1. Curbing Behavior with Visual Supports,
Schedules, Social Narratives
and Video Modeling
By Lindy McDaniel
Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
Roosevelt Elementary- USD 489 Hays, KS
1
considerateclassroom.blogspot.com
2. I am going to. . .
Notes, Key Points
and Resources
Visual Structure and Handouts for Today. . .
Considerateclassroom.blogspot.com
3. Getting to Know Me. . .
• I have worked with preschool
children for over 10 years.
• Working with at risk and special
needs students, especially those
with Autism is my passion.
• I taught Head Start preschool for five
years, then in the fall of 2008, I
began teaching in the Early
Childhood Special Education
Classroom.
• I have background in Conscious
Discipline, Responsive Teaching and
Structured Teaching.
• I am currently sharing my work
through my blog. . .
considerateclassroom.blogspot.com
4. DISCLAIMERS. . .
• In today’s presentation I will be referring to children
with Autism mostly, however I have seen the strategies
and techniques described in this presentation work for
ALL types of children.
• I am a preschool teacher so all video clips and photos
are from a preschool
classroom. Please think outside
the box in how the techniques
and strategies apply to you and
your big or little kiddos. . . as
they definitely can apply with
little tweaks here and there!
5. Getting to Know You. . .
• How many years have you been working
with children with Autism? Other disabilities?
• How many of you are teachers? parents?
special service providers (slp, ot, pt, etc)?
other?
• What is your biggest challenge when working
with children with Autism and other
disabilities?
6. To change a child’s behavior you need
to be able to make sense of that behavior
and making sense of a child’s behavior
means making sense of his/her Autism.
-Philip Whitaker, 2001
8. Reframing Behavior
• In order to maximize the student’s growth and
performance, we must make sense of his behavior.
• The child in the video clip is not acting out because he
is trying to be defiant, he dislikes school or due to poor
parenting. He has Autism!
• We must reframe the behavior. His physical acts are
not deliberate or vindictive . They are his way to
communicate he does not like what is being asked of
him.
9. Children with Autism have problems in three
main areas of their development:
-social interactions and understanding
-verbal and nonverbal communication
-flexible thinking
-Whitaker, 2001
10. There is HOPE, Teaching and Learning the Skills. . .
10(Just Three Days Later!)
-Video not available
11. Schedules
•Schedule are a visual/concrete method used to tell
a child which activities will make up their day and the
order in which they will occur.
•The purpose is to teach flexibility; top to bottom
and left to right progression; aid in transitions;
provide predictability; establish a routine;
teach concepts of first/then and finished;
and to accommodate receptive language deficits
11
12. 1-Object Schedule
2- One Cue Picture
Schedule 3- First/Then Picture
Schedule
4- Picture Wall Schedule 5- Icon Wall Schedule
6- Text and Small Picture
Clipboard Schedule
12
13. Schedules for Home. . .
Weekly Chart (above)
Daily Transportable
Clipboard (to the left)
Monthly picture schedule
(to the right)
14. Tips for Home Schedules
• You may want your child’s schedule to simply tell
placement. For example, first we will play in the
playroom, then we will work at the table, then
we will walk to the park, then we will go to the
store.
• Start by making schedules for routine events like
mealtime, morning routine, and bedtime routine.
• Set up routine times for one on one instruction
and engagement. For example at 1:00 when little
sister goes down for a nap.
15. You have got to keep autistic children
engaged with the world.
You cannot let them tune out.
-Temple Grandin
16. How to Get Started. . .
With a preschooler or
child who has a very short
attention span, set a kitchen
timer for every hour or half hour.
When the timer goes off work
with the child for 5
to 15 minutes. You can use a sand
timer to support them in knowing
how long there work will be.
www.watchingtimepass.com
17. Setting Boundaries and Teaching
the Concept of First-Then. . .
First-Then Marker Boards
with All Done Magnets
17
• To teach first-then we often
do a very brief non-preferred activity
followed by a preferred activity to
help the child see success.
• To make it concrete, in the beginning
we will use objects to show where
and what they are being asked to do
EXAMPLE: “First put in (showing a
coin they need to put in), then
marble game (showing a marble) .
18. Examples of 2
Individual Schedules. . .
That Made a
World of Difference!
A First-Then
Schedule
A Closer Look at the Communication System
19. A Mark Off
Picture Schedule
Close up of a few lines
of the schedule
Communication Prompt
to request a break
20. These schedules were successful because. . .
•They reduced anxiety, by showing the children
how much work they had do.
•Set boundaries and limits.
•Supported social understanding of what comes
next.
•Helped support the child in communicating
their needs.
21. Typically developing
children have
multiple ways
to communicate
a message.
*Children with
ASD may have
only one way to
communicate
multiple
messages
-SI KISN 2011
21
Behavior is Communication!
22. What is She Communicating?
Would we look at her behavior differently if we stepped
back and realized that it is her only way to communicate?
-Video not available
23. See the Magic of Schedules
Object schedule
with visual
Visual watch
for support and
communication
-Video not available
24. Visual Supports
• Visual prompts and supports are pictures or icons
that are still in time. They are a constant in a
world that is ever changing!
• They provide children with information about the
rules and routines of the classroom and home.
