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Social Thinking and its Impact on Ac . . .
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We can use Michelle G. Winner's ILAUGH model of social thinking to better understand how these children think and the impact their deficit in social cognition can have on their academics:
I = Initiation. This is the ability to ask for help in the classroom, ask to play with friends or initiate help from family members at home. For many years my son would become upset because he was thirsty but nobody was getting him a drink. He would be throwing a fit and when asked what was wrong he would say, "I thirsty." He never thought to ask for help getting a drink of water. In the classroom a child may not understand how to do an assignment and he will sit there never thinking to ask the teacher for help.
L = Listening With Eyes and Brain. Most children within the autism spectrum have auditory input difficulties. They don't fully understand what is being said. Listening is also more than just hearing information through our ears. It is using the whole body to understand the verbal and non-verbal cues of the person who is talking. It is using the eyes to look for the clues and piecing the information together. Without looking at the speaker the child will most likely not understand what he is suppose to do or notice when taking a crayon off a desk that the owner of the crayon is visibly upset by the action.
A = Abstract and Inferential Language/communication: Children within the spectrum tend to not understand that language is complex and is not always meant for literal interpretation. Our school district has recently adopted a new math curriculum, which is very heavy in math language. It also uses some language that can be confusing to the literal thinker. I have had several of my students and my daughter become very upset because the instructions say to "ring" the right answer. To them a ring is an object you wear on your finger. This simple direction has caused much chaos as the children refuse to do the work because they don't understand the directions. Often, even after I explain it is the same as saying "circle," their minds refuse to accept it. As academics progress from grade to grade the concepts taught become more abstract. Students have to be able to make guesses about the meanings of words and ideas and this is very hard for these children. Math problems become harder to understand and reading comprehension becomes more difficult as language used to relate ideas and thoughts becomes more abstract.
U = Understanding Perspective: According to Michelle G. Winner "This is the ability to understand the emotions, thoughts, beliefs, prior knowledge, motives and intentions of yourself as well as others. We generally acquire this skill in our preschool years intuitively." This is one of the biggest factors impacting a child's academic success. In order to understand what you have read, you need to be able to put yourself in the character's place and understand how the character is feeling and thinking. Children within the autism spectrum tend to struggle with this. They struggle to understand how others may feel or react in different situations. They are unable to read between the lines. So when they read a story about a girl who lost a race and they are asked, "How did the girl feel when she lost the race?" they are confused wondering how they should know. None of the words in the story said how she felt. The story only said that she walked home slowly. They lack the ability to make text connections to experiences they have had in life. For writing you need to be able to understand what information the reader will need. A child's writing might end up reading as, "I had a fun time there. I liked my ice cream. I played the game." They are then upset that you have no idea where they went, what flavor ice cream they had and what game they played. They can see the pictures in their head and they don't understand why you don't see the pictures too.
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