Everyone Can Learn
Everyone Can Teach
Tips and Tricks from a Master
Teacher
Barbara T. Doyle, MS
2008
Using the Plan to Change Form:
Thinking about change is NOT
enough!
Look at the Plan to Change Form
Use the form anytime you are
learning and growing
My role: to encourage thinking and
change
Use of room space: choose your own
proximity (where you are in relation to
activities and people) and optimum
learning style: sit, stand, walk, doodle,
draw, write, etc. (Be aware of those
around and behind you.)
No side bar talking please: Listen to
only one voice at a time. Feel free to get
up and have a discussion in the hall or
write notes.
HINT: do all of these wherever you
“teach”
Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008
“Make no little plans;
they have no magic to stir
men’s blood.”
Daniel Burnham,
Director of Works at
the World’s Columbian
Exposition, 1893
Our learning environment for today:
Have fun, be creative, think, learn
Respectful discussion and
interactions in a safe environment
Non verbal, auditory signals
Questions that cannot be
answered here
Email: barbaratdoyle@att.net
Phone: 217-793-9347
Principal of Partial Participation
No one has to participate in all
activities in a particular way or to a
certain degree
Everyone chooses to participate
in the way that helps them learn
and be calm
Everyone learns with unique
learning style/learning strengths
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 Visual Spatial
Multiple ways to participate are:
Listen, observe, talk, write, think,
Kinesthetic Linguistic
draw, doodle, think, read, make
charts, graphs or lists, ask
questions, find answers in the Logical Musical
printed materials, take notes,
create poems or song lyrics, Mathematical Mechanical
report to others, keep time for the
group or make learning or memory Interpersonal Intrapersonal
aides.
Based on the work of Howard Gardner
If you want to, try something new today! www.howardgardner.com

Teach Everyone How to:

Teach Learners:
To choose their own proximity to
tasks, people and events based on
best learning
To work seated, standing, using an
easel, objects, etc.
According to unique learning
strengths and preferences
(Create individual learning profiles)
Be Safe: safety for self and others
(Trumps everything!)
Belong: have relationships with
individuals and groups
Contribute: do small and great things to
improve home, school, work &
community
Participate: pleasant and productive
things to do
Be valued: recognized as a valuable
member of family and community

We need to teach people to avoid:

Dangerous behavior
Fight or flight response Domain of Concern
Depression, anxiety, low self-worth
Lack of belonging, participation and
contribution
Poverty Domain of Influence
Institutionalization
Jail
Boredom and wasted lives

Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008 2 of 10


The greatest discovery of my
generation is that human beings can
alter their lives by altering their
attitudes of mind.
William James
To Teach Others
First, change yourself!
What do you say and write? Your
words will follow others always!
Use respectful, non-judgmental
descriptions
Learn to separate objective and
subjective information. Look at your
handout.

To Teach Others
First, change yourself!
“We must BE
Don’t take features of ASD
personally, especially tone of voice the change
and communication style
we wish to see
Don’t punish the person for features
of the disability in the world.”
Explain the person to others
Assume Can’t instead of Won’t Mahatma Gandhi
Look at your handout.

“You ARE being

Teach Others with Your Behavior
watched…and this
creates the People pick up on our attitudes by
opportunity for
others to learn to watching how we interact
appreciate and We can model the patience,
value the
individuality and
respect and love that individuals
contribution of deserve
people with special Others may not even realize they
needs in the
world.” are learning a positive message
from us: BUT THEY ARE!
Barbara

Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008 3 of 10


"... if all my possessions were
taken from me with one exception,
I would choose to keep the power
of communication, for by it I would
soon regain all the rest."
Daniel Webster
Teaching Communication with
Conscious Interacting
We can change the amount and
quality of communication by
making conscious decisions about
our own communication style and
skills, while focusing on building
relationships.
Teaching Communication with
Conscious Interacting
Respond to ALL communicative
signals as quickly as you can
Responding elicits more initiations!
Put relationship ahead of compliance
Put safety and belonging ahead of
program goals
Prevent dangerous behavior
PLAN for flexibility
Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008
Teach Communication Skills
The babies of deaf parents
quickly learn to cry less and
wiggle more!
WHY?
Teaching Communication with
Conscious Interacting
RESPONSIVE VS.
DIRECTIVE
(It’s your conscious choice!)
Become more conscious of the
opportunities to be more
responsive.
Be directive when necessary.
Ignoring:
does not build relationships
can be de-humanizing
can escalate an individual into
more dramatic (and dangerous)
ways of communicating the
message
works best under clinical
conditions (life is not a clinical
condition!)
4 of 10
 What are some Some possible communicative
communicative signals? functions are:
Gestures Echolalia Requesting: Making a statement:
Gaze, shifting gaze Memorized speech Assistance About events
Proximity Movie talk Interaction About objects
Tone of voice Vocal sounds Play About people
Affection To affirm
Body postures Words
Comfort To greet
“Self-stimulation” Movements
Protection For humor
Sign language Facial expressions
Objects To provide
Crying Laughing Food information
Pictures Writing Attention To protest
Drawing Permission To negate

Some possible communicative

Target Communication Outcomes
functions are:
Select goals to teach that:
Related to feelings: Related to internal
Anticipation states: Maximize their impact on the
Boredom Self-regulation world
Confusion Rehearsal
Fear Habituation Develop and sustain
Humiliation Relaxation relationships
Releasing tension
Frustration
Amusing self
Give control and choice in as
Anger
Pain Passing the time many areas of life as possible
Pleasure Waiting Help the person have self-control
Anxiety Showing off

Some important
Teach Making Choices
communication skills:
An essential skill for quality of life
Indicate pain or discomfort
Remember some people will
Tell others when others need to “choose” the last thing you said
start, stop or change what they
Do not always rely on verbal
are doing
choice making skills (stress
Inform a support person when decreases word retrieval skills)
someone else is bothering them
Teach choice making initially with
Tell others about needs, feelings real objects, spaced far apart
and internal states

Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008 5 of 10

The Choice Go Board The Comboard

The Carousel Communicator Object Communication

The Compact Communicator The Bulletin Board Communicator

Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008 6 of 10

 Teach with Technology
Protection and Advocacy for Assistive
Technology
Lisa Rosano 518-388-2833
NYS Commission on Quality of Care and
Advocacy for Person with Disabilities
518-388-1281ecexutive office
State of NY Centers for Independent Living
http://www.nysilc.org/
Avoid Fight or Flight Response
Takes a long time to recover
Cannot learn new skills if
constantly on patrol to avoid
“dangers”
Fight or flight might be based only
on experience, due to difficulty
imagining or remembering
Teach Relaxation Routines
Create a routine of liked activities
Practice daily when NOT in flight or
fight state
Use Social Stories (from the work
of Carol Gray)
Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008
Freaked-out human
beings can’t learn!
Teach Using Systematic
Desensitization
Engage the person in something
calming and liked
Introduce the smallest increment
of the aversive (what the person
cannot now tolerate)
Inform that s/he has “coped”
Gradually increase the amount
and/or duration
Teach People to Stay Calm
Identify/ manage elements that set
off fight or flight
Do not try to teach or consequence
an already upset person
Teach how to avoid what is
upsetting
Ask team members to observe you
and the person for clues
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 When People Are Not Calm
Walk and Talk
Observe for imminent danger to What can you change about what
people. Act to protect. you say, think or do to:
Open up, back up and stop talking Avoid more occurrences of flight
Wait. Then speak quietly. No or fight?
questions. Calm people down more quickly
If there is a history of dangerous and effectively?
behavior, make and practice a Protect everyone?
response plan with everyone for
safety in advance

Time to Plan Your Changes!

