language processing drills

LLaanngguuaaggee PPrroocceessssiinngg DDrriillllss

FOR CHILDREN WITH LANGUAGE PROCESSING DISORDERS

WWrriitttteenn aanndd PPrriinntteedd bbyy DDaannnnii BBlloooomm,, SSuuggaarrPPeeaa PPrroodduuccttss ©© 22000055

PPrroouudd MMootthheerr ooff aa cchhiilldd wwiitthh AAuuttiissmm

Danni Bloom

SugarPea Products 2705 Prince Charles Court

Columbia, South Carolina 29209

d a n n i . b l o o m @ g m a i l . c o m



WWrriitttteenn aanndd PPrriinntteedd bbyy DDaannnnii BBlloooomm,, SSuuggaarrPPeeaa PPrroodduuccttss ©© 22000055

PPrroouudd MMootthheerr ooff aa cchhiilldd wwiitthh AAuuttiissmm

W r i t t e n a n d P r i n t e d b y D a n n i B l o o m

SugarPea Products 2 7 0 5 P r i n c e C h a r l e s C o u r t

C o l u m b i a , S o u t h C a r o l i n a 2 9 2 0 9 T e l : 1 - 8 0 3 - 7 8 3 - 0 2 4 7

d a n n i . b l o o m @ g m a i l . c o m

C o p y r i g h t , 2 0 0 5 , b y D a n n i B l o o m A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . C o p i e s m u s t b e m a d e f r o m o r i g i n a l b o o k a n d m u s t n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f g e n e r a t i n g r e v e n u e .

Acknowledgements

I am forever in awe of God’s beautiful children. I am so blessed that He has trusted me with one of His very special creations. My son Christian is the inspiration for this book. His beautiful smile encourages me every day.

“Autism...Will I fight this thing, beat it down until it exists no more? This goal will become part of my life, my daily purpose, and my reason for living. I have no choice. I will be driven in a way that I never dreamed I could, and I will not rest until this beast has been slain.” --Karyn Seroussi-Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Preface

In October of 2000, our son was diagnosed with autism. We knew very little about the disorder. We knew only what we’d seen in a few movies. The realization that our son was now labeled “autistic” was horrifying. We felt as though we had betrayed him in some way. We felt sorry for him; we felt sorry for ourselves. Even though we were somewhat relieved to finally know for certain what was causing our son’s language difficulties, we were desperate to find a way to help him communicate with us. We could think of nothing else. During the months leading up to his diagnosis, we’d searched the internet with questions like, ‘why won’t my two year old speak?’ and ‘causes of language delay’. When we knew that autism was the culprit, we spent the next few years searching for ways to help Christian develop language and social skills. We have spent the past four years deeply involved in a home-based ABA program. We were fortunate enough to be able to have a team of autism therapists and instructors come into our home to help us start an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) program. ABA is a proven, intensive behavioral program. This program is based on a style of teaching that focuses on breaking down tasks into simple steps with the systematic use of positive reinforcement and praise. It focuses on both verbal and nonverbal communication, play and socialization. It is our sincere hope that these language processing drills will be used in conjunction with a comprehensive ABA program. Children are the windows to the future. What you do right now is going to affect your child’s opportunities. Don’t leave any stone unturned in your quest to get your child on the right path to experience a happy and productive life as possible. As parents of children with special needs, we are obligated to help them in every way that we’re able. Please don’t decide to wait and let the school system “deal” with your child. You can help right now. Your child’s future depends on it. Good luck and remember to always be strong and never, ever give up hope. The purpose of th is book is to s imply represent what we have done and are s t i l l doing to help our son. I t is not to take the p lace of a qual if ied, cer t if ied Behavior Analyst with exper ience working with chi ldren with aut ism. In no way do I suggest that everyone fol low our model. These language dri l ls were individual ized for our son and do not ref lect everything a child with aut ism wil l have to learn. Bel ieve me, there is way more to language processing than is represented in this book. Some of the goals suggested may be too easy for your chi ld and some may be too advanced. Our son is not l ike every child with autism. You must evaluate your own child’s needs f irs t . Please take th is in to considerat ion when s tar t ing any type of in tervent ion program for your chi ld with special needs.

