Visual Methods in Autism-Specific Behavior Therapy: The "Cartoon and Script Curriculum" for Teaching Social Behavior and Communication: Using Visual ... Programming for Individuals with ASD - Softcover

Bernard-Opitz, Vera

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1942197314 ISBN 13: 9781942197317

Publisher: Autism Asperger Publishing Co,US, 2017

Synopsis

This easy-to-use book is designed to help children with ASD find friends, become better communicators, increase their flexibility, and lead lives that are less stressful. Skills are presented in the form of cartoons, scripts and role play – all evidence-based practices – that address a wide range of developmental levels.

The Cartoon & Script Curriculum breaks down complex behaviors into manageable steps and provides methods to help children and youth generalize skills across settings and people. The result: individuals on the spectrum become more effective in managing everyday life!

About this title

About the Author

Vera Bernard-Opitz, PhD, BCBA-D, is a German clinical psychologist and psychological psychotherapist as well as an American board certified behavior analyst. She supervises ABA teams across the United States and Germany, conducts workshops and is the editor of the German practice series, entitled Autism Concrete.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Visual Learning: Facilitating Skill Acquisition Using Visual Methods Individuals with ASD tend to have good visual skills, which often are in contrast to their communication and social challenges (DiCriscio & Trojani, 2017). Visual supports for both simple and complex teaching targets will help the student make meaningful progress. The TEACCH Program. Visual supports have been a core feature of the TEACCH program (Treatment and Education for Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children; Schopler & Mesibov, 1994) since its inception. Children learn in an environment with clear expectations as well as obvious spatial and temporal structures. Independent task performance is a very early teaching target. Learning situations are simplified by pictures, symbols and word cards and distinct task setups (Bernard-Opitz & Häussler, 2010). Visual supports show where a task begins, how to do it, when the task is completed and what happens after the task (Aspy & Grossman, 2011; Häussler, Happel, Tuckermann, Altgassen, & Adl-Amini, 2003; Mesibov & Howley, 2003). In addition, picture schedules and augmentative communication such as the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS; Alsayedhassan, Banda, & Griffin-Shirley, 2016; Frost & Bondy, 2002; Tien, 2008) are now a core part of many ASD programs. Activity schedules. Activity schedules can be compared to a shopping or “to-do” list (Brodhead, Higbee, Pollard, Akers, & Gerencser, 2014; McClannahan & Krantz, 1999). They are sets of pictures or words that show a sequence of activities. For young children with ASD, activity schedules often show which activities, tasks or games have to be done in what sequence (Knight, Sartini, & Spriggs, 2015). At a later stage, schedules can also be completed or written by the child. In the TEACCH program, even individuals with severe disabilities have learned to be independent through simple routines and activity schedules (Mesibov, Shea, & Schopler, 2004: Knight et al., 2015).

Edition details

• Publisher: Autism Asperger Publishing Co,US
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1942197314
• ISBN 13: 9781942197317
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Bernard Andra
• Number of pages: 277