tips for teachers - aapc publishing · pdf filetips for teachers this month our topic is...

The Social Times, Volume 1 (2009-2010), Issue 6, ©2009 Autism Asperger Publishing Company; www. asperger.net

Tips for Teachers

This month our topic is Giving and Receiving Compliments. In this issue, Judy Coucouvanis is our guest author. She has written the Main Event.

Good ideas for teaching students to better understand these social concepts include:

• Have the class generate a list of praise words on the board. Now generate a list of approving words.

• Have students estimate how many compliments they give to other people in one day. Ask them to keep track until your next meeting.

• Review the rules of giving and receiving compliments and then role-play common situations where a compliment might be a good idea. Have students take turns giving and receiving compliments.

• Talk about the recommendation for receiving a compliment. Ask students why they think this might be hard for some people.

Giving and Receiving Compliments

You betcha.

I am Kari Dunn Buron,a teacher from Minnesota,

and I just love this magazine!


Departments

I Second That Emotion!:• Make a large copy of the scale on the board. Have your students think of words that fit into

each of the five categories.

• Talk about words that have hurt their feelings (3) and how hurtful words can be like hitting someone.

Coming to Our Senses:• Consider adding movement to your group. Maybe a power walk.

• Help families connect with after-school classes.

• Connect with the Adaptive PE person in your school district and discuss these ideas for students with AS.

• Ask fellow teachers if anyone knows how to juggle. If so, invite them to teach juggling to your group.

Gets-It Knows!:• Ask your students if they have ever eaten at someone else’s house. Did the host serve

something they didn’t like? What did they do?

• With the students, generate a list of foods the class doesn’t like. Add your own. Discuss how everyone has food preferences and how to say no in a polite way.

Remember to write to Roger ([email protected])!

The Cartoon:• What is the boy saying with his body and his face?

• How do you think Julie is reading him? What do you think he wants Julie to hear?

Something to Talk About:• Ask the class if they know anyone like Warren.

• Take digital pictures of everybody’s resting face, including your own. Look at the pictures on the computer and decide if they look friendly or not.

• Talk about how people “read” each other all the time. Even when we don’t mean to send a message, we probably are!

• Discuss the things that might make people think you are mean (even if you are not).


Contributor to This Issue

Judith Coucouvanis, MA, APRN, BC, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and clinical specialist at the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psy-chiatry. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing at the University of Iowa. As a clinician, she has specialized in the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorders for 30 years. She consults to educational programs and speaks regularly on the topics of social skills training, behavior support, and toilet training, offering practical information to both parents and professionals. She serves as an editorial board member of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psy-chiatric Nursing. She is the author of The Potty Journey: Guide to Toilet Training Children with Special Needs, Including Autism and Related Disorders (2008) and Super Skills: A Social Skills Group Program for Children with Asperger Syndrome, High-Functioning Autism and Related Challenges (AAPC, 2005).


Giving and Receiving Compliments

Mainstream Teacher Handout

Many students with autism spectrum disorders receive few compliments. They can learn to give compliments by getting them from you. The more a student with AS is complimented, the friendlier he will feel about you, and the more compliments he is likely to give back.

Giving and receiving compliments is an example of a social skill. Students with AS often miss the subtle nature of compliments and consequently may give too many compliments or none at all.

Compliments are given to others to make them feel better about themselves. Students with AS may have difficulty understanding the logic behind compliments since their difference involves a lack of understanding how other people think about things. Directly teaching a student with AS about how and to whom to give compliments may be necessary since they often do not learn social skills by observation like other students.


Word Bank: COMMUNICATION, COMPLIMENT, CONVERSATION, FRIENDSHIP, GIVE, POLITE, PRAISE, RECEIVE, SINCERE, SWEET, THANKS, TONEOFVOICE

Giving and Receiving Compliments – Word Search Answers


Giving and Receiving Compliments – Crossword Answers

1 3 5

2

7

4

8

6

9

10

ACROSS2) a way of being that makes others feel good3) a compliment word that means something is really nice4) this means you really mean what you are saying6) how a voice sounds is sometimes referred to as what?9) a person who likes you and who you like back10) a good thing to say when someone gives you a compliment

DOWN1) getting a compliment is like getting one of these5) a special skill7) words that say you did a great job8) something you say to make someone else feel good

g g r e a t

i a

f r i e n d l y

t e p

s i n c e r e

t a

i

c s

t o n e

m

p

l

f r i e n d

m

e

t h a n k y o u

t


Giving and Receiving Compliments – Quiz

Name: ____________________________________


Giving and Receiving Compliments – Quiz Answers

Beaumont, R., & Sofronoff, K. (2008). A multi-component social skills intervention for children with Asperger Syndrome: The junior detective training program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(7), 743-753.

Background: The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a new multi-component social skills intervention for children with Asperger syndrome (AS): The Junior Detective Training Program. This 7-week program included a computer game, small group sessions, parent training sessions and teacher handouts. Method: Forty-nine children with AS were recruited to participate and randomly assigned to intervention (n = 26) or wait-list control (n = 23) conditions. Results: Relative to children in the waitlist group, program participants showed greater improvements in social skills over the course of the intervention, as indicated by parent-report measures. Teacher-report data also confirmed that children receiving the intervention made significant improvements in social functioning from pre- to posttreatment. Treatment group participants were better able to suggest appropriate emotion-managementstrategies for story characters at post-intervention than at pre-intervention, whereas control participants were not. However, there was no difference in the improvements made by children in the intervention and control conditions on facial expression and body-posture recognition measures. Follow-up data suggested that treatment gains were maintained by children at 5-months post-intervention.Conclusions: The Junior Detective Training Program appeared to be effective in enhancing thesocial skills and emotional understanding of children with AS. Limitations and suggestions for futureresearch are discussed.

tips for teachers - aapc publishing · pdf filetips for teachers this month our topic is...

Documents