Introduction

Language processing disorders are the most common type of learning disability. Most children diagnosed with a mental disability have some type of language deficit. Children with language disorders may have difficulties in some or all of the following areas: Comprehension: Children who are language-impaired can have problems understanding spoken or written words. They may also find it extremely difficult to follow or understand conversational language. Phonemic Awareness: These children may also have trouble hearing words correctly. A spoken word is made up of several different sounds. Children with language deficits can have a hard time distinguishing the different sounds and how they work together to form spoken language. If it is difficult for the affected child to “decode” the structure of the words, it will also be difficult to go on to process the meaning of the word(s). Memory- Being able to remember verbal directions may become increasingly difficult as the language increases in complexity. For example, your child may understand your request to close the door, but he or she may have difficulty understanding two and three part requests. For example, “close the door, take off your shoes and put them away”. This concept may be too complex for some children to easily grasp. Word Retrieval- Children with word retrieval problems can appear to not know answers when in fact they know, but are not able to express their knowledge. Word retrieval is the ability to recall words that are already known and stored in memory. Sometimes when a child is having difficulty retrieving a word, they will have the sense that it is “on the tip of their tongue”. We’ve all experienced this at one time or another, but for children with word retrieval difficulties, they’re faced with this problem quite often. Every aspect of a child’s life can be affected by language disorders. If you suspect that your child may have a language disorder, please contact your child’s physician. There are ways to help treat this disorder. I’ve written this book to provide examples of how we’re helping our son overcome his language difficulties. It is not an easy task. We take each day one step at a time. I’m offering this book to you to help you help your child. Good luck to you and your family.



How the book works:

Because children with language deficits can be such visual learners, I’ve put this book together to use with our son during his ABA therapy sessions. I’ve set this book up in a way that allows you to open the book with the “picture” pages facing your child. The “questions” pages will be facing you. I’ve even provided helpful hints at the bottom of some of the “questions” pages to assist you along your way. To help you even more, on the following pages, I’ve provided several definitions and teaching tools you can use with your child during these language processing drills or during any other type of teaching program you may already have in place. Using 196 (one hundred ninety six) pictures and 180 (one hundred eighty) language processing drills, I’ve divided this book into the following six sections:

Picture Discrimination Plural vs. Singular Adjectives & Opposites Prepositions Intraverbal Fill-ins Intraverbal Categories

The first section is called Picture Discrimination. This section is divided into four parts. In the first part, you’ll present the child with a page that has four different pictures on it. You’ll ask the child to receptively identify each of the pictures on that page. There are five pages in this part for a total of twenty drills. In Picture Discrimination, Part II, the child will learn to identify which box contains two of the requested pictures. For example, the child will be asked to point to the box with the car and the marbles. This will promote the child’s ability to understand two part requests. There are three pages in this part for a total of twelve drills. In Picture Discrimination, Part III, the child will learn to identify which box contains three of the requested pictures. For example, the child will be asked to point to the box with the car, the mailbox and the bird. This will promote the child’s ability to understand three part requests. There are three pages in this part for a total of twelve drills. In Picture Discrimination, Part IV, the child will be presented with ten different pictures. The child will then learn to identify the pictures in a three step sequence. For example, the child will be asked to point

to the marbles, then the bird, then the snowman. There are two pages in this part for a total of twelve drills. The next section of the book is called Plural vs. Singular. This section is divided into two parts. In the first part, you’ll ask the child to point to the box with the bumble bees in it. The child will have to decide which box has one bumble bee and which box has more than one bumble bee. This will promote the ability to differentiate between plural and singular. There are three pages in this part for a total of twelve drills. In Plural vs. Singular, Part II, the child will be asked to point to a box that contains both a plural and a singular picture. For example, you’ll ask the child to point to the box with the birds and the robot. The child will have to decide which box has a picture of more than one bird, but only one robot. These drills will further enhance the child’s ability to discern between plural and singular. This part has two pages for a total of eight drills. The next section of the book is called Adjective & Opposites. The child will learn to recognize the adjectives used to describe the requested picture. In addition, the child will also learn about opposites. For example, you’ll ask the child to point to picture of the happy girl. Next, you will ask him or her to point to the picture of the slow snail. Then, you will ask the child to point to the picture of the sad girl. Finally, you’ll ask the child to point to the picture of the fast mouse. There are seven pages in this part for a total of twenty-eight drills. The next section is called Prepositions. Each picture will represent a different preposition. The child will look at the four pictures to decide which preposition is being described. For example, you’ll ask your child to point to the picture that shows a bear inside a toy box. There are five pages in this section for a total of twenty drills. The next section is called Intraverbal Fill-ins. The child will be presented with four different pictures providing visual cues. You simply want the child to fill in the missing word of your sentence. For example, you would say, “When you’re thirsty, you ... (pause for the child to say ‘drink’)”. There are ten pages in this part for a total of forty drills. The final section is called Intraverbal Categories. In this section, your child will be presented with four boxes, each containing several pictures. Your child will be asked to point to the box that contains a certain category of objects. For example, you’ll ask your child to point to the box that has pictures of things you can eat. There are three pages in this section for a total of twelve drills.

