Minecraft in the Speech Room

Recently I bought the pocket edition of Minecraft ($6.99) and installed it on my iPhone. I also bought a "how to" book recommended by a friend’s seven-year old son. I realized I was on to something when I went into a classroom to pick up a student, and heard a ripple of appreciative murmurs as I walked by. Heads swiveled. I felt like a movie star walking the red carpet. I was confused for an instant, and then I remembered that tucked under my arm, on top of my clipboard, was my edition of Minecraft: The Essential Handbook. Since then I’ve been using it as an activity for fluency and articulation goals for a few students, and I have to shoo them out of the room to get them to leave at the end of the session.  They're usually still talking or showing me something as I gently push them out of the room telling them they did a great job, and I will see them next week.  If you have boys between the ages of 7 and 13 on your caseload, and your activities are getting a little stale, try incorporating Minecraft.

Decreasing Disruptive Behavior with Social Stories

Now that I'm working in the school system, I've got increasing numbers of kids on my caseload who are on the autism spectrum. One issue we deal with frequently is behavior management. If the child can't sit in his or her seat and focus on a task, or work collaboratively with others, he or she isn't going to be successful in school.

Social Stories are an evidence-based intervention used frequently with children on the spectrum to reduce anxiety and teach social routines. They can also be used to manage disruptive behavior. In fact one meta-analysis shows that they could be more effective with managing disruptive behavior than with teaching pro-social behavior. For you research geeks, here is a multiple-baseline design study by Scattone, Wilczynski, Edwards, and Ryan that shows a decrease in disruptive behavior in three children with autism following the use of Social Stories in the classroom. One comment in this study that totally struck me was the one below -- children with autism typically love rules and routines, and Social Stories teach rules and routines. As a therapist I love the jujitsu of using strengths to help overcome weaknesses:

"social  stories are convenient, are unobtrusive, and may draw on a strength many children with autism demonstrate (i.e., adherence to rules/routines)."

Social Story to Reduce Hitting

I work with a student who has a tendency to hit people who come into the classroom, particularly new or unfamiliar people. Our hypothesis is that the hitting is a result of the unpredictability of someone walking into a room, and also, a means of communicating anxiety. This Social Story teaches replacement behaviors, and gives a verbal script to help turn this anxious student into a welcoming host/ess. I'll collaborate with the special ed teacher and the para-educator to implement this sweet little intervention in the classroom/speech room.