Prompting in Neurodivergence(ADHD/LD/ASD)
"Give me" is one of the most used instructions/prompts by autism families who are trained by therapists with very good intention! Sometimes we need more than good intention for autism—we need more knowledge!
Neurodiversity is not a fancy term. It has a lot of depth to be understood.
So, what happens when you say "Give me"? The child will give you what you indicate clearly by a gesture or word. Success? It looks like it! What have we achieved? A successful engagement? No. We have created a pattern and are happy the pattern has worked!
Then how else to teach? How will communication build without prompting?
We have to:
- 1. Model - This builds motivation.
- 2. Believe and aim higher - This builds trust.
- 3. Be mindful of what prompts are needed for autism and the level of prompt.
- 4. Be clear on long-term goals and check each step if it's directly towards it or towards immediate results only.
How many patterns will one teach a child? How many can a parent create? The world is extremely dynamic. It’s not sustainable to create patterns for someone always.
Usually, in my experience, pattern method has worked for families until primary when they have tried very hard. Beyond which dynamism is essential and hence children often leave regular school systems. Parents too are fatigued.
So, how can prompt be checked from the beginning?
Don’ts
- Do not ask a child question verbally. It’s usually the sound he is responding to, not the words.
- Do not pitch the request very high. Eg., if child can understand thirsty expression, show neck and say "I am thirsty." Do not ask, "I came from work...what do I need now?"
- Do not ask something for which you know that he knows the right answer and has answered many times before. "What is my name? Yes, my name is Sudha K Y. Correct." This is checking, not trusting. Child knows it.
Dos
- Physical prompts are better than verbal usually. But still, it’s very situational. Pushing him towards something so close that he gets it may not be the best physical prompt. Gently holding his hand, taking him near and sharing the eye gaze on something you want him to pick up will work, though.
- Waiting works wonders. One of ASDBUDDY key thumb rules is Patience. Today a child flattened the playdoh and I rolled it for him. It looked like a flower in both ends. I made it into a flower. The child smelled it like a flower on his own. I was dumbfounded. That is generalization he was presenting with confidence. My teacher once said, sometimes depending on how much trauma child is carrying…waiting may well go beyond 120 seconds…hold on and prevent any distractions and wonders will be revealed.
- We need to get a lot more creative when we try to reach the mind of an ASD child. For this, we need to strongly believe that the child CAN interpret communication beyond patterns!
- Did I prompt because I didn’t have time?
- Did I prompt because I didn’t believe in his abilities?
- Did I prompt mindfully only to the extent child needed?
There are many more forms of prompts: environmental prompts, gestural prompts as we discussed above, verbal prompts which are most commonly used, model prompts, visual prompts, physical prompts and more….
I will allow you to learn more from the detailed NDBI course.
Keep it simple.
Check: What made me prompt?
The answer lies in how the engagement ended.
Was the child happy and more self-confident?
Child always learns for the long term and not to please us.
Happy learning with ASDBUDDY – Sudha Speaks
Refrences:
Launch your Graphy