Handling Children with Autism

[HowardRoarkSpaceDetective]

I'm looking for advice from anyone here who has insight into the intricacies of childhood development/learning disabilities.

I recently started a new job in which I'm teaching basic reading skills to children of various ages (typically around 7-9 and usually diagnosed with dyslexia and/or ADHD), and it's presenting some challenges that I'm not prepared for. Basically, the program employs a proprietary methodology that emphasizes mental imaging in order to strengthen both phonetic and comprehension skills (the implications of the objectivist epistemology may be interesting and a topic for a future post), and I was trained during my first few weeks for everything involved in the program with the exception of managing troublesome behavior, a task which has turned out to require about half of my energy during any one session. Apparently, our particular center is popular with children who have significant cognitive disabilities (autism most often but sometimes schizophrenia or anxiety), and - in case you haven't heard - they are truly a pain in the ass. I often have to repeat questions three or four times before I can get a student to acknowledge that I'm speaking at all, and they often give totally nonsensical answers, like telling me that the word "portion" begins with "i" (when this happens, it's about a 50/50 split between intentional defiance and utter lack of attention). And for the most part, these are not the "child stuck in an adult's body" types. They're very smart and sometimes passionate and can potentially blend in with other kids their age - the "oh, he has autism? that explains so much" types - so there are times when their behavior can be considered outright malicious.

Now, I understand that autism is no joke. I had plenty of autism/ADHD symptoms growing up, and a common element in my childhood memories is the feeling that being mentally present was excruciatingly difficult. That said, I think most symptoms of ADHD and autism can be chalked up to a lack of motivation. It's hard for me to see these students as "unable" to focus rather than "unwilling", and I have to stop myself from saying things like, "Why aren't you trying?" or, "Hey, I hate this just as much as you do."

To make matters worse, the company heavily emphasizes "positive thinking". If a student makes a mistake, you always respond by first praising them for what they did right and then mildly suggesting what they might have done wrong. And the more they refuse to cooperate, the more praise you give them. Furthermore, a "magical learning moment" should be awarded every session (i.e., every hour). I'm frankly not sure what that entails because it's too similar to "star cards" and "magic stones", which they can also "earn". The magic stones are especially weird since most instructors typically drop them into a little metal pail that makes loud clinking noises as the kids follow directions. Very Pavlovian. I'm a little skeptical about awarding prizes for good work as it is. I know that children are naturally short-sighted, but I don't like the idea of saying, in essence, "Please stop yelling at me and kicking me in the shins. Now, if you read these five words for me, you can have an ice cream." On top of all this, the kids basically demand "brain breaks" every ten or so minutes, and if you don't comply, no further work will be done.

Anyways, their parents are paying customers and supposedly the program really does wonders for kids who struggle to read, so I can't say the company is inherently vicious. But I'm torn over the fact that I can't bring myself to coddle these children. At the same time, I sympathize because for many of these kids, the program is their last chance for academic success and, whatever the reason, tough love only seems to exacerbate their symptoms. I imagine the fundamental issue here is pessimism about learning and probably life in general and that any criticism is very likely to obliterate their morale (or so I'm told). They never say "I can't do it" or anything like that so I have to assume that they're way past that stage and that their sole concern at this point is to do anything they can to derail their lessons.

I'm hoping someone here has experience with this kind of dilemma. I'm not sure how to walk the line between empathy and dishonesty here.

[tadmjones]

I don't mean this as 'snarky' but, you sense the irony in your situation, no ?

You seem somewhat frustrated in successfully applying a skill that implicitly carries with it the idea that such a skill should be 'get-able' , perhaps that can be a catalyst for a productive form of empathy.

I would ask the company if they have any type of resource for employees of materials of or contact with adults who 'overcame' similar learning disabilities/experiences and see if there are common practices used by them for themselves. ?

[Eiuol]

5 hours ago, HowardRoarkSpaceDetective said:

But I'm torn over the fact that I can't bring myself to coddle these children.

Forget even the question of coddling them. From what you describe, the teaching model is completely flawed and not even based on up-to-date science about conceptual development in childhood or about learning disabilities. I have studied enough psychology at the graduate level to say that this school is only operating on the principles of behavioral conditioning. Yes, it does "work" for creating obedient children that will do what you say, but there is no measure of how well the children learn anything. Besides, conditioning doesn't align with how psychologists already understand how conceptual development works. 

5 hours ago, HowardRoarkSpaceDetective said:

It's hard for me to see these students as "unable" to focus rather than "unwilling", and I have to stop myself from saying things like, "Why aren't you trying?" or, "Hey, I hate this just as much as you do."

Part of it sounds like these children aren't being taught with regard to their cognitive strengths. To be sure, children on the autistic spectrum or children with actual ADHD won't learn in the same way as other children. But the solution isn't to condition them for behavioral responses, it's about modifying the curriculum such that the child is able to focus on their abilities. The result is that these children lose motivation, but it is only because autism is treated as justification to treat them as cattle who are only able to be conditioned. 

Some children might be so profoundly disabled that you'll never be able to even teach them arithmetic - but it doesn't sound like you are dealing with any students like that at all (I'm talking about profound cognitive disability from things like fetal alcohol syndrome). 

[HowardRoarkSpaceDetective]

So the structure is that each student sees a different teacher each hour and that each teacher sees a different student each hour. We're given an itinerary that takes about an hour to complete and switches between activities every ten or so minutes. It was only after 80 hours of training that I realized that, with the exception of the rotating pairings of teacher and student, a student will complete the exact same itinerary 3-5 times per day depending on how long they're there. When I asked about this, I was told that the idea is that the hour begins with easier material and ends with harder material in order to reinforce the connection between lower and higher level skills. That made sense to me at the time but now I realize they'd be much better off, at the very least, making that progression slowly over the course of an entire day.

On 10/11/2023 at 8:31 PM, Eiuol said:

it's about modifying the curriculum such that the child is able to focus on their abilities.

I would say that the program is designed specifically to address areas of weakness, so in that sense you're correct. The only individuation is in regard to which skills they haven't yet mastered. There's a lot of emphasis on getting them to be able to read "at grade level", and evaluations are meant to determine "mental ages", so to speak. In that regard, there's something very "no child left behind" about it.

I'll have to make a post about the actual instructional methodology so that I can get some assessments on it from objectivists.

[Eiuol]

On 10/12/2023 at 8:58 PM, HowardRoarkSpaceDetective said:

It was only after 80 hours of training that I realized that, with the exception of the rotating pairings of teacher and student, a student will complete the exact same itinerary 3-5 times per day depending on how long they're there.

The school sounds like one giant Skinner box.