RSS Updates
Email UpdatesTeaching Self-Monitoring Skills to Children with Autism
Emotional Regulation, Problematic Behaviors, Teaching Children with Autism Conversation Comments (0)
The ability to self-monitor your own behavior is a necessary social skill. For many children with autism self-monitoring skills can be taught very directly, developing the child’s ability to monitor his or her engagement in appropriate social skills, on-task behaviors, problematic behaviors, etc.
Developing the child’s ability to self-monitor targeted behaviors can also serve as a last phase of development toward generalization of new skill. Once a child has developed an ability to engage in a targeted behavior, try using self-monitoring procedures to assist in pushing the skill out into the natural environment.
The first phase of self-monitoring procedures should work on developing the child’s ability to accurately “track” whether he or she engaged in a targeted behavior. For example, can your child accurately reflect on his or her ability to monitor engagement in perseverative topics of conversations? Or can your child accurately reflect on if he or she remained on-task during a 15-20 minute timeframe?
When teaching this first phase be sure to provide immediate feedback to your child after his or her reflection of their own behavior. Agree or disagree with their reflection and discuss the differences in your perspectives. Work with your child on developing an ability to accurately reflect on his or her behaviors.
Once your child has demonstrated an abily to accurately reflect on whether they have engaged in the behavior or not, work on goal-setting with your child. The ability to set goals and accomplish goals is a life skill. Work on developing this ability with your child related to targeted behaviors. If for example you are working with your child on developing his or her ability to regulate emotions, self-monitoring procedures could be used to set goals related to using de-escalation strategies when he or she begins to emotionally escalate.
The ability to self-monitor one’s own behavior is an important phase of skill development.
AmyShymansky @ October 23, 2009
No comments yet.