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Background: Max was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, falling under the Autism Spectrum Disorder umbrella, in the 3rd grade. This came about after a physical confrontation with another student due to the student repeatedly tapping his foot. Up until diagnosis, Max seemed distant, unresponsive to instruction, had a hard time making relationships/friendships, lack of eye contact, and sensitivity to noise and light. Academically, he has excelled in math, science, and history. He has difficulty in reading content like fantasy or literature with consistent figurative language.

Max's home life is normal and consistent. He lives with his mother, father, and older sister. His family seems stable with minimal confrontation. He has a history of behavioral issues including hitting, biting, and scratching during behavioral episodes, mainly around family. His mother states that he can be clumsy at times.

Details regarding Max's Asperger's Syndrome: As stated earlier, Max had severe difficulties with making relationships/friendships. During conversation he talks mainly of his life experiences and interests. If conversation is uninteresting to Max, he brings conversation subject back to his interests. While conversing, he has a hard time making eye contact with others. Since being diagnosed, Max has learned coping mechanisms for his sensitivity to noise and light. He has ear-protection in severe instances of noise and the lenses in his glasses have been changed to transition lenses for going out to recess.

Max is extremely intelligent and understands direct, verbal communication over  physical gestures, body language, or sarcasm in conversation.

Hobbies/Interests/Passions: Max loves to acquire all facts about insects and reptiles! His favorite bug is the centipede. He enjoys that they live alone, typically in dark places. He also loves the fact that they molt, adding a new pair of legs each molting. He brings his own insect books to class for independent reading time, which are above 5th grade reading level. Max also loves to play basketball with his family. He played baseball for a short while, but he found basketball to be more enjoyable. When he gets older, he states he would like to be an entomologist!

Student's preferred learning styles and personality traits: Max is an extremely independent learner within the realm of his interests. He reads many books during his free time; he mainly reads non-fiction, historic fiction, or contemporary realistic fiction. He enjoys having lecture and instructions in written form while completing assignments so he can reference them. Most with A.S. are visual learners; this means Max does better when he has visual presentations along with lecture and manipulatives, if applicable. He follows a strict schedule; he becomes uneasy when a school event dishevels his routine.

His personality may come across as selfish, unfriendly, and distant. He enjoys talking about his interests and doesn't always consider what others want to talk about. Peers may see him as socially awkward. Overall, he is a happy child and loves to stay to himself and his interests.

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Teacher-Student Connection: Lighting the way for Max's success

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Teacher-Student Connection: Lighting the way for Max's success

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A male firefly shines his light from far above to find his female counterpart in the grass. As a teacher, we must shine the light on Max's educational path. To do this we must ensure he has a positive relationship with us as staff members!

1.     I will be creating a communication line for Max to talk with me, privately. He can write me notes throughout the day when he feels upset about anything; this may be related to another student or myself. There will be an envelope on the side of my desk which he will drop them in. Giving him the correct outlets for communication will limit his outbursts in class, while making him feel heard. He will learn to express himself, as best as he can, in words directly to me. I will communicate with him after class about his comments and suggestions.

His parents will be sent his daily comments. They will be scanned in an e-mail to them. I will also tell them what Max and I discuss to solve these issues. This makes it possible for his parents to have some insight to his daily school life.

2.     I created a job for Max to take care of the class pet, Bernard The Bearded Dragon, during vacations and weekends. After I discussed it with his parents, I offered him the position of 'Classroom Pet Caretaker'. This gives us more communication opportunities. He freely shares his weekend and vacations with me more openly. At the beginning of the school year, getting anything besides insect facts out of Max was difficult. This makes our communication more personal. This has made it possible for me to attend a recreational basketball game of his.

3.     I make it a point to ensure Max is comfortable in my classroom. I ask him if all is going well with other students, to make sure there are no issues with bullying. I also regularly inquire if there is anything I can change to benefit his learning, such as teaching activities. Open communication is an effective avenue to reach students, in my opinion.

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Max brought our classroom pet back from Spring Break looking a bit thinned out! He created a leash mechanism for Bernard to be able to walk freely, instead of being locked in his cage all break! This shows his great ingenuity and care for reptiles!

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Student-Student Connection: Max's connection to the hive

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Student-Student Connection: Max's connection to the hive

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1.     Peer education regarding Asperger's Syndrome would be a great tool to give them a better understanding of Max. He is open about his diagnosis but students are still unaware of what his diagnosis means. After a parent-teacher-Max discussion, we have decided that it would be a beneficial conversation to have with the class. Max and his parents feel that this would diminish the bullying issue that has happened in the past.

Max and his parents will be present and share what the children need to know about Asperger's Syndrome. They will share what Max has difficulties in and how they can be a great peer and friend to him. The students will be able to submit questions to myself, to deem appropriate. These will be answered at the end of their presentation.

