Patricia Tanner-Halverson, Ph.D.
The key to working successfully with children prenatally exposed to alcohol is STRUCTURE, CONSISTENCY, BREVITY, VARIETY and PERSISTENCE. Intervention needs to start at the preschool level.
ENVIRONMENTAL: The environment should be structured and predictable.
1. Well defined areas
2. Remove extraneous materials
3. Preferential seating
4. Use same staff consistently
5. Get child involved
6. Change positions often, MOVE
7. Put head down when overstimulated
8. Use pictorial cues as reminders of class routine
TRANSITIONAL PERIODS:
9. Adapt tasks/materials for frustration tolerance
10. Egg timer clearly defines end
11. Puppets
12. Visual time cues
13. Songs or music/rhythm cues
14. Verbal early warning system
TEACHING ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS: (No STRUCTURE, No FUNCTION)
15. Give assignments with consistent follow up
16. Get ready for school the night before
17. Give direct instruction in thinking skills
18. Papers go in a giant paper clip
19. Teach organizational skills
20. Morning review
21. Calendars, notebooks/assignment books
22. Color code lesson segments
23. Teach analyzing and synthesizing skills
24. Anchor points to define time
25. Provide a schedule for activities
26. Provide visual lists
27. Sort major from minor less significant details
28. Sequence after special activity
29. Short tasks with clear terminal objectives. Explicit, concrete, brief, carefully defined directions.
30. Give adequate time to reorganize material and between activities, extra time to complete tasks.
INCREASING ATTENTION:
31. Give anticipatory explanations
32. Reduce speech tempo –vs- speeding up
33. Novelty is an excellent attention getter
34. Use ear phones
35. Use focus words
36. Present topic to hook curiosity
37. Use red or pink highlighters not yellow
38. Use a study corral
39. Control classroom interruptions
40. Use visual cues to start and stop
41. Use eye contact, touch, call out their name
42. Outline to increase comprehension
43. Describe/compare objects, events, details
44. Ask child to paraphrase directions
45. Vary loudness, inflection/quality of voice
46. Slowly increase sustained attention
47. Random participation
48. Omit key words from rhymes
49. Focus attention with pictures/objects
50. Privacy board for stimulation
51. Child completes several items, then check to ensure they understand task
CONTROLLING IMPUSIVITY:
52. Complete directions before handing out materials
53. Teach the language to reflect upon a situation before acting
54. Perfect papers
55. Waiting at the starting gate
56. Broken record interruptions
57. Turn taking. Use tangible object
58. Require that they defend their answers
59. Ask “Answer Hogs” to help
DISCIPLINE:
60. Be firm, but supportive
61. Redirect behavior
62. Ignore negative behavior when you can
63. Avoid Teaching Profanity
64. Behavior management
65. Use reward to punish minor offenses.
66. Make “My Choice” Cards
67. This is not the great debate
68. Reduce lag time
69. Take reinforcement survey
70. Past behavior is a valuable guide
71. Specifically label obnoxious behavior
72. Use “peace chair” or time-in
73. Guide to solutions- Leave the Problem
74. Negative behavior may be a symptom of unmet needs
75. Consult with families to help at home with behavior management
DEALING WITH HYPERACTIVITY:
76. Limit type/number of new situations encountered at one time
77. Anticipate/know danger signs/situations. Build relaxation into program
78. Teach substitute behaviors when can’t keep hands off of others
79. If medication in needed, better to start the day with medication, then chase the behavior later
80. Provide lessons which emphasize manual/physical expression
81. Avoid long periods of work. Don’t keep child in from recess. Give short breaks during the day
82. Protect from over stimulation. Control TV and avoid video games
83. Have a respite plan in place for when a child is overwhelmed with stimuli
84. Teach appropriate ways to respond to overwhelming stimuli
85. Reduce/control complexity of assigned tasks
86. Teach child how to get back under control if necessary
87. Teach the child to self monitor
88. Aggression is physiology
SELF ESTEEM:
89. Avoid “Custer’s Last Stand”
90. Recognize successes each day
91. Have peers model behavior
92. Model alternative behaviors
93. Model, rehearse social skills
94. Test knowledge
95. Positive incentives for finishing
96. Encouragement is better than praise
97. Recognize partially correct responses
98. Encourage the use of positive self talk
99. Give attention to children who are behaving appropriately
100. If a child is discouraged over repeating mistakes, stress they are getting another chance
101. Avoid asking why questions. Use how, who, what, where
102. Have child write about something they know
103. Have child teach the class about something that they know well.
MEMORY:
104. Repeat and restructure continually
105. Chunk work
106. Use short sentences
107. Teach memory strategies focused on basic life skills
108. Have child physically perform sequential activities
109. Teach one concept at a time.
110. Ask child to repeat information just heard
111. Have older children take notes on verbal directions
112. Show pictures/objects for 30-60 seconds and then ask them the questions about the item
113. Ask child for repetition of instructions of material in a form other that the one you just used
114. Make a one page visualization of the lesson
115. Make subject matter meaningful to the child
READING:
116. Rewrite directions at a lower reading level
117. Highlight key words
118. Use large print or talking books
119. Use cognitive mapping
120. Play letter/word BINGO
121. Have child verbally paraphrase material read
122. Make a picture dictionary
123. Use materials with simple illustrations
124. Put paper strip under line
125. Record stories so they can listen & read along
126. Avoid phonics to teach reading, unless processing skills are adequate
127. Stress inferential reading. Prepare a series of questions to think about while they read
128. Use a color dot at the left and another color at the right. Use arrows showing direction
MATH:
129. Use a calculator, number line, manipulatives
130. Spend extra time on decimal points in math, spelling etc.. because of inattention to detail
131. Work on number concepts, not just rote counting
132. Spend extra time on money concepts and making change
133. Provide practice of math facts with a computer that gives immediate feedback to the child
134. Find opportunities for child to apply math to real life
135. Put math problems with same process on single line or sheet
136. Make operation symbols extra large, bolded or color coded
137. Domino worksheets
138. Give child multiples of one digit problems when they complain about “baby stuff”
GENERAL STRATEGIES:
139. Help see the value of not succeeding
140. Work with behavior momentum
141. Maximize use of sensory stimulation
142. Tattling: redirect
143. Teach generalization skills
144. Teach drug/alcohol refusal skills
145. Reduce any competition
146. When a child feels angry, acknowledge it and go on.
147. Stress what is their’s. “This is your desk/pencil/chair……….”
148. Encourage the child to develop a success orientation
149. From ages 13 and beyond, educational programming should focus on daily living and survival skills
150. Preschool curriculum should emphasize readiness skills such as increasing attention span, compliance with requests, sitting in a seat, listening.
151. Catch them being good, doing things right
152. Stop at key point in order to determine the students understanding
153. Working with neurologically impaired children is very stressful. Have a respite plan in place to regularly follow for your own physical and mental health.
AVOID USING THE SAME TIRED PHRASES AND REINFORCEMENTS. Here are some suggestions from Bob Alozzine, 50 simple ways to make teaching more fun.
Now you have it
This makes my day
You have Mastered this
You are very good at this
Stupendous
Top of the line effort
Your personal best
Now you have the hang of it
You really outdid yourself
Great going
Dynamite work
Beautiful to behold
That is just super
Good for you
This is first class work
You make it look easy
You are learning quickly
That’s the best ever
Great job
Marvelous
You are unreal
Awesome
Nobody does it better
Impressive
Fabulous
Great effort today
This is really choice!
That’s sensational
Too easy for you?
Terrific
Outstanding
Good thinking
Exceptional
Excellent
Keep up the good work
That’s it