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speak. This type of interaction should be coached and encouraged at every opportunity.

      That’s not to say that I feel that one-on-one instruction is superfluous or even secondary. We need focused, intensive, one-on-one instruction in the basic skills that make whole- group instruction possible. However, whole-group instruction (as well as mainstreaming and inclusion) should never be treated as a “second-best” approach. They are equal partners, one complementing the other.

      Yet with any method of instruction, the goal is reading comprehension, not just word recognition. My first couple of years of teaching, I was thrilled at the progress (I believed) I was making with my students’ reading skills. It took me a while to realize that they weren’t really reading—they were simply calling the words, without understanding the meaning. Most children with autism are visual learners. They use these visual skills, often to the exclusion of other senses, when reading. One of my students read two pages about a black cat drinking milk, playing with yarn, and climbing the curtains. His word recognition and fluency were nearly flawless. Then I asked him, “What color is the cat?” He answered, echolalia-style, “What color is the cat?” Sometimes he repeated only the last word of my question: “Cat.” This is one of the core challenges in teaching this population.

      Then I began to wonder about the correlation between reading comprehension and “people comprehension.” I thought that if I could successfully teach my students reading comprehension skills, they would learn how to communicate more successfully with people. Reading comprehension, in its simplest terms, is about paying attention to what you’re reading—having an active relationship with the words on the page. If I could get the kids to listen to what they were reading, then I could get them to listen to people.

      With children who have autism, dealing with people is difficult. I figured I’d start with inanimate words on the page and work my way up to people.

      It worked.

      Little by little, as a direct result of their success and confidence with the simple question- and-answer format of these worksheets, my students began responding appropriately to questions outside of the lessons, on the playground, in the lunchroom, and on field trips— as long as I asked the questions in the same, simple, direct manner as on the worksheets. It was clear, measurable progress.

      These worksheets, and their accompanying lessons, also worked well with some of the younger ELL (English Language Learners) in my school.

      It’s critical to build and sustain students’ confidence. If you start a program at too high a difficulty level, students will be intimidated and give up, failing before they’ve even begun. These worksheets start with easy questions. Then, once students are comfortable and confident within the format, you slowly increase the difficulty. You must take gradual, incremental steps to build their confidence and their skills.

      Let’s get to the nitty-gritty. Good luck. I hope this program helps you and your students as it helped me and mine.

       OVERVIEW OF LESSONS

      The Worksheets

      There are two reading-comprehension worksheets for each of nine animals, totaling eighteen worksheets. Each worksheet has four variations. Each variation goes with a one- hour lesson. This is approximately 72 hours of instruction.

      For more severely affected children, a thirty-minute or even fifteen-minute lesson may have to suffice. Even if students are able to attend for the full hour, it may be best to take a short break every fifteen minutes or so. Use your best judgment based on your students’ needs and abilities. The children should be challenged but not agitated and panicky. Customize the lessons as needed, but try to maintain a consistent lesson structure.

      The lessons provide lots of much-needed repetition. I suggest teaching these lessons every other day. Then supplement on the “off” days with art projects, music, books, and instructional videos related to the animal theme. In the back of this manual, you’ll find an appendix with numerous suggestions for complementary activities for each animal theme.

      Doing the same worksheet for four consecutive lessons is central to the success of the program. It gives students the predictability and routine they need so they can relax and learn. However, the colors of the objects change with each lesson. This helps the children to pay attention. This formula works for children with autism in many different settings. Establish a predictable framework, but change the details within that predictable framework. You’ll be surprised how many different ways you can work this formula into your day.

      For these worksheets, I’ve used animals, food, and prepositional phrases on purpose. My students love animals and food, and any academic exercise with these two things catches their attention and keeps them engaged. Prepositional phrases are particularly difficult for autistic students to grasp, so repetition helps. You can also teach these separately using concrete objects and flashcards. Mayer-Johnson (www.mayer-johnson.com/default.aspx) has many resources for teaching language and communication.

      Sentence-Building Exercises

      There are two sentence-building exercises for each animal theme. Each exercise is a one- hour lesson. This is approximately 18 hours of instruction.

      It’s hard for children who have autism to generate their own conversation. The sentence- building exercises concentrate on building your students’ observation skills and corralling those observations into conversation. Not unlike the worksheet lessons, the conversation is transformed into written language. However, this time, the written language is plugged into a pair of graphic organizers and, ultimately, into actual sentences.

      The goal of each sentence-building exercise is to build three sentences describing the animal in the picture and to illustrate those three sentences.

      Schedule

      The program covers one animal at a time. Here is a sample schedule:

      The Cat

      Monday – First variation of first reading comprehension worksheet

      Tuesday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Wednesday – Second variation of first reading comprehension worksheet

      Thursday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Friday – Third variation of first reading comprehension worksheet

      Monday – Fourth variation of first reading comprehension worksheet

      Tuesday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Wednesday – First variation of sentence-building exercise

      Thursday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Friday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Monday – First variation of second reading comprehension worksheet

      Tuesday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Wednesday – Second variation of second reading comprehension worksheet

      Thursday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Friday – Third variation of second reading comprehension worksheet

      Monday – Fourth variation of second reading comprehension worksheet

      Tuesday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Wednesday – Second variation of sentence-building exercise

      Thursday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      Friday – Supplemental activity (book, video, craft, etc.)

      The Process

      In this section, I will walk you through “The Cat” lessons so you can have a clearer idea of how the lessons will play out in your classroom. After all, children with autism aren’t the only ones who

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