This will be recorded and posted to Google Classroom so parents of our class can learn too!

2.     Signals have been created for Max and his peers so they can visually signal to him that they would like to change the topic of conversation. We use the American Sign Language (ASL) sign for change. This makes Max's peers feel like they are heard and have the ability to change conversation topic without Max having an episode.

3.     As a requirement of the school, students are required to be involved in at least one school club. Max has been talking about starting a Zoology Club. To create a club, he needs have fifteen student signatures and one staff sponsor. This will allow him to express his interest focus while interacting with other students. I feel that the club will build his communication skills. He will have to learn how to compromise with others and hear their viewpoints. Max's peers will be able to see Max in a new light, a very intelligent peer that they can learn from and build a relationship with through similar interests.

4.    In my classroom setting, I plan to create multiple ways to incorporate station rotations. This will create small group connections. The more intimate settings will allow students to connect with Max. They may be able to have conversations and learn things about each other that they wouldn't be able to in a large classroom setting.

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ASL sign for CHANGE in American Sign Language dictionary by native, authentic ASL signers.

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Motivation strategies for learning and promoting positive behavior

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Motivation strategies for learning and promoting positive behavior

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Here are a few motivation strategies to keep Max learning to be as intelligent as a honeybee and as positive as the Theridion Grallator, the Hawiian happy-face spider.

1.     Max and I have been working on eye contact while talking. This has been a difficult hurdle for him. I have set in place a reward system. For each 'Damselfly Eye Day', Max gets an insect sticker of his choosing. Eye contact will help with his communication skills later in life.

A damselfly, appears to be making eye contact at all times due to it's pseudopupil which I have pictured below.

2.     I make sure Max is given positive feedback in written form. He doesn't always process verbal feedback and does not like things like high-fives, because he despises physical touch of any kind. For instant positive feedback during class, I may drop reptile or 'good job' stickers at his desk for good responses or speaking in turn.

3.     Max has a tendency to have episodes or outbursts in class during times of change or when he is upset with something. To limit outbursts, I created a coin reward system. Each day Max goes without an outburst, he gets one nickel filled in with marker on his laminated coin sheet. Once he gets five nickels filled in, he receives a quarter to get Skittles from the candy machine in my class. They are his favorite candies and this has been a very beneficial system for him.

We had to start this at the beginning of the year with daily gratification. We have since stretched it to a weekly gratification. This helps Max learn patience in earning gratification. He enjoys instant gratification but this will help him in the future.

4.     Max is extremely intelligent and understands most of the course load, due to Asperger's Syndrome being on the 'high functioning' side of the autism spectrum. He often gets bored due to completing assignments early; other days he becomes defiant and will not even start course work due to seeing the work as 'useless'. I have found that Max loves utilizing the laptops in the classroom. After completing assignments, he is able to get onto the laptops to create something for extra credit.

He created a Prezi describing the life of a centipede and a video about the anatomy of Bernard The Bearded Dragon! He was able to present the video about Bernard and his peers loved it!

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Keep it as positive as a Theridion Grallator!

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Keep it as positive as a Theridion Grallator!

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Screenshot from Max's extra credit video

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Screenshot from Max's extra credit video

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Teaching Method: During math instruction, I always attempt to teach my lesson with visuals. Recently, we have been covering multiplying fractions.During instruction, I make sure to draw a shape cut up and shaded to represent the fraction we are multiplying. In my class, I also have instruction posters that include visuals, like in my lessons.

To be motivated, Max needs to know the purpose of what we are doing or he will not complete the lesson. I try and explain to the class as a whole when they may use this lesson later in the semester. As a visual learner, Max understands better when explained the whole picture then dissect it into parts.
As mentioned in my student-student connection, math rotation groups are utilized in the class. Some rotation groups include the use of manipulatives.

Assessment Method: During assessment of math content, Max is not required to show his work at this time, like other students. As a visual learner, he envisions the math problem in his head, solves it there, and then writes down his final answer. With aid from a para-educator during our math lessons, he has been working on translating what is in his head to paper. Sometimes, I pull him aside for him to solve a current math question. Typically, he tilts his head up, shuts his eyes for a few moments, messes with his fingers, and blurts out the answer.

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Language Arts (Reading & Writing) Teaching and Assessment Methods

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Language Arts (Reading & Writing) Teaching and Assessment Methods

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Teaching Method:  Max has most difficulty in this field. During reading, he has a very hard time understanding figurative language and overall comprehension, if not pertaining to insects or reptiles. He also has trouble writing due to lack of fine motor skills.