Let your teaching light the way!
Use any learning method you
Sometimes our light
choose to plan your changes goes out but is
blown into flame by
Be sure to list your action another human
steps: without these, change being. Each of us
owes deepest
won’t happen thanks to those who
have rekindled the
light.
Albert Schweitzer

Thank you for all you do!

Barbara T. Doyle, M.S.
Phone 217-793-9347, 793-4018 FAX
barbaratdoyle@att.net
www.barbaradoyle.com
Emily Iland, Barbara’s sister and co-author,
parent of a son with ASD, advocate and
educational therapist (fluent in Spanish!)
Phone 661-297-4205, 297-4033 FAX
eiinc@socal.rr.com

For book information: www.asdatoz.com

ISBN 1-932565-07-8 ISBN 0-9768222-0-2
ASA Book Award 2006!

Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008 8 of 10

 Can’t vs. Won’t
When a person (the learner) does not comply with your request, you have a choice. You
can view the person as intentionally failing to do what you asked or you can view the
person as having trouble complying because of a learning, thinking, understanding,
feeling or focus issue. Consider this: your least dangerous assumption is that the learner
CAN’T do something. It can be very dangerous to assume that a learner WON’T do
something.

Your safest assumption is that each learner is doing the best s/he can at this moment.
And remember, no one really knows what another person is thinking or feeling by
looking at them. And we all have more complicated motives for our actions than just
seeking attention or avoiding a task.

An assumption of WON’T by parents/staff leads to punishment, resentment and power

struggles. No one wins. This can have lasting negative effects on the learner’s mental
health.

An assumption of CAN’T leads to creative problem solving and analysis of the needs of
the learner and the details of the environment. The learner is taught to view self
objectively, ask for help and seek solutions.

An assumption of CAN’T leads to an effort to take the point of view of the learner and an
attempt to see the world from the perspective of the learner.

Why Might It Be Can’t?

CAN’T: Variability of performance is characteristic of people with autism spectrum

disorders and other disabilities. Each learner needs to be able to identify own strengths
and needs for support and how these change in different situations.

CAN’T: Consider Gestalt or holistic processing: the learner absorbs the whole situation
with all the details. Any change may lead to a loss of skill. This can cause the learner to
look like s/he is not trying or attending. We need to be aware of the details when
teaching and be willing to re-teach in new environments or when any element changes.
Planned re-teaching in new environments supports and promotes success.

CAN’T: Problems in central coherence: the learner may be unable to select and focus
upon the most relevant information in the situation. This can cause the learner to appear
inattentive and unfocused.

CAN’T: The learner may be responding to something that is going on inside of them (an
internal stimulus) or something that is going on outside of them (an external stimulus.)
The stimulus may be capturing the learner’s attention and energy.

www.barbaradoyle.com 2008 www.asdatoz.com

barbaratdoyle@att.net 217-793-9347
Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008 9 of 10
 Objective vs. Subjective Information

Objective information is:

observable: able to be seen, heard or touched, smelled, tasted
factual
able to be counted
able to be described
able to be imitated
the same from multiple reporters
as close to truth as we can get
helpful in decision making

Objective Language:
I saw...
I counted...
I observed...
This is what s/he did.
This is what I/we did.
S/he said...
The sound s/he made sounded like this...
S/he stood in this place.
S/he made an action that looked like this...

Subjective information is:

opinion
judgment
assumption
belief
rumor
suspicion
varies: person-to-person, day-to-day
able to take on a life of its own
not the truth
sometimes completely false
destructive in decision making
confusing and misleading

Subjective language
S/he did not want to...
S/he does not like...
S/he thought...
S/he feels...
S/he thinks...
S/he needs...
S/he was just trying to get me to...
S/he was just trying to get out of or avoid...
S/he was just trying to control me...
S/he always...
S/he never...

barbaratdoyle@att.net www.barbaradoyle.com www.asdatoz.com

Barbara T. Doyle – October 11, 2008 10 of 10