Co-Occurring Conditions in Children with Autism: Assessment to Intervention

In an online chat, SLP Donna Murray discusses how to address co-occurring conditions to create an effective learning environment for children with autism spectrum disorder. Participant: If a participant was to remember or put into practice only one idea from your session, what would that one key takeaway be? Donna Murray: I think the most important takeaway is to consider co-occurring conditions when making accommodations for successful intervention. For example, anxiety is very common in children with ASD and providing use of visual supports to predict upcoming activities as well as ending of activities can be very helpful in reducing anxiety and opening up the student for learning. Participant: What are some initial steps to expand interest and increase attention to other tasks or activities for children with co-occurring hyperactivity? Murray: This is a common concern. I would recommend consideration around environment—i.e., less distractions. Also, reduce what is demanded in each task. Perhaps one to two responses, then a break or reward, again using visual/picture supports for what is expected and use of “First/Then” cards. These indicate what the child must do in order to get to do something they like. This is a good way to keep the child on task with short bursts of activity. As the child become increasingly successful, you can increase the length of “work” and reduce the number of “breaks.” Participant: Could you elaborate on going from “as...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Academia & Research Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology anxiety autism Autism Spectrum Disorder social communication disorder Source Type: blogs