During Language Arts, he always has a para-educator for assistance. To aid Max with comprehension of reading, he is required to read the story twice, once through for fluency and another for comprehension. If he has trouble comprehending certain words, he is provided a visual for the word by picture or moving a toy airplane down to explain the word "descending". We try and keep Max within the genres of non-fiction, contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, and biographies. He has a hard time understanding the figurative language of poetry and the fantasy realm.

During writing, we have started to sometimes substitute para-aid for more independent avenues, utilizing technological aid. He favors typing his assignments but can also utilize a speech-to-text application. He continues to work on his handwriting during one-on-one time at school and at home with family. For writing assignments, he is also given a checklist to understand the task at hand, how to complete the writing task, and to stay focused by completing the list.

To merge the two together, I have offered Max extra credit opportunities to read a book of interest to him and write a two page report on it. He is given a graphic organizer to complete and directions for the writing process. Max is required to turn in the graphic organizer, his written rough draft, a peer or family edit, and a typed final draft. This allows me to see his comprehension of the book, handwriting skills, observation of the need for change after editing, and a completed, typed copy.

Assessment Method: During reading, Max completes a multiple choice worksheet asking questions about the story he has just read for comprehension assessment. This is completed independently and turned in for grading. Max also has reading fluency word-per-minute check-ups. His goal level is 130 words per minute instead of the suggested 150-170 wpm for fifth grade.

His writing assignments are electronically submitted to an online dropbox, whether he typed them or utilized the text-to-speech software. He is graded on punctuation, grammar, fluency, and any other required material to be included in the writing.

His handwriting from his one-on-one time at school is examined for progress also.

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https://dictation.io/speech
You simply speak into your microphone with a clear voice and it types the words for you. He does sometimes have to go in and edit his capital letters. He can save his text as a PDF or Word file, play it back to himself to assess for fluency, place it on Twitter, or e-mail it! He has been using this tool less due to his typing skills increasing!

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Social Studies Teaching and Assessment Methods

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Social Studies Teaching and Assessment Methods

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Teaching Method: Max is overwhelmingly bright when it comes to historic events within the United States. He tends to blurt out answers, not allowing others to participate. We have been working on this by allowing him to very quietly whisper the answer to himself. Also, he now understands that his outbursts effect his ClassDojo score. He dislikes discussing his negative Dojo points when he gets home with his mother.

During instruction, I make it a point to always have some sort of visual presentation about the topic. This assists all students, especially Max. When we are reviewing some material he may know 75% of, he tends to appear dazed, bored, with eyes traveling all around the classroom. While his eyes are moving, he is able to at least pick up the visual stimulant. He also may be assigned a supplemental assignment where he is struggling. For example, Max had issues memorizing the Northeastern states and their capitals. Max was instructed to locate insects belonging to each state and he loved it!

Assessment Method: For Max, I make sure he completes a pre- and post-test for each unit. This helps me assess what he already knows and what he needs to focus on throughout the unit; this is how I came up with the previous state-capital-insect supplemental assignment.

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Examples of Slides during Social Studies instruction

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Examples of Slides during Social Studies instruction

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Teaching Method: I try to maintain structure during Science teaching time: review, lecture, procedure instruction, activity, assessment. Individuals with Asperger's strive for structure. He sits at the front of the classroom during this course, so he can be more attentive to the lesson. The lab room can be more distracting than others due to all the objects available.

During our current unit, we are learning about the human body. I have many manipulative activities for visual, tactual, and kinethestic learners; Max falls into these categories. This includes a magnetic skeleton with labels, creating a strand of DNA with pipe-cleaners and beads, and locating major muscles in our body by pointing to them. Max does well in these physical activities and has a better time understanding instead of filling out blank spaces on a worksheet.

Assessment Method: Max is assessed by his completion of these assignments and participation. He does not do well with long, unit tests which is mostly done in our science course. He is able to complete assessments through alternative methods that being simple, verbal tests throughout the unit.
For example:
Muscle anatomy: I would ask him where a certain muscle is located and he would point where it is on his body.
Skeletal anatomy: I would ask him where a certain bone is located and he would point to where it is on his body.
Organ anatomy: I may ask what lungs are responsible for, providing multiple choices and he would verbally respond with his answer.

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Transition Teaching and Assessment Methods

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Transition Teaching and Assessment Methods

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Max has a visual schedule of his daily studies. It hangs on the side of his desk. He reviews this in the morning and during transition time. His job is to fold the velcro cover over, noting that this task is finished. Him being aware of changes in events throughout the day helps his anxiety levels. This limits the chance of a behavioral episode. This calendar also notifies him if there will be a fire, tornado, or safety drill.

Throughout the day, he is assessed on his completion of removing the items from his calendar. If not completed he will be redirected to complete this task.