1. Project MORE & Autism Model School Presented by: Barb Sabin, Becky Knapp Tiffany Triplett & Christa Stalter AUTISM MODEL SCHOOL 4848 Dorr Street Toledo, OH 43615 Phone: 419.897.4400

2. Autism Awareness Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in the U.S..

3. Some statistics  In the U.S., 50 families a day will learn that autism has struck their family.  Ten years ago the rate of autism was 1 in 10,000  Autism affects individuals from ALL socio- economic, racial & ethnic groups.  There is no cure for autism.  90% of the cost of support & treatment are for adult services.

4. What is Autism?  Autism is a complex neuro-developmental disorder that usually appears within the first three years of life.

5. Symptoms include difficulty in the following areas...  Social interactions- difficulty relating to & interacting with people and understanding social cues.  Communication-difficulty understanding & using language. 10% of individuals with autism never speak, most have difficulty with auditory comprehension.

6.  Sensory integration- dislike of and over reaction to certain smells, sounds, sights, tastes, textures; high pain tolerance; extreme reaction to temperature; low muscle tone; very passive or very active.  Cognitive-literal thinking, splinter (uneven skills), problems with planning, attention, and memory: learning disabilities: learning style differences. Symptoms include difficulty in the following areas...

7.  Autism is a spectrum disorder meaning that an individual may be mildly, moderately, or severely impaired in one or more of the characteristic areas, resulting in one or more of the characteristic areas, resulting in a unique profile for each individual.  Autism is four times more common in males than females and is often found in combination with other disabilities. (Source: Autism Society of America-www.asno.org)

8. Autism Model Community School What makes us different?

9. Philosophy  The Autism Model School provides a humanistic learning environment for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Our school program provides accommodations to provide an individualized educational program.

10. Teaching methods  Students with Autism work better in an environment that is highly structured (schedules).  Our students also respond well to social stories. These stories are used to help them transition from activity to activity. These stories are also created to help students learn what is more socially acceptable behavior.

11. Autism & Reading  Students with autism sometimes have characteristics of hyperlexia, meaning that they can read almost any word without apparent instruction in reading from a young age without regard to word meaning.

12. Autism & Reading  The downfall of most students with autism is they struggle with comprehension. Many students appear to learn to read from a top down approach.

13. Autism & Reading In other words they are exposed to reading words and sentences…  in context  digest the meaning of the words in a gestalt-like manner of repeating phrases and sentences  convert the unanalyzed chunks of phrases into useful language in other situations by relying on context clues.

14. Autism & reading  Have you ever heard a student with autism repeat the same phrase or movie lines over & over? Research shows that this is how they analyze language and make it useful for them.  Other students need the bottom up approach of learning letter names and sounds and then encoding them into words.

15. Autism & reading  Still other students learn best by the interactive approach to reading which combines the alphabetic approach and contextual clues combined with interactive activities to generalize reading skills that are gained.  All of these approaches are possible with Project MORE through use of the alphabet readers, leveled readers with quick check comprehension lists, graphic organizers & games.

16. Why Project MORE?  Project MORE works because of the alphabet readers, leveled readers with quick check comprehension lists, graphic organizers and games.

17. Why Project MORE?  Implementation  Easy to read lesson plans  Materials  Student pride/accomplishments  One-on-one attention

18. Modifications  Questions through out book  Visual/picture cues  Sentence building or matching  Multi-sensory approach

19. Modifications Programs used in conjunction with Project MORE  Reading Mastery  Edmark reading program  Sensational Strategies for Beginning Readers

20. Sensational Strategies for beginning readers  Program includes with a parent training manual so that parents can work on the different strategies with their child at home. All the tools are included.  Instructional video  Manual  Handwriting guide  Alphabet card pack  Letter formation paper  Plastic word screen  Vowel pictures  4 ounces of sensational sand  Red & green crayons

21. Sensational Strategies…  Begin teaching sound/symbol relationship through direct instruction.  Have the student then trace the letter bubble card with their finger, while they practice saying the letter sound.  Next trace the letter in the sand for the students while saying the letter and the sound it makes.

22. Sensational strategies…  Use the large house paper and the screen underneath to provide tactile sensation. Have the student practice tracing first with their fingers and then with a writing utensil. Work on staying in the correct part of the house. Then have the student copy the letter three times on the line next to the house.  We then follow the steps on the Reading-tutors guide.

23. Beginning Project MORE  We enrolled 24 students in Project MORE.  Each of these students was at a different reading level.  Each of these students was also tested using the DIBELS assessment.

26. Student Behaviors Some challenges the tutors encountered  Echolalia  Off days  New behaviors  Bargaining

27. Results  We felt that this program was a success.  We saw individual growth in the students fluency levels.  We also saw an increase in DIBELS scores.

30. Teacher’s Thoughts  “I feel that the program was informative and helped to build fluency and comprehension. The program helped expose the students to different subject matter, that they may not have been exposed to otherwise. I can say that my students truly enjoyed working with the tutors and being exposed to the new subject matter.” ~ Stevi teacher room Jupiter

31. Suggestions  More supplemental games Hangman Tic Tac Toe (Hollywood Squares)  More Quick Checks Some students may need one after each paragraph while others may need one after each page.  More time spent with mentors @ the beginning of the year. Encourage mentors to be consistent with students’ fluency & related skills (e.g. pausing intonation, alliteration, ETC.)