Definitions and Teaching Tools Research shows that some children find it easier to learn when the items or tasks being taught are broken down into their simplest elements. This style of teaching allows the child to learn each new item one step at a time. Once a step is mastered, the child can easily move on to the next step; eventually being able to complete the entire task. I like to use a specific set of steps when teaching my children new items. The steps are as follows:

Progression Chart for Language Development

Exploration & Discovery

1. Receptive Labeling 2. Verbal Imitation 3. Expressive Labeling (Tacting) 4. Receptive by Feature, Function and Class 5. Tacting by Feature, Function and Class 6. Intraverbal by Feature, Function and Class

Exploration Exploration is simply exploring what the child already knows and determining the things that the child is not yet familiar with. For example, using flash cards or any type of picture cards, one by one see if the child can identify the picture on the card. If the child is completely unresponsive, then you know that the child is at step 2 on the progression chart. If the child is somewhat familiar with the card, try to determine what stage on the progression chart most closely represents your child’s aptitude. Learn more about how to do this by reading on. Discovery Discovery is a term I use to represent how I introduce new items to my children. Once I’ve explored an item and realize that my child is not familiar with it, I like to “discover” the item with my child. For example, if my child can’t identify a picture of an orange, I would take the child with me to the grocery store with the picture. I would go to the produce department and locate the oranges. I would allow the child to see, touch and smell the orange. I would then talk about how the orange tastes and why we eat oranges. I would discuss the color and the texture of the orange. I would talk about how the oranges are different from the other fruits. In essence, discovery is simply introducing the child to the item and telling the child things about the item. Not all discoveries have to be so intricate and involve a trip to the grocery store, but I think you get the idea. During discovery, I don’t expect the child to all of a sudden know and remember everything about the item. It’s just discovery of the item. You can re-visit this step at any time during the learning process.

1. Receptive Labeling (Tacting) Receptive labeling is the ability to identify an object through pointing, gesturing or any means other than vocal expression. For example, while holding up a picture of a blue car and saying, “touch the blue car”, the child touches the blue car. This is an example of receptive labeling. The child was able to receptively label the blue car.

2. Verbal Imitation Once the child is able to receptively label an item, it’s time to start working on vocalizing. I take all of the cards that have been successfully mastered in the receptive labeling phase and one by one introduce the cards to the child by holding up the card and loudly, clearly and slowly stating the name of the item on the card. I repeat this step two or three times, always hesitating after I say the name of the item. I like to allow time for the child to respond. If a verbal imitation response doesn’t come right away, don’t panic. This is when you would introduce a reinforcing item to elicit a response. Once the child is starting to verbally imitate the item in the picture, I remove the picture and try to get the child to simply verbally imitate with no visual cue. I ultimately want the child to be able to simply copy my vocalizations.

3. Expressive Labeling Expressive labeling is the ability to label or identify an item or object using words or sounds. For example, while holding a picture of a dog, I would ask, “What’s this picture of?” The child would say, “Dog”. This is expressive labeling.

4. Receptive by Feature, Function and Class (RFFC) This is the child’s ability to receptively label an item by stating a feature, a function or the class of the item. I know this sounds tricky, but it’s not. I’m holding up two pictures; one is a picture of an orange, the other is a picture of a truck. I ask, “Point to the one that is round”. The child points to the orange. Being round is a feature of the orange. I hold the same two pictures up again and ask, “Point to the one that you can ride in”. The child points to the truck. Being able to ride in the truck is a function of the truck. Again, I hold up the same two pictures and ask, “Point to the fruit”. The child touches the orange. The orange is in the fruit class. The child will have receptively labeled using feature, function and class.

5. Tacting by Feature, Function and Class (TFFC) Tacting or expressively labeling by feature, function or class is done the same way as the RFFC. The only difference is that you’ll expect a verbal answer. You’ll want to change your questioning a bit. For example, think of the same two pictures, an orange and a truck. Holding them both up again, ask, “Tell me which one is round?” The child would say, “Orange”. Get the idea? Tacting is simply expressively labeling an object by feature, function or class.

