Practical Strategies for Supporting Emotional Regulation in Students with Autism

Enhancing Engagement and Learning in the Classroom

Leslie Blome

• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781785927782
• eBook ISBN:
  9781784506902
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

For professionals who work with students on the autism spectrum in inclusive classroom settings, supporting emotional regulation is key. This practical guide outlines cognitive and language strategies that support emotional regulation, which the authors have found successful with their students with autism, supported by research that shows why they work.

The focus in this book is on the emotional state of the child as opposed to controlling behaviours. The guidelines and strategies provided help students with prediction and make the expectations of them clear, empowering children by giving them choices. Examples of how to use each strategy are given, alongside tips for application. The book also includes sample goals for regulation, information on therapy techniques that work and a 'cheat sheet' overview of the strategies, creating a clear and concise guide to engaging and enhancing learning in the classroom.

CHAPTER 1

THREE GUIDELINES

During the process of organizing our strategies to share with our colleagues, we discovered that there are three strategies that are more pervasive than the others. We use these three overarching strategies—by themselves and in conjunction with more specific ones—every time we interact with a student. We decided to call these three strategies our “Guidelines.” When a student begins to become dys-regulated, we find that it is extremely helpful to start by doing a mental check to ensure that we have employed these guidelines during the interaction. If not, we implement any missing Guideline(s) immediately. This is sometimes enough to get the student back on the road to regulation. The Three Guidelines are:

• Provide processing time

• Use simple language

• Employ visuals.

PROVIDE PROCESSING TIME

As adults, when a student with autism is not responding to a request, direction, or communication, our tendency is to want to help. We often assume that because the student does not respond right away, he does not know what to do. We may quickly jump in and answer for him, give additional prompts, or tell him what to do. Although our intentions are good—we want to help—the outcome is not a positive one for the student. The student becomes accustomed to this behavior and learns to wait for the extra cues and instructions. He becomes prompt-dependent.

It is well documented in the literature that students with ASD typically need more processing time than their peers. Time is needed to process the auditory information, interpret the nonverbal social cues, and determine how to respond (Hodgdon, 1991; Prizant et al., 2006). Giving the student time to move through these steps not only decreases frustration levels (thus increasing regulation), but also ensures that the student has the chance to do the thinking for himself (Rydell, 2012). For the sake of the student’s regulation, learning, and independence, we need to learn to wait. We need to wait longer than is comfortable for us. The simple act of waiting yields amazing results time after time. There is a dramatic increase in what a student can process and execute given time. It is incredibly important that we learn to wait so that each student has the opportunity to develop these skills.

Consider your own reaction to being rushed. When you are trying to process something that is challenging for you, it increases your anxiety when you are not given the time to do so. Furthermore, think about how dysregulating it is when another person then jumps in and answers for you or completes the task just as you are about to do it. As a neurotypical adult, you may be able to identify your emotions in the moment and cope with them in a way that is acceptable in the social situation. For several reasons, a student with autism, especially a young one, will likely not be able to do that. As professionals working with students on the autism spectrum, it is our responsibility to determine the amount of processing time each individual student typically requires—and then provide it. The benefits of allowing ample processing time will be twofold: increased regulation and decreased prompt-dependency.

USE SIMPLE LANGUAGE

Keeping language simple and direct aids comprehension and helps the student with ASD to focus on the essential parts of our message. We need to use language that is concise and specific, while eliminating words that don’t give relevant information. It is especially important to use simple language in the classroom setting (where distractions are abundant) and when the student is becoming dysregulated. As therapists and teachers, when a student is having a difficult time following through on a task or instruction, our natural inclination is to talk more. Whether the intention is to convince the student to participate, provide assistance by “talking him through it,” or ease our own anxiety, our rate of speech tends to increase. For example, a student might be starting to have a meltdown over hanging up his backpack, and we might find ourselves saying, “Come on, Kevin. Hang up your backpack. Right here! You can do it. Pick it up. Here, let me help you.” As our anxiety increases, not only do we talk faster, but our pitch and volume may increase, as well. This is natural and difficult to counteract.

However, this verbosity can quickly become counter-productive, especially for a student with autism. We need to re-program ourselves to communicate in a way that will help our student recognize and understand the salient features of our message. We need to distill our language down to the essential message—and then just say those words. For example:

“Time to wash hands. Let’s go. Wash your hands in the big sink. Come on,” becomes “Wash hands,” with a point toward the big sink and wait time.

“We are going outside. Let’s put on our coats. Coats on, line up by the door,” becomes “Coat on, then line up,” with a point toward the coat rack and wait time.

“Circle time. Let’s go sit at circle. Time for story. Sit on your carpet square,” becomes “Your friends are sitting,” with a point toward the children sitting at circle and wait time.

We must also remember that we need to stop talking altogether once we have stated the message clearly and simply. This goes together with providing processing time and is especially important when the student is under tension or when a response is required on his part (Janzen and Zenko, 2012).

Using simple language is not only crucial when a student is already becoming dysregulated, it is also important as a preventive measure. Getting in the habit of using simple, direct language during transitions and other high-stress times can sometimes preclude dysregulation from occurring in the first place. Of course, it is extremely important to address the language skills of our students through language expansion techniques and modeling, but now is not the time to do it. We may model and elicit more sophisticated language during those times when our student is not at risk of becoming dysregulated—when he is calm and available for learning and interacting. We can often keep students on the spectrum regulated and prevent meltdowns altogether by stating expectations and instructions clearly, firmly, and with simple language.

Again, consider your own needs at times when you feel overwhelmed or confused. When someone continues to talk at you, it becomes more and more distressing. You need time to process the message, take stock of your own emotions, and decide how you will proceed. This is a complicated process. For the student with autism, consider that he may already be in a state of heightened anxiety and most likely has difficulty processing language to some degree. Simplifying your language and providing the time to process that language can go a long way toward helping him stay regulated and ready to learn!

The next time you are interacting with a student on the spectrum and you see his anxiety begin to increase, think about exactly what he needs to do and say it in a few words. State the expectation firmly and clearly, adding a gesture where needed and plenty of wait time. Speak a little more slowly than usual, and use pauses and vocal stress to emphasize especially important words (Janzen and Zenko, 2012). Stay calm yourself, and let your tone of voice and manner of speaking reflect this. Your quiet state will anchor the student and help quell his anxiety. Remember: stay calm, be firm, and use precise language. Once you do this enough, it will start to become second nature, and your students will reap the benefits.

EMPLOY VISUALS

Visualization plays a significant role in language compre-hension for students with ASD (Kana et al., 2006). There is substantial evidence in the literature that students on the autism spectrum manage more effectively and learn more readily when given visual information as opposed to solely verbal information (Hodgdon, 1991; Quill, 1997; Schuler, 1995). Visual supports, especially those that stay accessible long enough for adequate processing to occur (Mesibov, Shea, and Schopler, 2004), can dramatically improve comprehension. Furthermore, when we use visual supports, we are teaching to a relative strength for our students (Hodgdon, 1999). Hodgdon (1999) divides visual supports into three categories including using: yourself (e.g. gestures, facial expressions); items that are already present in the environment (e.g. obj...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Three Guidelines
• 2. Sensory Overview
• Show and Tell
• Moving On
• Helping Hands
• One More Thing
• Appendix A: Strategies at a Glance
• Appendix B: Techniques at a Glance
• Appendix C: Sample Goals
• Appendix D: Sample Situations
• References
• Index
• Join Our Mailing List
• Acknowledgements
• Copyright
• Of Related Interest