START Building Your Future Project Eliminating Barriers and Creating Opportunities for Adults with ASD 2012-13

START Building Your Future Project

Eliminating Barriers and Creating Opportunities for Adults with ASD

2012-13

Adults with ASD

Employment, Higher Education, Community Involvement,

Independent Living, Leisure and Quality of Life

Intent of this Presentation

This presentation is designed to assist adult service providers who are supporting people with Autism Spectrum Disorder navigate the

complexities of this disability.

Agenda • Numbers of Adults with ASD• What is ASD?• Interference of High Interest Areas• Literal Interpretation of Information• Misunderstanding of Social Situations• Lack of Social Reciprocity – Inflated Ego• Hypersensitivity to the Environment• Difficulty Staying Employed• Hygiene Issues• Responding to Others Needs• Truth at all Costs

WWW.AFAA-US.ORG

Advancing Futures for Adults with ASD

Autism Speaks

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12000

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16000

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Nu

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Michigan Students with an ASD Eligibility Label

1,208

15,403

5,682

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12000

Current 2010 Projected 2015 Projected 2020

Num

ber

of S

tude

nts

Year

Current and Projected Number of Students with ASD aged 18-26 in Michigan

*Based on the 2010 MDE, OSE-EIS Eligibility Count

1671

5927

9797

What Does This Crisis Feel Like for Students with ASD and their

Parents and Families?

Concerns After Viewing This Clip Are:

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Misinterpretation By Others May Lead To:

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Strategies To Support The Person With ASD:

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How About an Example

• Engineering Degree from Michigan Institute of Technology

• Masters in Engineering from U of M

• Fired from GM and Ford

• Fired from Several of the Suppliers (Consulting Firms to the Big 3)

• What Is He Doing Now?

What Does This Crisis Feel Like for People with ASD

The Dignity of Risk – Robert Perske

The world in which we live is not always safe, secure and predictable. Every day that we wake up and live in the hours of that day, there is a possibility of being thrown up against a situation where we may have to risk everything, even our lives. This is the way the real world is. We must work to develop every human resource within us in order to prepare for these days. To deny any person their fair share of risk experience is to further cripple them for healthy living.

What Does This Mean To Us

• Public Transportation – Brian

• Overnight/Sports Teams – Dan

• Washington D.C. Trip - Ryan

This Means…• Never again will a Student with ASD be in

such a protected environment. If mistakes are made, those mistakes can generally be fixed.

• With appropriate supports, Students with ASD must be given the same opportunities as their same aged peers.

• The Dignity of Risk needs to be a part of every decision educational teams are making for Students with ASD.

What Else Does This Mean?

• Where did the Students’ with ASD peers learn all the independent skills they have?

• How did they learn to independently ride the school bus?

• How did a typically developing student learn to be away from their family?

• Where do typically developing peers understand the social expectations?

So…How are the Service Agencies Supporting Adults with ASD Going to

Manage this Explosion…

By Looking At Autism Spectrum Disorder

Differently

Looking at ASD Differently

• Respect for what has happened

in the past…

• While implementing what must happen in the future!

May Cause Concerns

• Interference of High Interest Areas• Literal Interpretation of Information• Misunderstanding of Social Situations• Lack of Social Reciprocity – Inflated Ego• Hypersensitivity to the Environment• Difficulty Staying Employed• Hygiene Issues• Responding to Others Needs• Truth at all Costs

Interference of High Interest Areas

• Driven by high interest areas

• Provides person with ASD:– Predictability– Structure and organization– Shows knowledge

Interference of High Interest Areas

• Causes people without ASD to feel:– Discounted– What they are saying is not valued or heard– Disrespected

• Feelings lead to actions such as:– Stop doing that – Shut down High Interest– Discounting who the person with ASD is– Ignoring or moving away

Interference of High Interest Areas Results

• Person with ASD is driven to do this

• Asked to stop doing this may lead to:– Talking to self about high interest– Acting out high interest

• Others without ASD may:– Determine person with ASD unstable– Determine person with ASD incompetent

Interference of High Interest Areas - 3 Strategies

• No More No…Where and When– Organize time during breaks to pursue interest

area – Marty – The Price is Right– Use technology to record or capture interest

area to view at a later time

• Embed interest area into job expectation– Explanation of expectation using high interest

• Find group/place where interest area has value – Dan and WRIF


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Literal Interpretation of Information

• Face value of information

• What is written is what it means –

no more/no less

• Don’t understand – It’s only speeding if you get caught

• No reading between the lines– People with ASD can not interpret this

statement without teaching– Inferences are used in language and

communication everyday

Literal Interpretation of Information Strategies

• Recognize how information is presented

• Write it down, Write it down, Write it down

• Show rather than tell

• Provide concrete information

• Get rid of wiggle words

• Use words that can be interpreted literally

• Keep information to…Just the facts

Creating Visuals and Jigs

• Primary responsibility of the school personnel or the job coach

• Individualized for the Student with ASD

• Independently complete task or job

• Modifications made to the General Education Curriculum

What is a Jig?