6. Intraverbal by Feature, Function or Class (IFFC) This is the hardest step. For this phase to be truly mastered you will eventually have to completely fade out all visual cues. In other words, there will be no pictures for the child to look at. It’s just you and the child having a conversation. It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to get to this point, but it’s all worth it. IFFC’s look something like this: First example: describing features Trainer: I’m thinking about something round, orange and sweet to eat. What do you think it might be? Student: Orange Second example: describing functions Trainer: What can we ride on to go to school? Student: School Bus Third example: describing class Trainer: What kind of fruit can we pick from a tree and eat? Student: Apple You can always mix and vary the order in which you present the picture items on the page, however, only move to the next step once the previous step has been mastered. For example, only work on receptive labeling. Once an item is mastered in receptive labeling, move it on to verbal imitation. Once that item is mastered in verbal imitation, move it on to expressive labeling and so forth.

Prompting

Prompting is anything you do to elicit the correct response from the child. There are several ways that you can prompt your child to correctly respond. Ultimately, you want to use the least amount of prompting needed to extract the correct response. Here are a few ways you can prompt: Modeling: acting out the target behavior in hopes that the child will imitate your actions. Physical prompting: involves actually touching the child and moving them through the entire target response, if necessary. A partial physical prompt would consist of just touching a hand or shoulder to initiate the target response. For example, say the target response is to get the child to throw a cup in the garbage. Full physical prompting would be to take the child’s hand in yours, help him pick up the cup, and then lead him to the garbage to throw the cup away. Your hand would actually be doing most of the work. This type of prompting allows the child to “go through the motions” of the target response. A partial physical prompt may be to just tap the child’s shoulder to initiate the desired response. Positional prompting: entails arranging the materials so that the correct item is in a position closer to the child. For example, if the desired response is for the child to pick a specific card out of two or three cards, you would lay the “target card” on the table closest to the child. The “distracter” cards would be a good distance away from target card. On subsequent trials, you would move the distracter cards closer until they are level with the target card. Verbal prompting: providing verbal instructions or cues to help the child respond correctly. For example, if you are asking the child to state his name, you would provide a full verbal prompt by stating the child’s name. A partial verbal prompt would be just providing the first sound or syllable as a cue for the child to proceed. Gestural prompting: includes pointing to, looking at, moving or touching an item to indicate a correct response.

Reinforcing Correct Responses

• Reinforcement Correct responses or behaviors are rewarded with positive reinforcement. Anything that is motivating for a child can be used as reinforcement. These are a few examples of reinforcements: praising the child, high-fives, pat on the back along with a verbal praise, offering a small treat (an m&m, goldfish cracker, etc.), allowing the child to play with a favorite toy for a minute or two, letting the child view a few short minutes of a favorite video, etc.

• Differential Reinforcement Vary the level of reinforcement depending on the child’s response. Difficult tasks may be strongly reinforced, whereas simpler tasks may be reinforced less heavily. For example, when introducing a new task to your child, you may want to rely on one of the child’s favorite reinforcements. If you’re going over mastered material, you may want to instead provide social reinforcement, like a pat on the back or verbal praise.

• Schedules of Reinforcement How often and predictably you provide reinforcement is known as your schedule of reinforcement. It’s very important to dispense reinforcement in a defined manner. This ensures the greatest influence of positive reinforcement. There are various schedules or reinforcement to consider. Each has a different purpose and result.

1. Continuous Reinforcement (CR) - In a continuous schedule of reinforcement, each time the child correctly responds to the instructions you would provide reinforcement. This schedule of reinforcement is very useful when teaching a new item to a child.

2. Fixed Ratio (FR) – The fixed ratio schedule involves having the child perform a set number of

correct responses in order to get reinforcement. For example, the child must receptively identify 10 pictures in order to get the goldfish cracker. As the child becomes more competent, the time would increase. This schedule results in a high rate of responding.

3. Fixed Duration (FD) – The fixed duration schedule allows the child to receive reinforcement

after a specified duration. For example, if the child has been paying attention (or attending) for ten minutes, you would provide reinforcement.

4. Fixed Interval (FI) – The fixed interval schedule allows the child to receive reinforcement after

the first correct response that occurs after the specified duration passes by. This schedule is often used after the continuous ratio schedule has increased significantly.

