The focus in class recently has been on the concept of Flexibility. Flexibility means to be okay and make changes. Working on flexibility addresses the primary deficits of autism: difficulty problem solving, difficulty with transitions and coping with feelings of anxiety, difficulty with social thinking/social skills, and difficulty understanding societal rules. Teaching flexibility is a proactive model because it helps to prevent anxiety when changes occur and it directly teaches replacement skills.
Throughout the day students are positively reinforced for demonstrating the concept of flexibility ("Great job being flexible!") with situtations such as changes in schedule, sharing and taking turns with toys/iPad/SMART board choices, sitting somewhere different, eating something different, and many more! We state why they are being flexible and provide reinforcement. For some students we actually write the situation down and place it in a flexibility box to review at the end of the day for a special reward. I also use a Flexibility chart in the class where the students can earn tickets for demonstrating flexibility traits throughout the day in exchange for highly preferred reinforcers.
When situations arise, modeling appropriate responses to change is utilized as well as offering choices such as "The ipad is not available right now, but you can choose to do something else. If you are calm then you can have the iPad when your friend is done." We also may use a timer to provide a visual for how long the wait will be. Phrases such as "First work, Then the play area?" also usually helps maintain calm behavior.
We also address situations in which the students are not showing flexibility (crying, yelling, whining, upset behavior) and this is discussed also. No reinforcement or reward is provided for these circumstances.
I have a Power Point slide show about flexibility that I have shown the class to review the skills and possible situtations that may arise. The kids enjoy watching this as well as listening to social stories about "Being okay" with change.
Please take the time to view the attachment below and o use these strategies and common language at home to assist with carry over from school. Thanks again for your continued support!