• Children with Autism and other cognitive and
developmental disabilities have a difficult time
processing auditory information, by seeing it
visually, they can make more sense of it.
25. Examples of Visual Supports:
to show when areas are off limits
25*See more details on my blog
27. Other Visual Supports:
To support independence and success
27
Prompt to use one or
two paper towels
Visual to support a
student in putting
their bookbag on
correctly.
Visual to support students
in waiting to wash their hands.
28. Visual Supports for Supporting
Communication
This is an adaption from the work of
Gayle Porter and Linda Burkhardt and
their PODD books.
29. An Example of Teaching Children to
Communicate Using Visuals. . .
29
-Video not available
30. One of the most important visuals
you can teach a child is
the meaning of a STOP sign!
32. As a parent it can be easiest to put things out of
reach that your children should not have but by
using visuals rather than removing items they
should not use, you are able to support your child
in learning impulse control. A life skill that is
important in school and beyond!
A Tip for the Home
33. TIP-Putting visuals on a key ring or name tag
pulley can help children make progress quicker
as they are pulled out immediately for children
to make connections with what is being asked
of them.
33
A Quick Prompt
* See more detail on my Blog
34. Seeing the Magic of Visual Supports
Conscious Discipline Visuals-
www.consciousdiscipline.com
Visual support
to hold
-Video not available
35. Social Narratives
• Social narratives are interventions that describe social
situations in some detail by highlighting relevant cues
and offering examples of appropriate responses.
• They are aimed at helping learners adjust to changes
in routine and adapt their behaviors based on the
social and physical cues of a situation, or to teach
specific social skills or behaviors.
• For more information about social narratives, refer to
the work of Carol Gray and Social Stories, 1993, 1995.
-The National Professional Development Center of Autism Spectrum Disorders
36. An Example of a Social Narrative
Social Story
for ways to calm
Token System
36
-Video not available
37. Tips for Writing Social Narratives
• Social narratives are individualized according to learner
needs and typically are quite short, perhaps including
pictures or other visual aides.
• Sentence types that are often used when constructing
social narratives include descriptive, directive,
perspective, affirmative, control, and cooperative.
• It can be helpful to use student interests and their
favorite characters to support their understanding and
for them to buy in and attend to the story.
• To support generalization you can also add Power
Cards and other visuals throughout their day.
38. Example of Social Narrative
Using a Favorite Character
*The character in this example is Jake from
Disney’s Jake and the Neverland Pirates
-Video not available
39. An Example of Using
a Social Story at Home
Social Story
Dry Erase Choices
40. The potential of social narratives
is endless. I have used them for
everything from volume control, to
self regulation, turn taking,
coming in from outdoors, restroom
etiquette, using good
table manners, etc.
-See More Examples at Kansasasd.com
41. Video Modeling
• Video modeling is a mode of teaching that uses
video recording and display equipment to provide
a visual model of the targeted behavior or skill.
• Types of video modeling include basic video
modeling, video self-modeling, point-of-view
video modeling, and video prompting.
-The National Professional Development Center of Autism Spectrum Disorders
43. A Closer Look at
the Ready/Not Ready Visual
*See more details on my blog
44. Example of Video Modeling
in a Small Group. . .
-Video not available
45. The Magic. . . 5 Minutes After
Watching the Video Model!
45
-Video not available
46. If there is a chaotic moment in your
classroom (or with a specific student), the
routine needs to be retaught or a new work
system needs to be put in place.
- Philosophy from the work of
Dr. Becky Bailey and Conscious Discipline
48. Tips for Video Modeling
• There is no evidence showing that it has to be self
modeling. You can ask peers or siblings to run through
the activity you want a student to work on and record
them doing so with a camera, phone, or iPad to later
share with a child.
• My Pictures Talk, Model Me Kids, and iModeling are
three apps that can be used for video modeling on a
iPhone or iPad.
• You can use the strategy of video modeling with
individuals or in a large group setting. We use it as
part of our morning calendar time to talk about a skill
the whole class will be working on for the day.
50. Just like Social Narratives,
the possibilities of Video Modeling
are endless. It is definitely a medium
to explore with all the technology that
is readily available to us. Technology
speaks
to children, (in my experience
especially to those with Autism)!
51. It is our job to tap
into their minds. . .
How do we do that?
We teach them using best practice. . .
schedules, visual supports,
social narratives,
and video modeling.
Best wishes to you
on your Journey,
-Lindy
52. For more resources and ideas visit my blog.
We add a post at least once a week!
http://considerateclassroom.blogspot.com
53. Resources
Bailey, B.A. (2000). Conscious discipline. Loving Guidance: Oviedo, FL.
Burkhardt, L. (2013). Simplified technology www.lburkhart.com
Gray, C. (2013). The gray center for social learning and understanding.
http://www.thegraycenter.org/social-stories/carol-gray
KISN- Summer Institute Training and Handouts,
June 2010.
Porter, G. (2009). Pragmatic organizational dynamic display. Mayer Johnson.
TEACCH Autism Program. The University of North Carolina.
www.teacch.com
The National Professional Development Center of Autism Spectrum
Disorders. (2013). http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu
Whitaker, P. (2001). Challenging behaviour and autism: making sense making
progress. The National Autism Society, London.
53
54. Thank you for your time!
Any questions, or
comments. . .
