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Article Library
All of the articles on this site are listed in the Article Library for your reference. They are also listed in Departments, organized by topic.
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Teaching Austic Children to Respond When They Can't Be Seen
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
I received a letter Dear Linda: At our last parent support meeting we went around the room and found that every parent had difficulties getting their child to answer to their name when called. We have kids on all levels of the spectrum and the problem seems to be across the board. How can we teach our kids to visually or verbally respond? We want to address this especially when they cannot be seen (i.e. in another room, or around the corner in a store, or behind a rack). Do you have a strategy for getting them to respond? Sincerely, Jane . . .
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What Can We Learn From Breakfast Wraps: Understand Learning Differences in Students with ASD
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Do you get my point? We all don't think alike or learn alike. Are you one of those people who reads all the directions and then follows them step-by-step? Or do you just figure it out without consulting them? Can you see how this applies to more than just breakfast wraps? Does your style match your students? Your own style will guide how you teach all those routines of life. The challenge is to pick the right steps to help each student succeed. . . .
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Thinking Ahead: Anticipating Negative Situations with Children with Autism
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
What was a recent situation you had to deal with where you did not have a visual support? Could you have anticipated the situation? Is the situation likely to be repeated? Is there some kind of generic visual cue that could have helped? For example: "wait" or "something is going to change" or some other phrase that could work in a lot of situations. We can't anticipate every situation that requires our intervention. There will always be surprises. But planning ahead for those most common events and needs will create environments where students can become increasingly appropriate and successful. . . .
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Ten Simple Solutions with Visual Strategies
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
We know that most of our students with autism and related communication challenges demonstrate strength in understanding VISUAL information compared to their ability to understand auditory input. Visual supports help these students to participate successfully in their school activities. The visual tools do not need to be complicated to be effective. Even simple visual cues can dramatically change student behavior. . . .
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Using Positive Commands to Instruct Students
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Emily was putting pink frosting on the newly baked cake. Sitting up at the kitchen counter, she had a table knife in her hand with a large glob of that frosting on it. Her eyes were twinkling and that glob of frosting was getting really close to her mouth. So guess what Dad yelled!!! "Don't put the knife in your mouth!" Guess what Emily did. It was such a natural, impulsive response. And that frosting tasted so good! It was almost like she was doing exactly what Dad told her NOT to do. The natural reaction of the adult is to think the child is purposely disobeying. But it might not be exactly like that. . . .
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Behaviors That Indicate the Need for Learning
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Celesta is three. Her baby sister, three months. I was fixing lunch and watching them in the family room just a few feet away. Celesta walked to the baby in the swing and leaned over really close to the infant's face. She raised her hands to look like claws and growled really loud. Of course, the baby cried. Now where did that behavior come from? So I responded Of course, I responded with a typical adult retort. "Don't do that. It scares the baby!" Why was she being so "aggressive" with her little sister? . . .
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Plan Ahead to Create Happy Holidays
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Fall is full of lots of holidays and special events . . . exciting ones. The environment is full of decorations and music and lots of thrilling opportunities. Our children can easily get caught up in that excitement. Some will become so exuberant that they can hardly sit on a chair. Others may be so over-stimulated that they try to hide from the world. Think of all those activities that occur in preparation, during and after ANY holiday. . . .
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Addressing Family Concerns About the Use of Visual Strategies in Children with ASD
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
The Mom sat intently in my workshop. I watched the distressed look on her face during most of the program. When I was done speaking, she came up and asked to talk to me. We sat down for a while and chatted. Mom understood the concept of using visual strategies. That was not her question. Her concern was that she felt like it was a "life sentence" for her son. She was afraid to use visual strategies with her son because then he would become dependent on them and he would not grow up to be a "normal" adult. . . .
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Understanding Students with Austism Spectrum Disorders
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Autism can be a mystery . . . a puzzle . . . It can leave us perplexed . . . bewildered . . . confused. Here is our challenge We need to be detectives. Colombo and Sherlock Holmes were observers of details. And that is what we need to do. Watch. Pay attention. Look at the bigger picture. And this is what I find Those who really try to "learn" who these students are do learn. They figure out a lot about how individual students think and reason and understand. . . .
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Using Visual Strategies to Help Children Understand Life Events
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Life is full of events and circumstances that are difficult for children to understand. How do you explain? And explaining doesn't mean that they comprehend. And what happens when children don't understand? Emotional outbursts? Difficult behaviors? Problems can occur for good events as well as bad ones. Writing down information can provide a way to help understanding. Here is an example of how it can work. . . .
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Grandma's New Knee: Using Visual Strategies in Unexpected Ways
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Grandma has a new knee! It's a medical miracle. The doctors can put a new knee in where an old, non-working one used to be. Grandma had that surgery. But surgery has its challenges, and anesthesia and medication were two of them. I went to Grandma's home to help her as she recuperated. My job was to help her take her meds on time and create a routine for her therapists and exercise and eating and all her life needs. Guess what helped??? Visual strategies. They helped as we tried to create a general routine. But most of all, they helped Grandma regain her orientation. Here is what worked. . . .
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Visual Strategies: Organizing Materials Used for Visual Aids
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
People frequently ask me those nuts & bolts questions about using visual tools. Common questions asked at my workshops include . . ."Where do you keep the visuals?" Or . . . ."How do you keep your visual tools organized?" Well. . . there is good news and bad news. The good news. . .there is not one perfect way to organize these tools. The bad news. . .there is no perfect solution. Organization of visual tools is really something that matches a person's personal organization style. . . .
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Challenges of Being a Team Player for Employees with Asperger's Syndrome
Barbara A. Bissonnette
Being a "team player" is an almost ubiquitous job requirement that creates a big hurdle for many people with Asperger's Syndrome. The essence of being a team player is working cooperatively with others toward a common goal. This means sharing ideas and resources, being respectful of opinions that differ from your own, and being willing to compromise and follow directives of the group leader. Good team players focus on achieving the overall goal even if they don't agree with every step of the process. . . .
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