Jigs or templates have been known long before the industrial age. There are many types of jigs, and each one is custom-tailored to do a specific job. Many jigs are created because there is a necessity to do so by the tradesmen. Some are to increase productivity, to do repetitious activities and to do a job more precisely. Because jig design is fundamentally based on logic, similar jigs used in different times and places may have been created independently

Example of a Jig -T-Shirt Folder


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Misunderstanding of Social Situations

• Lack of Reciprocity – Hallmark feature of ASD

• Reciprocity - in-kind positively or negatively conotated responses of individuals towards the actions of others

• Theory of Mind - means the ability to

recognize and understand thoughts, beliefs,

desires and intentions of other people in

order to make sense of their behavior and

predict what they are going to do. (Atwood, The Complete Guide to Aspergers Syndrome, 2007)

Misunderstanding of Social Situations Strategies

• People with ASD will make Social Mistakes

• Intervention/strategy usually occur after behavior has occurred

• Analyze the social situation

• Write down person with ASD interpretation of the social situation requiring support

• Use their words to develop strategy

• Provide themes

• Expect minimal generalization


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Social Reciprocity – Theory of Mind Issues

• Attribute the behavior of the person with ASD: – As Egocentric/Narcissistic– Out of Touch– Self-Important

• Person with ASD has no idea that others are misattributing his/her behavior

• No need to change because person with ASD doesn’t know


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Develop an On-Line LINK Social Network

• Track Graduated LINKS• Allow Networking Between LINKS• Post Opportunities for Graduated LINKS by RCN• Provide Parents List of Graduated LINKS by RCN• Social Network will be Hosted by a Person with

ASD

Imagine the Possibilities

• Co-Workers Understanding of ASD• Community College Opportunities• University Opportunities• Semi-Independent and Independent Living

Arrangements• Social Opportunities• Community Opportunities

Hypersensitivity to the Environment

• Person with ASD can:– Process information around them differently– Develop fears or aversions– Associate unrelated environments

• Can Lead to Behaviors that:– Have fight or flight response– Evoke fear in others– May seem dangerous to others

Hypersensitivity to the Environment Strategies

• Desensitize the person with ASD to the environments that cause hypersensitivity

• Get the person with ASD into the environments that caused the issues with supports

• Allow person with ASD to observe same aged persons in the environment without consequence

• Provide awareness training in environments


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Hygiene Issues

• Lack of social filter can lead to:– Minimal concern about appearance– Minimal attention to hygiene– Disheveled appearance

• Sensory Issues can lead to:– Comfort over appearance– Limited clothing options– Difficulty with self care skills– Needing assistance from others

Hygiene Issues Strategies

• Daily schedule with a check off list

• Make hygiene issues part of the routine

• Include hygiene expectations during training component

• Post hygiene expectations– Hair must be washed & combed– Teeth must be brushed– Deodorant must be worn

• Be Specific

Jack - Morning RoutinesWake Up

Bathroom

Shower

Dry Yourself

Shave

Put on underwear

Put on socks

Put on shirt

Put on pants


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Difficulty Staying Employed

• Interest Areas get in the way

• Responses to employer

• Responses to customers

• Overinflated view of role

• Gravitate toward issues that appear important – Appear meddlesome

• Working to slow – Details – Perfectionism

• Difficulty with downtime

Difficulty Staying Employed

• Job expectations are not specific

• Organization of the environment not clear

• Social nuances in the work place

• Social expectations in the work place

• Dress code

Difficulty Staying EmployedStrategies

• Match area of interest to job expectations

• Be specific about job expectations

• Post social rules in the work place

• Organized workspace

• Dress code posted

• Daily schedule of job expectations

• Break room rules

• Teach breaks


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Responding to Others Needs• People with ASD want:

– To be helpful– To be useful– To be perfect (Want life to be perfect)– To be in control and to control environments

• People with ASD often:– Misunderstand others needs– Go over the top– Want it to be perfect for others– Literally interpret others’ needs

Responding to Others NeedsStrategies…

• People without ASD:– Complain just to complain– Gossip just to gossip– Say things to make conversations

• People with ASD:– Want to meet the expectations of others– Want to fix things– If the person with ASD gets the chance they will try to

make the wrong right for those around them– What is said by those w/o ASD is taken literally


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Truth at all Cost

• Lack of social understanding

• Need for predictability

• Once something is learned – Hold to it

• The truth is more important than anything

• Driven to live by what they know

• Confused by why others are not

• Leads to frustration

Maturation The ability to understand the value of

deception and recognize when it might be expected occurs later in the development of the student with Aspergers, sometimes as late as early teens.

This can cause confusion to parents and teachers, as the previously honest, (perhaps to a fault) child recognizes that one can deceive people and avoid anticipated consequences. However the type of deception can be immature and the deceit easily identified by an adult. Atwood, 2007

Travis and Lying

Travis is 18 Years Old

Drives and attends a typical high school

Check engine light came on way to school

Communicated in the best way he knew how

Did not get any response

Change story to get support from Staff

Got a response…Is this Lying

Background Information

• Staff explained…they could not believe what Travis said anymore…He was constantly lying.

• Used white board…invited Travis into the meeting

• Put the word liar on the white board

• Travis said – “Everyone thinks I am a Liar”

• What was discovered by the facilitator and staff?

Travis’s Explanation

Travis Makes Things Happen

• “Telling the truth is not good enough for the people”

• Translation – I need help and the staff does not help me. Check engine light was not good enough to get support

• “The wrecker is better because my car blew up”

• Translation – Ms. Black responded to the wrecker is coming because my car blew up but did not respond when my check engine light came on

Strategy for Exaggeration

• Travis always wore a baseball cap• Travis would take the baseball cap off if he was

exaggerating• Travis would leave the baseball cap on is he was

telling the whole truth• Practice with concepts unimportant to Travis• Staff practiced the strategy with Travis• Teacher reports Travis uses the strategy

successfully

SOLUTION SOLUTION

SOLUTION

PROBLEM

J.Janzen, Understanding the Nature of Autism

PROBLEM PROBLEM

PROBLEM

SOLUTION

J.Janzen, Understanding the Nature of Autism

NPR-Neighborhood Watch


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Thank You For Your Time!

Documents

START Building Your Future Project Eliminating Barriers and Creating Opportunities for Adults with ASD 2012-13