5. Variable Ratio (VR) – The variable ratio schedule provides reinforcement after a fixed, but

continually changing number of correct responses. The child never knows how many correct responses must be shown in order to receive reinforcement. This allows for the child to perceive unpredictability in when he or she will receive reinforcement. This results in very high and reliable rates of correct responses.

6. Variable Duration (VD) – The time that the child must participate in the desired behavior in

order to get reinforcement changes unpredictably. For example, you may offer reinforcement after 5 correct responses, then after only two. Next, you may offer reinforcement after 7 correct responses. The child will perceive that he or she is receiving reinforcement randomly.

7. Variable Interval (VI) – With the variable interval schedule, the amount of time that must go

by before the child receives reinforcement changes randomly (or so perceived by the child). This schedule results in steady rates of correct responses.

PPrrooggrreessssiioonn CChhaarrtt aanndd SSaammppllee PPhhrraasseess

Program Instructions: Receptive Labeling “Touch the…”

“Point to the…” “Show me the…” “Which one is the…?” “Where is the…?”|

Verbal Imitation Say the world slowly, loudly and clearly in anticipation for the child to repeat you

Expressive Labeling (Tacting) You point to the picture and say one of these phrases: “What’s this?” “Tell me what this picture is”

Receptive by Feature, Function and Class (RFFC) (add in a feature, function or class of the item)

“Touch the one that...” “Point to the one that...” “Show me the one that...” “Which one…?” “Where is the one that…?”

Tacting by Feature, Function and Class (TFFC) (add in a feature function or class of the item)

“Tell me which one…? “What one…”

Intraverbal by Feature, Function and Class (IFFC)

“It’s the one that (name a feature, function or class). Which one is it?”

Example Page for Colors

Steps↓ Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple Black White Receptive Labeling

Point to red

Touch orange

Show me yellow

Which one is green?

Point to blue

Touch purple

Show me black

Which one is white?

Verbal Imitation (at first, point to

picture for cue, then

eventually fade the

cue)

Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple Black White

Expressive Labeling (Tacting)

(you point to picture)

What color is this?

Tell me what color this is?

This is the color…..?

What’s this color?

What color is this?

Tell me what color this is?

This is the color…..?

What’s this color?

RFFC Point to color that looks most like your tongue

Touch the one that is the same color as an orange

Show me the one that is the same color as the sun.

Which one is the color of a new leaf?

Point to the color that is the same as the sky on a sunny day

Touch the one that is the same color as grape Kool-aid.

Show me the color that looks most like the night sky?

Which color looks the same as milk?

TFFC Tell me which color you would use to paint a fire truck?

Tell me what color looks most like orange juice

Tell me which color looks most like a lemon.

Tell me which one is the same color as fresh grass.

Tell me which color you see in a swimming pool.

Tell me which one looks most Barney.

Tell me which color looks like a mud puddle.

Tell me which color looks most like snow.

IFFC It’s a color that looks like your tongue. You also see fire trucks this color. What color is it?

It’s the color of an orange and the color of orange juice. What color is it?

It’s the color of the sun and the color of a lemon. What color is it?

A leaf can be this color and so can the grass. What color is it?

It’s the color of the sky on a sunny day and a pool can be this color. What color is it?

It’s the color of grape Kool-aid and it’s also the color of Barney. What color is it?

It’s the color you see in the night sky and the color of a mud puddle. What color is it?

It’s the color of milk and the color of snow. Which color is it?

References: Lovaas, O. Ivar Teaching Developmentally Disabled Children: The Me Book, Pro-Ed (April 1, 1981) Quill, Kathleen Ann Do-Watch-Listen-Say: Social & Communication Intervention for Children with Autism, Paul H Brookes Pub Co (May 1, 2000) Maurice, Green & Luce Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism, Pro-Ed (May 1, 1996) Koegel, Lynn Kern Overcoming Autism, Viking Books (April 1, 2004) Quill, Kathleen Ann Teaching Children with Autism: Strategies to Enhance Communication and Socialization, Thomson Delmar Learning; 1 edition (June 8, 1995) Sundberg, Mark Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities, Behavior Analysts, Inc (1998) Partington, James ABLLS: The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills, Behavior Analysts; Version 2.3 edition (1998) Leaf, McEachin, Harsh A Work in Progress: Behavior Management Strategies & A Curriculum for Intensive Behavioral Treatment of Autism, D R L Book, LLC (May 1, 1999)

language processing drills

Documents