Communication Skills

My focus child Lucas has speech and language delays, so using the 8 communication strategies as a way to get Lucas to communicate verbally will be very helpful.  Lucas is not a shy child by temperament, but if he says something and can't be understood right away, he tends to get embarrassed and will be less likely to use his words when communicating the next time.  Often he is reduced to pointing or gesturing for what he wants, like when he is asked to select his helper position in front of the group during circle time.  I can take this opportunity during circle time to use the choice strategy on Lucas. I would ask, "Lucas, would you like to be line leader or feed our fish?"  That way I am modeling correct pronunciation for Lucas before he makes his choice, and also prompting him to answer.

During center time, I could use manding on Lucas to ask him open-ended questions about his play that do not require a "yes" or "no" response.  For instance, if he were in blocks I could say, "Can you tell me about what you are building?" and then I could expand on my questions with follow ups as he responds.

As the power point presentation pointed out, snack time is a perfect time to work on inadequate portions.  I could only give Lucas a few of a favorite snack such as goldfish, and then remain accessible, waiting on Lucas to request more.  In addition, I could also provide Lucas with inadequate materials while playing or working on an art project.  I could provide him with one googly eye so that he would have to ask for another!

Unexpected events are great ways to bridge communication because the age group that I teach are so inquisitive and very aware when new materials or unexpected activities occur during their routine school day.  March 17 comes to mind when I had lots of props in the classroom and led the children to believe that we had been visited by a leprechaun!  Lucas had lots of questions and commentary about this, as did all of his peers! 

Lastly, I use commenting and expanding often with children, so this will come very naturally when trying to incorporate this with Lucas.  I use these strategies often as a social tool as well.  For instance, if I see Lucas behave inappropriately, I will come over and describe the event such as, "Lucas, I see that you are using your hands on our friend Jaylin.  How do you think that makes him feel?  Can you think of another way you could let Jaylin know he is frustrating you?"  I would use these strategies in more routine activities, too, such as a simple comment of, "Lucas, you are washing your hands.  Now you are ready to go to the carpet."

Cook, R., Klein, M., and Tessier, A. (2008).  Adapting Early Childhood Curriculu for Children with
     Special Needs.  Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Social Story

I am going to focus on my target child's issue of hitting.  He is not  overly aggressive, but he has problems keeping his hands to himself and it is often an issue with other children.  It is a disruptive habit and it causes the other children to tell on him often, or often results in rough-housing in which someone gets hurt. 

In observations, I have noticed that the antecedents seem to be transition times.  When he is in the process of a task, such as engaging in circle time or playing in centers, he is very much engaged and on task.  But when we are cleaning up to come to the carpet for circle time, or cleaning up for lunch, or lining up to go outside he uses those opportunities to wrestle and hit other boys.  Many of the other boys seem to be more mature than my target child, and they know that this is not the time for play, so they either tell me or try to disengage him.  This is causing a problem for him socially, because the boys are beginning to keep a distance from him to make sure that they are implicated in the rough-housing.  Of course the behavior is hitting, slapping, or wrestling.  The consequence is often just a verbal "calling down" by me or the assistant teacher.  In terms of consequences, I'm not sure what the child is getting out of it because for the most part the other boys do not enjoy this and do not engage. 

Regarding my target child's temperament, he exhibits negative persistence.  He can be whiny and nagging and will not "let go" of a topic very easily.  I also see that he has some impulsivity issues, so he has trouble controlling himself when the urge to attack someone strikes him.  According, to Jane Nelson (1999), time out only works temporarily to stop the behavior at that moment, but for long term results positive reinforcement is going to have to be used to "end the power struggle" in the classroom.  She argues that time out fosters resentment from the child, which leads to rebellion.  I do employ time out for aggressive physical attacks, but for target child's brand of hitting and wrestling, I will try other methods.

I will make sure that my days are consistent.  They are, for the most part, and our daily schedule is posted (with pictures).  I am going to be assigning target child specific duties during transition, for example I will ask him to put the legos in the bin and then go to the carpet and look at one book until all friends are finished rather than saying simply "clean up."  I may have to be close to him in proximity for a while to make sure he is on task.  And he has already moved up to the front row near me in circle time.

Cook, R., Klein, M., and Tessier, A., (2008).  Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson Prentice Hall.

Nelson, J., (1999).  Positive Time-Out.  Rocklin, CA:  Prima Publishing.

Tureki, S., (1985).  The Difficult Child. New York: Random House.