recognize and control one's own emotions
. Recognize and express different emotions, such as happiness, anger, sadness, joy, etc.;
. Learn how to appropriately express one's own emotions to others, such as happiness, fear, anger, etc.;
. Learn methods to seek help early from others and self-relaxation techniques to relieve anxiety.
(e) Develop appropriate interpersonal relationships
. Learn to care for, help, respect, and show concern for others;
. Understand the appropriate social distance to maintain with people of different relationships. Teachers should explain the difference between intimate behaviors and social etiquette, such as hugging, kissing, waving, shaking hands, etc.
(f) Understand others' expressions and actions, comprehend others' thoughts and feelings
. Through games, watching videos, etc., guide students in discussions to help them understand others' thoughts and feelings, cultivating empathy;
. Assist students in understanding the intentions behind others' actions and expressions, teaching them to make appropriate social responses, such as smiling and greeting, waving goodbye, etc.
(g) Cultivate habits of using leisure time wisely
. Learn to use community public facilities, such as parks, libraries, youth centers, etc.;
. Arrange participation in recreational and leisure activities;
. Cultivate good interests and hobbies.
Training Principles and Methods
6.4 When conducting social interaction skills training, progress should be gradual, first attracting students' attention to others, making them aware of others' existence, then creating opportunities to encourage students to interact with others, assisting them in mastering social interaction skills. Training methods can transition from an initially passive mode requiring significant prompts to an active mode requiring no prompts. When setting individualized training goals for students, teachers must decide the starting point based on the student's abilities and needs.
6.5 Social skills training should not be limited to a specific lesson or location but should permeate every aspect of students' daily activities. Teachers can conduct intensive individual or paired training and arrange social activities in real-life contexts, such as group games, tea parties, etc., helping them learn and apply social skills. Training content should address students' underdeveloped social skills and repeatedly practice newly learned social skills to consolidate learning.
6.6 Given the stubborn nature of students with autism, teachers should teach appropriate social skills and develop proper interpersonal relationships from a young age. Otherwise, once habits are formed, they become difficult to change.
6.7 Use visual aids such as images and text to assist students in engaging in sustained social activities around specific themes, enhancing their social interaction skills. For example:
(a) Social stories;
(b) Comic-style dialogues - through simple character graphics, symbols, text, and colors, students engage in interactive written conversations to express opinions and feelings.
6.8 Teachers can film snippets of student behavior, allowing them to observe their own behaviors and conduct social behavior assessments together. This enables students to understand what constitutes appropriate or inappropriate social behavior and make corrections accordingly.
6.9 Teachers can instruct students to observe and follow classmates during social activities or arrange peers to serve as guides and models, allowing them to imitate and master appropriate social skills.
Integration into the Community Arrangements
6.10 To assist students with autism in integrating into the community, schools and parents must actively create opportunities for them to interact with society. For example:
(a) Arrange practical experiential learning activities to help students understand the community environment near their school and home, making it easier for them to adapt to community life;
(b) Collaborate with linked schools or district schools to organize cross-school activities, expanding students' social circles and experiencing group life;
(c) Arrange community service activities for students, such as visiting the elderly, cleaning up the community, etc., cultivating their willingness to serve society and promoting community members' understanding and acceptance of students with autism, enabling them to integrate into the community;
Tearing Paper: Game Goal:
1. Exercise baby's bilateral coordination ability.
Game Preparation: New books, magazines, napkins, easy-to-tear colored paper, glue.
Game Process:
1. Mom shows each item one by one: book, magazine, napkin, colored paper, "This is mom's book, this is dad's magazine, this is baby's napkin, put it on the table."
2. Mom shows the colored paper, "This is colored paper, can tear, tear-tear-tear, big paper becomes small paper!"
3. Mom recites nursery rhymes while tearing paper pieces with the baby and helps the baby put the small paper pieces into a box to avoid throwing them all over the floor. (Little baby, tear colored paper, tear-tear-tear, big paper becomes small paper.)
4. Mom shows a sun made with colorful small paper pieces, "Baby look, this is the sun, there are many small paper pieces, red ones, yellow ones."
5. Mom says, "Baby has small paper pieces, let's make a sun." Recite nursery rhymes while sticking the sun with the baby. (Little baby, stick the sun, stick-stick-stick, small paper becomes a sun.)
6. Mom points to the sun stuck by the baby and says, "Baby is really capable, sticking a lovely sun, just like the baby, red ones, yellow ones, very beautiful!"
7. Mom picks up the sun and hangs it in the "Baby Talent Column," kisses the baby rhythmically with the nursery rhyme. (Little baby, really capable, ha-ha-ha, mom loves baby!)
Game Extension: For slightly older babies, you can tear rule-based patterns like the sun, noodles, etc., together, or draw patterns on the paper and let the baby tear along the edges of the patterns to get various cute animal patterns.
Precautions:
1. For the baby's health, do not give the baby polluted or dirty paper to tear, such as newspapers, which have higher lead content. Plus, babies of this age tend to put things in their mouths, so try to avoid letting the baby come into contact with such paper.
2. When the baby starts learning to tear paper, it is a milestone in the baby's development. The baby's fine motor skills have greatly improved. Moms should not stop them but provide clean paper and tell the baby which paper can be torn and which cannot, helping the baby develop good habits.