School counsellors often receive referrals for students who are having difficulty fitting in due to issues involving communication. These issues can be related to conditions such as Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder or other disorders.\u00a0 Recently, I read an article that addressed the importance of collaborating with other professionals to address these types of deficits. The article pointed out that tackling problems related to communication can require ongoing support and that interaction with school counsellors is typically time limited, so having ongoing professional supports in place is vital for any lasting change. Two groups of professionals were singled out in the article as essential supports for students with communication difficulties. Speech Language Pathologists were mentioned for their expertise on the social use of language and Special Education teachers because they are likely in a position with the student to implement, practice, and reinforce communication skills and strategies.<\/p>\n
The article outlined six common skill deficits as well as strategies school counsellors could follow when working with students on communication issues. In preparation for working on the communication issues it was noted that the school counsellor should identify the student\u2019s social strengths and weaknesses and then prioritize which areas of deficits to target and subsequent strategies would be most beneficial to tackle during the counsellor\u2019s time with the student. Additional strategies can be delegated to other professional members of the support team or assigned to parents or caregivers.<\/p>\n
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Common Deficits and Strategies<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deficit: Recognizing Personal Space<\/p>\n
Strategies: (a) use a hula hoop around the student to demonstrate appropriate personal space; (b) role play different conversation differences; (c) use puppets to practice personal space distances.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deficit: Reading Faces and Body Language<\/p>\n
Strategies: (a) use clip art to practice identifying emotions in pictures; (b) role play different scenarios and have the student identify what emotion is being acted out or what emotion would belong with the event.<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deficit: Understanding How Self Appears to Others<\/p>\n
Strategies: (a) use comic strip conversations and have the student fill in the bubbles about how others may perceive or react to inappropriate social behaviours; (b) perform a social autopsy to help students learn from mistakes and successes.<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deficit: Rigid Adherence to Routine<\/p>\n
Strategies: (a) create a visual schedule for the day using items that can be moved around on the schedule so that the student can adjust for changes to routines.<\/p>\n
5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deficit: Meltdowns When Frustrated or Upset<\/p>\n
Strategies: (a) create a power card that is a visual depiction of the desired behaviour or solution to the problem; (b) use a social story that presents the student calming down when upset; (c) have a cool down spot as a non-punitive option.<\/p>\n
6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deficit: Difficulty Entering, Exiting and Maintaining Conversation<\/p>\n
Strategies: (a) practice each of the above elements of conversation separately.<\/p>\n
McCalley, C. (2010). Fix Six Social Deficits: Collaborating with speech therapists and classroom teachers can lead to much more effective ways of addressing social skills for students with autism spectrum disorder.<\/em> ASCS School Counselor, 48 (1), 23-25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" School counsellors often receive referrals for students who are having difficulty fitting in due to issues involving communication. These issues can be related to conditions such as Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder or other disorders.\u00a0 Recently, I read an article that addressed the importance of collaborating with other professionals to address […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001012,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[197,198,139,199,200,201],"class_list":["post-5294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-schoolcounselling","tag-aspergers-syndrome","tag-communication-skills","tag-fasd","tag-school-counsellors","tag-special-education","tag-speech-language-pathologist"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n