Case details:
7 yr old boy diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome with high ADHD. Along with this diagnosis, his motor movements had deficits too. He had a habit of talking about irrelevant things after frequent intervals like saying “trains”. Being on the spectrum, transitions were very difficult for him and maximum behaviours were seen for this purpose. He was also hyper-sensitive to materials which are sticky in nature like the glue. His reading abilities were upto 5 sentences whereas writing abilities were limited to 2-3 sentences. Classroom behaviours included spitting, scribbling on the desk, disturbing other students and attention seeking.
Strategies used:
- Visual Activity schedules: A visual schedule was made for him to ease the transitions. As soon as he entered the class, he viewed the schedule and would know what activities he is supposed to do. This helped him prepare himself and be less anxious while changing from one activity to another. The schedule was stuck on the wall and thus after he finishes one particular activity, he would tick on the activity as done and then move on to the next one. In this way transitions were regulated. He also had difficulty when he had to move from one class to another and the visual schedule allowed him to adjust that he had to go to another room for the activity, finish the activity and come back to his main class.
- PECS: PECS has served as an excellent strategy for behaviour management. He had a habit of scribbling the desk with pencil and thus using the PECS system, a picture of no scribbling was stuck on the desk to communicate that he cannot scribble and when he tried to scribble, the picture was pointed and he would stop doing it. In this way his scribbling behaviour reduced. PECS were also used to manage his behaviour of disturbing the student next to him. “Hands quiet” picture were used to show him that he has to keep his hands to himself and that prompt was very helpful to mind his behaviour.