Asperger’s Syndrome

Students Name: Thom Smith Birthday: February 26, 1995

Diagnoses: Asperger's Syndrome. School: Pearson Collegiate

Previous School: Millennium Junior High School.

Past Academic Years’ Teachers Comments:

Grade 8. Jim Brown (Science, Math)

Thom needs a very secure and predictable environment, and needs constant
support from the teacher to do well. Thom shows a great interest in trains and the
Canadian Railway. He once told me that he loves trains because at a young age his
grandfather took him on the Prairie Dog Central. His grandfather later died and Thom
has told me that when he reads books/ or researches trains he feels close to his
Grandfather. Incorporating trains into any unit helps motivate Thom about the whole
unit. If you have any questions about Thom please feel free to contact me at
Millennium Middle School or home (204) 556-1999.

Grade 8. Marcie Brandt (Language Arts, French)

Thom is very intrapersonal; he does not work well in groups of four or more. He
does not take an active role in group discussions, but instead zones out and often
draws pictures of trains. His presentation skills are severely below average.

Formal Assessments:

2005- Thom was sent for a psycho-educational assessment. The findings were:

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children- Third Edition.

-Scored at the 99th percentile (full scale score 136 overall)
-Demonstrated very superior performance across all subtests of the verbal and
performance scale.

The Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised

(Achievement Cluster).

Achievement Cluster Score Percentile

Broad Reading 154 99.9
Broad Mathematics 132 98
Broad Written Language 141 99.7
Broad Knowledge 113 81
Skills 150 99.9
2009- Further Assessment this summer has diagnosed Thom will Asperger’s
syndrome.

Overview

Thom is a gifted student. According to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-
his IQ is higher than average, he is in the 99th percentile which means that he is
smarter than 99% of his peers. The same results come from The Woodcock-Johnson
Psycho-Educational Battery. Thom is at least 98% smarter than his peers in the areas
of broad reading, broad mathematics, broad written language and skills. In the area
of Broad Knowledge Thom is only 81% smarter than his peers which correlates with
how he is very knowledgeable with what he likes (trains).

Overall Thom is an intrapersonal learner and likes routine. He does not adapt
well with sudden change and he lacks social skills. Thom is a very bright student,
from the information gathered initially. Thom was sent for testing because he was so
gifted; it wasn't until after his initial diagnoses that Thom was diagnosed with
Asperger’s syndrome.

Cue: You will have an active role in all three of the strategies.

Goals:
1. Increase Thom’s Library of Coping Strategies
2. Expand Thom’s Broad Knowledge.

Strategies

The three strategies we will be presenting today are:

1. Schoolwide Enrichment Model (Motivating Participation).

2. Collaborative Learning and Trust Building (Stretching the Comfort Zone).
3. Think Pair Share (Working Together).
 Strategy 1: Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM)
The Schoolwide Enrichment Model allows all students to have an opportunity to
participate in a “magnet theme approach” to learning the curriculum. The goal of the
SEM is usually to improve the quality of instruction by providing higher learning
standards and more extensive learning experiences for all students in the following ways:
• developing talents in all students
• supplementing the curriculum with a wide range of enrichment experiences
• Offering challenging follow-up activities for students based on their strengths and
interests.
The SEM engages students with challenging and enjoyable field experiences that are
constructed around their learning styles, interests, and the way they prefer to express
themselves.
(Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, 1997)

Large Context Problems:

One way of enriching the curriculum is to build a magnet theme approach by
using a large context problem. An LCP is a strategy for enriching the curriculum
with field experiences, problem shooting, and cross-curricular connections to
explore a central theme that captures students’ imaginations. One central idea
unifies the lesson sequence. I.e.) Trains

LCPs were first used in science classrooms to make connections between

fieldwork and bookwork. Professor Arthur Stinner of the University of Manitoba is
credited with the creating the strategy. There are seven steps basic to creating an LCP.

• 1. Map out a context with a unifying central idea that is considered important is
likely to attract the interest of the student.
– I.e.)trains

• 2. Adopt a storyline to dramatize and highlight the main idea.

