Entry Skills

Goals and Learning

Outcomes

Alice is currently
willing to engage with
her peers however
she prefers individual
activities.
She does not make
spontaneous
approaches to other
children however will
accept contact if it is
initiated by the other
person.
She has similar
interests to other
children in her class
however does not
engage in
conversation.
Alice is able to
engage in social
conversation for less
than a minute.

Alice will be comfortable

working with a small group of
children. (Short Term Goal, 9
months)

Strategies

Development of social skills is essential for Alice

and others with autism. She will need explicit
instruction because unlike other children she will
not learn these skills through observation and
Alice will sit at the same
participation (Saskatchewan Education, 1999)
table as people she shares Alice will participate in social skills groups that
interests with during
will offer practical help and advice by improving
individual activities.
the skills that are needed for social interaction.
Alice will be asked to work
(The National Autistic Society, 2014) The teacher
with one other peer on
will also support these skills.
tasks for as long as she
Alice will be encouraged to share her interests
feels comfortable.
with other children in her class to find activities
Alice will participate in
activities in the classroom they have in common. For example she may
take it in turns with other children when playing a
with her peers
computer game.
Alice will initiate contact
with another child.
A social story will be used to teach Alice how to
approach others to "ask for something, get into a
game, say hello, and to leave a situation if
upset." (Saskatchewan Education, 1999)

Assessment
The teacher will then
observe Alice to see how
many times over a week
she is using this skill in the
classroom and will keep a
record of every time it is
seen. A trained observer
may also be used to
observe Alice's social
behaviours and
improvements (Wang et
al., 2011).
The teacher will also
interview Alice throughout
the year about the
improvements she has
made with her social skills.

Alice works well in

classroom
environments that are
quiet and are not
highly stimulating.
Alice tends to get
upset and anxious
when that ideal
environment is
disturbed by noise,
movement, or many
and over-stimulating
visuals.

Alice will not react to sensory

distractions such as noises,
visual stimuli or strong
smells/scents (impulse
control). (Long Term Goal)
Alice will depict to the
teacher in a more
appropriate manner that she
is becoming anxious or
agitated.
Alice will take steps to
remove herself from
distracting sensory
environments (self
regulation).
Alice will employ selfcalming or relaxing
techniques.

Visual aids, such as cards with numbers 1-10

and/or pictures, can be used by Alice to show
her teacher the level of anxiety or agitation she is
experiencing, similar to an emotional
thermometer. This will support Alice in self
regulating her own behaviour (NRESD, n.d).
Similarly, the teacher can also use visual aids to
encourage Alice to respond to the distractions
more appropriately, for example, show Alice a
card that reads Take three deep breaths with a
corresponding image. This will prompt Alice to
make good decisions to change her reactions to
sensory distractions (NRESD, n.d).

When a typical classroom

distraction occurs, the
teacher will make a note
of how Alice chooses to
deal with the distraction.
The teacher will also make
a note if Alice requires a
visual aid such as the
strategy picture cards to
prompt her to manage her
own behaviour
appropriately.

The teacher will consider

Changes can be made to the classroom to
the number of notable
provide a less distracting, and potentially
distractions for the day,
aggravating environment for Alice. For example, and assess how many
having less visual stimuli and clutter around the
Alice avoided reacting to
classroom, seating her away high traffic areas,
in an inappropriate
closing windows and doors (The National Autistic manner, how many she
Society, 2014; Government of South Australia,
needed to be prompted,
2014; Davis & Dubie, 2014).
and how many she was
able to self-calm.
Calming activities may be taught and used to
relax Alice, and in time, be a tool for selfregulation. Calming strategies could include:
- listening to soft music via headphones (Davis &
Dubie, 2014, Government of South Australia, 2014,
Larkey, n.d.),
- deep breathing techniques (Amaze, 2011),
- rubbing her hands or squeezing a stress ball
(Amaze, 2011; Government of South Australia,
2014),
- thinking about a favourite activity (Amaze, 2011,

Larkey, n.d.).

Alice often moves her

body at times during
class that distracts
the students around
her due to feeling
agitated and
stressed.

The level of disturbance for

the class caused by Alices
erratic movements will
reduce by 50% (Short Term
Goal, 9 months)

A quiet corner in the classroom will be created as

a generic area for children whose actions are
disruptive. This corner provides a quieter space
for the child and breathing meditation exercises
taught to the class as a whole will be conducted
When feeling agitated
by the student. (The National Autistic Society
Alice will respond to verbal 2014., Saskatchewan Education 1999). Pillows,
instruction to go to the
books and soft fabrics are also included.
quiet corner
(Notbohm 2005, 2008).
Alice will respond to visual Clear verbal cues will be used to initially have
cues to go to the quiet
Alice be instructed to move to the quiet corner.
corner/rethink personal
A visual cue compromising of a blue velcro dot
space
on the board will then be used as a silent
Self-regulation: Alice will
instruction for Alice to move to the corner.
remove herself from the
Alternatively, the Personal Space Circle Poster
group and move to the
will be touched on the board which will remind
quiet corner
her to be considerate of others around her.
(Government of South Australia 2014.,
Saskatchewan Education 1999).
A stress ball will then be introduced to Alice. This
stress ball will be taken to the floor and kept on
her desk to limit her erratic movements promoting
smaller movements (The National Autistic Society
2014., (Saskatchewan Education 1999).

Formative assessment will

be used, with the teacher
making observations and
keeping a daily record of
the students progress.
A prompt checklist will be
completed daily with the
teacher checking off how
many times they had to
prompt Alice to move to
the quiet corner.