TEACCHTreatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped CHildren

What is TEACCH?•Created by Dr. Eric Schopler from North

Carolina 50 years ago

•Most used programme in education and treatment of people with autism

•TEACCH developed the intervention approach called “Structured TEACCHing”, which is based on understanding the learning characteristics of individuals with autism and the use of visual supports to promote meaning and independence

Dr. Eric Schopler  a professor of psychiatry and psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill for more than 40 years and a pioneer in the humane and effective

treatment of autism.(1927 – 2006)

Why structured teaching?•Enhances understanding and meaning for students with autism

•Engaging to the learning style of students with autism

•Decreases anxiety and increases ability to learn

•Promotes independent functioning•Manages behaviour

Structured teaching includes:• Physical Structure•Individualized Daily Timetable

•Work „Activity“ System•Visual Structure

Physical structure: Helps people with autism

answer the question WHERE?

(where they should go; where the activity takes place, where they will go next...)

Physical structure:•Clear physical and visual boundaries

•Minimize distruction

•Create areas for different activities

▫Work with teacher area/table▫Independent workstation ▫Group activity area/table▫Leisure/play area▫Area with individualized daily schedule, transition

area...

Group activity table

Playing area

Quite time/ laisue time areaIndividual worksatations

Shelves wirth TEACCH tasksTeacher´s table

Shelves with resources

Individual daily plans

Computer area

Interactive whiteboard

Bookshleve

Boxes to put away finished work

Priestor pre hru ohraničený červeným kobercom

Pracovný stôl

Stôl pre učiteľa

Pracovný stôl

Pracovný stôl

Pracovný stôl

Pracovný stôl

Pracovný stôl

Stôl pre skupinové aktivity

Priestor pre hru s plastelínou a sensorickými hračkami počas 1:1 učenia druhého dieťaťa

Oddych

Počúvanie hudby

Priestor pre ukľudnenie

Polica na knihy a hračky

Police na pomôcky uložené v

označených krabiciach

Interaktívna tabuľa

dvere TEACCH

TEACCH

TEACCH

TEACCH

TEACCH

TEACCH

Individuálny denný plán

Tabuľky pre zmenu predmetu

Počítačový priestor

Visual labelling of different areas in the

class

Group table

Visual labelling of different areas in the class

Table for work alone and 1/1 work with teacher

Visual labelling of different areas in the class

Playroom

Carpet time

Visual labelling of different areas in the school - 3 typeswritten, symbolic, photographic and objects of reference

KITCHEN

KITCHEN

Individualized Daily Timetable

A visual cue that indicates what activities will occur and in what sequence. It helps the student with

autism understand WHEN and WHERE

events of the day occur.

• Provides predictability• Helps ease transitions• Helps organize the student in time and sequence• Builds independence – important occupational

skills

Types of individual timetables

•objects of refference – transition objects timetable

•photographic timetalbe•picture (symbol) timetable•symbol + word timetabe•written timetable

PETER

MY TIMETABLES MODNAY 13.9.2014

Individualization• Type of visual cue? - object, picture, symbol, written, combination• Length of timetable? - transition, first-then, part day, full day• How is th schedule organized? - top to bottom, left to right• How does the student get to his timetable? - it is brought to him, visual cue, verbal cue• How does the student operate with his

timetable? - carry objects/pictures, turn over, mark off• Is the schedule personlized?

Work SystemThe individual work system gives the student a systematic way to approach the work that needs to be completed. This learned strategy builds independence and enables the student to generalize skills into other environment.

Four questions that need to be answered:

1. What work?2. How much work?3. When am I finished? (How do I

know it?)

4. What happens next? (video Sammy)

IMPORTANT!These four questions has to be adressed not only when a

student is doing his/her

INDPENDENT WORK but

in all activities throughout the day:eg: work 1/1 with an adult (use: kitchen timer, visualised

sequence of the tasks, a box with tasks that needs to be done...etc) group activities (eg: visualized timetable of the tasks during

the group acitivity) playground, outing (use NOW – THEN visualised timetable to

indicate next step) leaving the classroom (portable timetables: NOW – THEN –

LATER; pictures of areas of the school; pictures of staff)

Types of Work System

•Left to right•Matching pictures to pictures

•Written

Left to Right Work System • What work? (work on the left)• How much work? (nr. of activities

prepared for the child on the left)• When am finished? (when

everything is finished and put into the basket on the right)

• What happens next? (picture/symbol/object of reference that indicates the reward or the activity that follows after all the work is finished is placed on designated area: on the timetable; last picture on the „individual work“ timetable...child needs to know, what will happen after the work is finished .)

Top to Bottom Work System

Matching Work System(symbols, numbers, codes...)

• What work? (I identify the task by the symbol - matching )

• How much work? (Each symbol represents one task)

• When am I finished? (when all symbols are gone)

• What happens next? (last symbol indicates what happens next = reward – area, where I get free time or favourite activity that could be chosen in advance for motivation)

Written Work System Work Alone: David S.(student uses coded system)

1. D 302. E 23. T414. Search in dictionary for

the meaning of the word „parliament“.

5. Free time till 11.30.

And again INDIVIDUALIZATION

• Organization?- Top to bottom, Left to right• Visual cue for What Work and How Much?- concrete taks, matching, written• Concept of FINISHED?- tasks isappear into finished basket/box, finished

area, back on shelf, mark off• What comes next?- motivation or interest or simply the next thing...

Visual Structure of Task or Activity

Provides the student with a strategy for approaching the task and using material in a flexible manner. Answers the question:

„How do I complete this task or activity?“

Includes:•Visual organization•Visual instructions•Visual clarity

Visual Organization

Organizes materials and space to minimize distractions and clarify expectations for the task completion.

Visual Organization•Container organization•Ordering Left to Right/Top to Bottom•Prevent „undoing“•Limit materials•Separate materials

Visual instructionsProvide the student necessary information to put the parts of the task together in a systematic and meaningful way.

• materials define the task• cut out templates• picture templates • picture/written instructions• picture dictionary• model

Example of a box task: quality checking and sorting.

Visual ClarityUsed to draw the student’s attention to the

most relevant aspects of an activity or material

•colour coding•labeling•highlighting - what to do - what not to do

Shoe box tasks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=p3pkzfliyW4

TEACCH Benefits• Improve behaviour – students know what is expected from

them and how much time it will take – it minimize their anxiety and stress – it improve learning atmosphere.

• Saves time and makes teaching and learning more effective – it is adaptable and applicable for all age groups and developmental stages of students

• It is individualized and meets needs of all students in the class.

• TEACCH promotes independent functioning – the most important vocational skill.

• TEACCH WORK ALONE WORK SYSTEM consists from mastered tasks. Working on familiar and mastered tasks that students accomplish successfully builds up confidence and positive attitude towards the work – students gradually learn to stay focused for longer period of time and accomplish more tasks – important vocational skill.

TEACCH in pre-vocational and vocational education

Domestic skills - Cleaning tables

Domestic skills – Kitchen utensils

Domestic skills - Laundry

Domestic skills – putting things away

Domestic skills – setting the table

Domestic skills – sweeping floor

Vocational skills - assmebly

Vocational skills – Quality control sorting

Vocational skills - gardening

Vocational skills – Stocking/Inventory

Thank you for your attention.

This presentation used information from presenation by  Dr. Steve Love of Division TEACCH, University of North Carolinaand pictures from: TASK GALORE: For the Real World