Task instruction and completion

Morgan's IEP describes his difficulties with following instructions and managing tasks in information contained in Supports and Accommodations.

The organisational difficulties experienced by students with Asperger Syndrome, along with some useful strategies, are described in an article by the Asperger’s Association of New England.

http://users.rcn.com/aane12/articles/Educational Strategies

Josh developed a range of strategies to support Morgan with task instruction and completion. 

• In Josh’s class, tasks are never purely given as spoken instructions. Josh either accompanies instructions and discussions with a typed handout or writes information / instructions / important points … on the whiteboard. By providing instructions both verbally and visually, Morgan has greater opportunity to participate with success than if he had to rely on processing auditory input only.
• It has been useful to ask Morgan to repeat instructions back to the teacher to clarify his understanding or to get other students to repeat the instructions, so it doesn’t look like Morgan is being singled out.
• Josh has provided Morgan with structure and clear, consistent direction. He writes homework on the whiteboard and when the homework is pre-planned it is typed out so that students get a copy of what is required. Josh announces tests well in advance and routinely reminds the class of dates when longer-term projects are due. These techniques usually benefit the entire class.

• Josh has provided Morgan with extra time to complete assignments and homework. One difficulty in implementing this type of accommodation is doing so without other students being aware of it. The other students may feel unfairly treated if one student was getting what would appear to be preferential treatment and would want to know why it was occurring for Morgan.
• Morgan has had difficulty in fulfilling creative writing tasks. This is a problem for many students with AS. To assist in overcoming difficulties with story writing, Josh provided Morgan with writing frames (which helped in breaking the narrative into parts), sentence / story starters, time frames and word limits. These supports greatly assisted his ability to complete tasks. Allowing Morgan to word process his story, gave him extra confidence and made story writing a less daunting task.
• Josh developed a three step strategy for Morgan to use that encouraged greater independence. The first step required Morgan to ask three peers for assistance / clarification before asking another adult in the room (which is only the case on a couple of occasions during the week) and finally asking Josh. This makes the importance of seating Morgan beside trusted peers even more important, as he is unlikely to ask other students for help and as a result would be unlikely to seek assistance from Josh if he hasn’t followed the procedure.

Morgan has reminder sheets to assist him with task completion.

• Do I have ... ?    [Word 102 KB]
• Do I know ... ?   [Word 102 KB]
• If I don't know ... [Word 102 KB]

Useful articles about a range of topics, including self-organisation and homework, can be found on the websites for Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) and Tony Attwood.

http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/