Nick Eh 30- YouTuber with Autism

IA does Break Down, there is no connect until it is too late. They don’t make the emotional connection until the homestatic emotions are at 100%. “I don’t feel the anxiety until it’s so overwhelming that it’s deliberating and I can’t control myself.”
Note: we are NOT talking about people who lack emotions. We are talking about individuals who have a hard time figuring out emotions.
**Reach our to Emi for the 5-Point scale in regulating strategies for IA.

3. IA and Language
Interoception gives emotion words meaning. Your body grounds the concept.
Asking the students what different emotions mean they aren’t allowed to respond using other emotions. For example, when you ask “What does angry mean?” They can’t respond, “it means I’m mad.” They should say it means my fists are closed and my heart is beating fast.
Building IA can Enhance Language - it’s not just verbal language. There’s an app that displays all the different body parts and all the different ways those parts could feel. Then you need to teach them how to identify and connect the feelings so they are allowed to pick the correct icon.

Social participation and IA
The Insula: How Do I Feel? And How do YOU Feel? 

People with Good IA-better at reading people’s body language and facial expressions

3. Many people have Difficulty with Interoception
Poor IA is connected to many conditions, not just Autism. 
IA & Autism

4. IA can’t be put into one small box
Body signals can be represented as too big, too small, or distorted. 

5. Interoception CAN be improved!
Check out the Interoception Curriculum. Body-Emotion-Action

Connect with Kelly: Www.kelly-Mahler.com also check out the Facebook group!

Sensory Regulation
-much of what the keynote speaker discussed
-Don’t stop that actions that are calming to the individual. If it’s a harming action we need to create an opportunity for a transition into a healthier calming action but not completely eliminate this method right away.
-stimulation regulation is up to the individual. We as adults can not care about social interaction if it stops the calming. (Obviously!)
-They may have different processing sensory input: for example they may need more input that what a chair can provide. Bumping into friends may be more of a sensory input.
-They may have a difficult time maintaining levels of arousal and modulating. That means can they maintain their level when transitioning from one location to a next. Example: loud noise, high activity, outside and okay but then come in for lunch with loud noise and high activity might not be okay.
-may need “mono-channel processing”. That means they may need to shut off everything to get one thing through to process.
Supports

Communication
-range from nonverbal to hyperverbal 
-may need additional time to process and respond to communication
-sometimes talk language very literal. They also don’t know to ask if something is an idiom because they believe they understand it perfectly. (Ex. Undies in a bundle)
*consider your Social Fluff when talking to them! 
**Concider the way you talk to them with wait time. Give them time! Ex. Get your boots on, Time to put on your boots, your boots are over ther, can you put them on? (This is OVERLOAD to someone who is process, you think you gave them one command but they hear five different layers) It becomes static. Simplify. 
-Find the meaning behind behaviors. 
-check out the book Disney Language to see one mans journey through finding the language connection between him and his sons autism through Disney quotes.

Supports

Support

Top 10 Tips

*he was very passionate when he typed “please help me to get more people to try typing”

"Love yourself and hope the world for the people around you” Roy

"Tell him he is important to you, it makes a difference”-Roy

Personal learning plan -based on their strengths found through observation and inquiry.
-hands on, project based, collaborative learning, differentiation, ect.
-interview, observation, checklist: our parents are the experts that know the strengths and interests.
“See a child differently...see a different child.” -get to know that child

Let that kids become an expert. Not an obsession, a strength.

We learn best by experiencing the world. Brains are wired through hands on interactions in the real world.

**can we add a column to our student sheets that we pass on to next years teacher that includes strengths and interests?**

Involve students in sensory journeys. Give them experiences with different sensories so that they can have the tools to be successful.

Partnerships and relationships are important. Mentorship  is important.


Leaders in Creative Media
-learning job and social skills through the medium of digital media

Participating in learning through media is a more passive way of learning but it’s effective, even more than face to face learning sometimes!

Leadership is always being in charge.
Give them a chance to see that they are a person beyond autism and have a personality.

*what’s in the hidden curriculum of like that You need to provide to your students to be successful?

Fun and engaging way to promise positive social skills with peers : Zip, Zap, Zop

“There’s no passion to be found playing small...” - Nelson Mandela

What are we (NT’s) missing out on? 

Christine Barnett-“spark”

“Strokes and genius”

What’s best for my child? You need to consider their levels with...
-social engagement, motor skills, imitation skills, vocal verbal skills.

Picture communcation
Step one to any communication is to make sure they know they need to approach someone with that request. Picture communication is nice because most people can communicate successfully through pictures. The challenge is being able to provide enough pictures to access everything they want to request.

Sign Language
The advantage is that they always have the tools for this communication, however not eveyone they encounter knows sign language.

AAC Devices
These are easily understood and consistent. The voice sounds the same through all requests. They are expensive and a broken device means broken voice. 


*The major goal is to make sure the child’s wants and needs are met.*


Reinforcing positive requesting should be short term. For example, a piece of an Oreo not a whole Oreo. A short tickle not long. Also the reward needs to be something that ends on its own. For example if an IPad is the reward it will be hard to get that back from them.