– I.e.)building the CPR

• 3. Ensure that the major ideas, content outcomes, and problems of the topic are
generated by the context naturally.
– Geography and terrain of Western Canada
– Working conditions for CPR employees
– Politics involved with recruiting Prince Edward Island and British
Columbia to join Canada.
– Natural resources found en route.
– American/Canadian relations

• 4 Provide students with experiences which can be related to everyday life and
which activate prior knowledge.
 – When the CPR came through Winnipeg, the city became known as “the
Gateway to the West” and attracted multicultural immigration. Take
students on a trip to the VIA Rail station or have them trace the
demographic history of their subsection of the city. I.e.)St. Boniface

• 5. Ensure that interesting problem situations and diverse connections emerge from
the context.
– Racial discrimination in the workplace
– The use of explosives in avalanche areas
– Human rights and safe working conditions
–
• 6. Provide room for individual extensions and interests.
– Tracing their family history to see which of their ancestors may have used
or worked for the CPR.
–
• 7 Use authentic assessment techniques.
– Use before-and-after activities on field trips (formative assessment.)
– Encourage creativity in presenting research (summative assessment.)
• (Stinner, 1995)

Pros and Cons of Large Context Problem Solving

Advantages Challenges
• LCPs are driven by • LCPs are challenging to organize.
student interest so students are more • It may not be possible to give
likely to become intrinsically motivated students a related field-based experience
learners. if the learning destinations are remote.
• Provides
opportunities for students to get hands-
on experience
• Curriculum
objectives are still being met.
• Offers a safe outlet
for socially challenged students to take
risks and add to their library of social
coping skills.
• Inter-disciplinary
connections make content more
practical.
• Broadens students’
knowledge base of the topic.

The following Lesson sequence is one way of using an LCP for a grade 9
Social Studies unit.
Note* all SLOs and their descriptions were found in the grade 9 Manitoba Social
Studies curriculum.
History of the CPR
Connection to SLO Numbers Description of SLO Teaching Strategy
Trains
Why was the CPR 9.3.2 KG-034 Give examples of In-class activity
built? Canada’s Think, pair, share.
(Confederation, connections with (SFAL)
American/Canadian other nations.
relations) I.e.: trade,
communication,
environment…
Who Built the CPR? 9.1.1 KH-029 Describe factors
(Immigration policies, affecting Class analysis of
human rights demographic population statistics
infringements, current patterns in Canada in the 19th century.
population since the beginning
demographics.)
of the 20th century
9.1.2 KH-031 Identify significant Timeline
events in the (individually or in
development of groups)
human rights in
Canada.
9.1.3 KC-002 Give examples of Jigsaw research
the effects of the project
Canadian Charter of (collaborative
Rights and learning)
Freedoms on
linguistic minorities.
9.2.5 VP-016 Be sensitive to the Interview local
impact of majority immigrants and
rule on minorities write an individual
and marginalized short paper.
groups. (Pair activity.)
What type of terrain 9.1.1 KL-024 Identify on a map Personal family tree
did the workers distinguishing tracing who has
encounter on their elements of the worked for or used
trek across Canada? physical and human the CPR in their
(geography) geography of immigration to
Canada. Include: Canada.
political
boundaries, capital
cities, population
clusters, regions
Strategy Two: Collaborative Learning and Trust Building

 Collaborative skills are those skills that enable students to

work well in groups.

 By observing how students work together within a group a

teacher can identify which skills the students possess and the
ones they need to develop.

 The ability to work collaboratively with others is necessary

not only for successful family life but also for life in the
workplace.

 Collaborative skills are a necessary element of emotional

intelligence which in turn helps students get along with
others and develop positive relationships which further help
students gain higher levels of self-esteem.

 Risk-taking. Before teaching collaborative/ social skills, it is

necessary to create a supportive climate through team-
building activities.

 Four types of collaborative skills are: team building,

communication, leadership and conflict resolution.
Castle, G. H., Parry, T. (2006). Designing brain compatible learning (3rd ed.). Thousand
Oaks: Corwin Press.

