Communication Book

Standard 1: Know students and how they learn.

Standard 1.6.1 - Strategies to support full participation of students with disability

These images showcase a communication book which was created to assist a student with autism in their daily activities during school. The teacher created this communication book for this student in the first few weeks of term, as this student would have sensory meltdowns as she was too overwhelmed by her surroundings. This teaching strategy was quite helpful for this student, as it visually presented her options in regard to different scenarios e.g. ‘help me with my’, ‘I feel’, and ‘what is wrong’. Providing these headings on the top of each communication card allowed the student to see all of her options, whilst allowing the teacher to help identify what could potentially be the issue at that present moment.

After presenting this book to the student, we noticed that she showed resistance to it, as it was a large change in her routine which resulted in disagreeable behaviours. (Reichow, Boyd, Barton, & Odom, 2016). In addition to this, it was quite overwhelming for the student as there were several pages and several options. Although we thought this was more helpful as it narrowed her options down, it was not as effective as we had hoped.

We then decided to narrow the number of pages in the book, keeping only the essential pages which were ‘help’, ‘what is wrong’, and ‘I feel’. As all three pages were quite distinct and different in nature, it was easier for her to address her thoughts.

After the trial and error that occurred with this communication book, I now understand the effectiveness of simple, explicit teaching strategies for students. In terms of my future teaching practice, I will implement this communication book if I encounter a student with autism. However, I will ensure I utilise Hewitt (2005) idea when he states to create a simpler book with one or two words per action, with each image clearly exemplifying the correct action. (316 words)