Using the Building Blocks Approach to Meet the Needs

of Young Children with Autism and Related Disorders

Ilene Schwartz

University of Washington

Ilene@uw.edu

Great resources on Head Start Center on

Inclusion Website

• http://depts.washington.edu/hscenter/

Building Blocks

• Educational practices• Designed to help teachers

include and teach young children with disabilities and other special needs

Why Building Blocks?

• To understand how teachers and teams create early childhood classrooms that enable all children to participate, interact and learn important and valued outcomes.

• To understand what practices work in everyday classrooms.

• To understand the instructional strategies needed to provide inclusive settings

Big Questions…

• What does inclusion mean?

• What does it mean for a young child to be successful in an early childhood classroom?

• Individuals define inclusion differently.• Inclusion is about belonging and participating in a diverse society.

•Sense of belonging•Genuine child learning•Opportunities to build friendships

Using the Building Blocks model can help all children participate,

learn, and thrive in their classrooms.

Quality Early Childhood Program

Curriculum modifications & adaptations

Embedded Learning Opportunities

Child-focused Instructional Strategies

What is SDI

• SDIs are important to help children with disabilities participate fully with their typical peers

• SDI's fall into two categories: accommodations and modifications. Some people use the terms interchangeably, but legally they are not the same.

Accommodations

• These are changes in the way in which the child is treated in order to best accommodate the child's physical, cognitive or emotional challenges

Modifications

• These change the academic or curricular demands made of a child to better fit the child's ability.

Planning: Special Education

Problem:• Planning is only occurring at an individual level• Classroom goals and group needs are not being

recognized• Learning for children who are typically developing and

children with special needs in non-service areas is not a focus

IFSPIEP Goals/Objectives Theme

Activity Matrix Activities & Materials

PlanningIFSPIEP Goals/Objectives Theme

Activity Matrix Activities & Materials

Special Instruction

Benchmarks

Curriculum/ Classroom Goals

General Instruction

Quality Early Childhood Program

Curriculum modifications & adaptations

Embedded Learning Opportunities

Embedded Learning Opportunities

• Teachers create short teaching episodes within ongoing classroom activities and routines.

• Teaching episodes focus on a child’s individual learning objective.

Keys to Embedded Instruction

Know the child’s objectives

Plan materials and activities that give opportunities to work on objectives

Give access to reinforcing consequences

Embedded instruction can be accomplished by:

• Identifying the target behavior

• Deciding when and where to apply embedded instruction

• Using an individual Instructional Plan

• Monitoring learning

Other Important Factors

• Keep the activities simple

• Plan the instruction (presenting an opportunity is not the same as teaching)

Activity Matrix – When/ where instruction will occur

• Helps teacher ensure that instruction occurs

• Reminds the staff of the activities and individual child objectives

• Foundation for planning Individually Appropriate Activities

Developing an Activity Matrix

Look at the child’s objectives and determine:• During what activities will we be able to

provide instruction• Do we have adequate opportunities for

instruction across all children on the matrix• When is it feasible to collect data on these

objectives

Decide when and where to embed instruction

• Develop an Activity Matrix– Individual– Classroom

• Make sure sufficient opportunities occur

Difference between embedded instruction and teachable

momentsEmbedded

Instruction• Planned• Driven by child’s

learning objective• Ensuring instruction

occurs• Systematic progress

monitoring

Teachable Moments• Spontaneous• Driven by “the

moment”• Taking advantage of

an opportunity• Progress monitoring

driven by opportunity

Instructional Plans – How will we teach the skills

Based on:

• Child’s Objectives

• Activity Matrix

• Individual Learning Styles

• Modified based on data

Instructional Plan

• Child’s name• Date• Current objective• Toys, materials, other equipment• Selected activities or routines• Antecedents• Target behavior• Consequence • Plan for data collection

Data Collection – How will progress be monitored

• Must be sustainable (i.e., able to maintain it over time)

• Must be reasonable (i.e., realistic endeavor allowing for instruction and evaluation)

• Must be used by all staff

Embedded Instruction & Assessment

• Assessment of functional skills in a natural environment

• Opportunities to provide instruction and assess skills are planned and consistent

• Addresses multiple skills or domains in single activities (time saver)

Embedded Instruction & Assessment

• Performed in classroom and during the typical routine rather than a separate environment or one-on-one context

• Provides natural motivation to encourage children to demonstrate skills

• Aides in the assessment of generalization and maintenance of skills

Monitoring Progress

• Keep track of each child’s progress• Keep track regularly

– Counts– Notes– Products

• Adjust as needed• Integrity checklists• Delight in your children’s learning!

Child Focused Instructional Strategies

Quality Early Childhood Program

Curriculum modifications & adaptations

Embedded Learning Opportunities

Child-focused Instructional Strategies

Child Focused Instructional Strategies

• Used when children need specialized instruction to make progress on a targeted goal

• Involve use of evidence-based instructional strategies

• Specific strategies chosen based on child strengths and areas of need

Prompting Techniques

• Something the teacher does that increases the likelihood of correct responding by the child

• Prompting happens BEFORE the child’s response

• Allows you to get responses that you can reinforce

Menu of Prompts

• Common prompts• Model • Gesture • Verbal• Partial and full physical

• Other types of prompts• Pictorial• Mixed prompts

Prompt Fading

• Once a prompt is added, it must also be systematically faded

• Prompts can be faded by:– Time

• Constant Time Delay - fading prompts by increasing the amount of time between direction and prompt

Prompt Fading

• Amount of assistance provided

– Most-to-Least - progressively less intrusive prompts until the child responds independently

– Least-to-Most- Provide progressively more intrusive prompts until the child responds independently

Reinforcement

• What is a reinforcer?– A reinforcer is a consequence you give to

the child that increases the likelihood of a behavior happening again. It can include food, materials, activities, people, or words

• Positive Reinforcement:– Helps children understand their behavior

has an effect on their environment– Can help children build self-esteem

Use Reinforcement Effectively• Make reinforcement contingent on appropriate behavior

• Give reinforcement immediately after the behavior you want to happen again

• Use social praise that describes the appropriate behavior

• Vary reinforcers• Reinforcers are individual to each child• Begin teaching new tasks with a continual reinforcement

schedule• Thin the schedule of tangible reinforcement (do not discontinue

praise) -- variable schedules of reinforcement build the most durable behaviors

Discrete Trial Teaching

Child’s Response

Consequence

Prompt if necessary

Instruction

Discrete Trial Teaching

• Break skills into smaller parts

• Success with variety of skills

• Addresses deficits– Attention– Motivation– Observational Learning– Communication

Ready, set, go!