Exercise for Collaborative Learning and Trust Building

There are many different exercises that teachers can do to build trust within a
classroom. Some exercises are more physical while others remain purely verbal. In the
case of Thom we chose to do an exercise that leaves the students sitting but requires a lot
of articulate verbal communication.

For the exercise students will work in partners (partner A and partner B). Partner
A will be given a picture and Partner B will be given a blank piece of paper. Partner A
will have to describe to Partner B how to draw the selected picture without telling Partner
B what the picture actually is.

This exercise includes all four types of the collaborative skills already mentioned.
In their pairs students are working as a team, communicating, taking leadership and
resolving conflicts. This exercise is not about how well Partner B draws the picture,
instead it is about how effective the two partners communicated with each other and how
they achieved their final product together.

As already stated, Thom is an exceptionally bright student however; he needs help

building his library of coping mechanisms for social skills. This exercise will benefit
Thom because he is going outside of his comfort zone and building a relationship with
another peer.

Collaborative Learning and Trust Building activities can be done in a variety of

ways Dorothy Heathcote and Viola Spolin offer many others in their texts Drama as a
learning medium and Improvisation for theatre.

Heathcote, D. (1999). Groups with special needs. In Betty Jane Wagner (Eds.), Dorothy
Heathcote; Drama as a learning medium (pp.217-225). Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Spolin, V. (1999). Improvisation for the theatre (P. Sills, W. Sills, Ed.). Evanston:
Northwestern University Press.
 Strategy Three: Think – Pair – Share
“Children with high functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome may have an

above average grasp of the technical form of language”(Plumley, 2009), they definitely

struggle as they become socially awkward with the norms of conversation skills. Our

student Thom is brilliant, loves to read, and excells in every subject area. However, Thom

has a problem with Social Relationships – as he needs a safe and trustworthy

environment to belong in (Thomas, 2006). We have set up the classroom so that it is

inviting, safe, secure, and comfortable for Thom. One of the methods our group thought

would work well for a student like Thom would be the Think-Pair-Share Strategy. This

method would work well for Thom, as he would build a relationship with a partner the

entire year. Our ultimate goal as a group is to have Thom work in a group of 4 – and

building a strong ‘buddy’ relationship is the first step towards that. Working In pair’s

practices conversation for Thom the entire year, to improve his coping ability towards

socially awkward situations (Saskatchewan Public Schools, 2009). Through think-pair-

share, Thom can find similar interests with his partner. This can help Thom, or other high

functioning autistic AS students, form a strong bond and friendship (Plumley, 2009). The

purpose of Think-Pair-Share is to get a student like Thom more ‘actively involved’

amongst his pupils, as he is very intelligent and we think that the other students could

strongly benefit from him. Think-Pair-Share “encourages a high degree of pupil

response”(Saskatchewan Public Schools, 2009), which can help keep Thom on task with

his partner. The think-pair-share method will also give Thom more time to ‘process’ the
information (Thomas, 2006). We hope from this that Thom would be more willing to

participate, since he would not “feel the peer pressure involved in responding in front of

the whole class.” (Saskatchewan Public Schools, 2009) As a teacher, consistent coaching,

practice and guidance can help a student like Thom become increasingly integrated with

his peers into a regular classroom. (Plumley, 2009) “As a Cooperative Learning strategy,

Think-Pair-Share also benefits students in the areas of peer acceptance, peer support,

academic achievement, self-esteem, and increased interest in other students and school.”

(Saskatchewan Public Schools, 2009) The Think-Pair-Share strategy is the first step

towards this, where ultimately Thom would get moved into a group of four
 Works Cited

Plumley, Karen. (2009). Conversation Skills for Students with Autism: Strategies and
Classroom Activities to Improve Verbal Abilities. Retrieved from http://autistic-
students.suite101.com/article.cfm/conversation_skills_for_students_with_autism

Saskatchewan Public Schools: Instructional Strategies Online. (2009). What is Think, Pair,
Share? Retrieved from http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/think/

Thomas, Joan. (1996). Chapter 5: Flexible Grouping & Chapter 6: Teaching and Learning
Strategies. Success for All Learners: A Handbook on Differentiating Instruction.