My child is 5 years old already, it’s time for him to learn mathematics and writing.
I am happy that he has improved a lot, but I am still worried that he cannot catch up with coming academic demands, can you teach him the content of the school lessons in advance?
A lot of parents would like us to teach their children academic knowledge, the reason can be due to them reaching school age, or that they are worried their children will lag behind academically. However, in AP, we usually do not recommend teaching academic knowledge directly. There is a saying: “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Instead of being a tutorial teacher to our students, we believe it is more important to teach them effective learning skills so that they can learn effectively in school.
There are many reasons that cause our students to not be able to learn effectively in school, here are some common problems:
Missing Learning How to Learn Skills
- Lack of Attention
Attention deficit is one of the main reasons why our students cannot learn effectively in school. Children with ASD can get distracted easily, and they cannot sustain attention for long periods of time, therefore, they cannot concentrate and learn through the talking of teachers. - Not Seeking Help
When our students encounter difficulties or if they do not understand something, they are usually not persistent enough to clarify or seek help spontaneously. As a result, the teachers would not know if they have anything that they do not understand and students would miss important learning opportunities and information.
- Lacking Observational Learning Skills
Teachers will usually conduct information through asking students questions in the class. Due to having low awareness to peers, students with ASD do not pay very good attention to what their peers say or do. When teachers interact with their classmates, our students may only focus on what the teachers say and miss important information from their peers. - Low Learning Motivation
Typical children would have basic interest in different topics, and this motivates them to learn. However, with limited interest, children with ASD may only be interested in one subject or topic, their motivation to learn other things is very low, and therefore the learning efficiency is low.
Weak Language Comprehension Skills
Our students are usually weak in language comprehension. They are used to simple instructions or explanations. However, teachers in school would offer peripheral information in their delivery and use different formats to express key points, and thus students have to use inferencing, have an understanding of cause and effect in order to take in the whole picture. Students with ASD usually lack of these skills.
Not Actively Remembering Information
Memory is also an important component in the learning process. There are many things in academic settings that children have to remember, such as class routines, new vocabulary and information, etc. However, children with ASD do not necessarily attain, process and store this information appropriately, and so it is difficult for them to learn effectively.
The above are just some components that contribute to effective learning in academic settings, putting aside the social aspects that are needed to thrive in these settings. For children with ASD to learn effectively in class, we should not directly teach them the academic knowledge needed, but instead to focus on building and solidifying their Learning How to Learn Skills.
It is important to note that our approach does not completely preclude teaching academic knowledge, but the decision of whether or not to do so depend on whether those skills will help our children to become more effective, independent learners in the long run, and not just for the sake of “catching up” to school norms and standards.
Our Method and Approach (ABA)
1 on 1 Intensive ABA Treatment
Information provided by:
Kan Wong (Autism Partnership Program Director) |
Ms. Lai-Kan Wong is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and holds a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis. She joined Autism Partnership in 2001 and began working as a Program Specialist. She is experienced in working with children across different settings including individual therapy session, small group training, and ABA classrooms. Ms. Wong has also helped training staff in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan office since 2005. She is now responsible for supervising individual cases, staff training, parent training, and overseas consultation. Kan also receives ongoing training and supervision from Dr. Ronald Leaf and Dr. John McEachin in the Los Angeles office. |
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[:zh]我的小孩已經五歲, 要學算術和寫字了。
我覺得他進步了很多，但我很擔心他仍追不上學校的進度，你們可以預先教他課程內容嗎？
很多家長要求我們教授學術知識，原因可能是由於孩子已達適學年齡，又或擔心小朋友在學校未能有效地學習而跟不上進度，因此希望我們和孩子「補底」 。可是，我們大部分時間都不主張直接教授患有自閉症的小朋友學術知識。授人以魚不如授人以漁。與其直接教小朋友學術知識，我們更應先分析為什麼他們未能在學校課堂有效學習，從而教授有效的學習技巧。
導致孩子未能在學校有效學習的原因很多，以下是一些常見的情況:
缺乏學會怎樣學習(Learning How to Learn)的技巧
- 缺乏專注力
缺乏專注力很多時都是孩子在學校未能有效學習的其中一大原因。患有自閉症的孩子容易受其他事物干擾，他們也難以在課堂維持長時間的專注力，未能透過集中聆聽老師講解而學習到知識。 - 不懂主動尋求協助
當遇到困難的時候，患有自閉症的孩子們不懂得主動去釐清不明白的地方，因此老師往往不知道他們不明白，孩子亦因此錯過學習的機會。
- 缺乏觀察學習的技巧
在課堂中，老師很多時也會透過提問去教導一些知識。患有自閉症的孩子往往對別人 尤其朋輩的留意度較低，不會留意別人的行為或說話，當老師和其他同學互動時，他們可能只留意老師的說話而錯過了整個互動中有用的資訊。 - 學習動機低
一般小朋友對所有事物也有基本興趣，這給予他們很好的學習基礎。可是患有自閉症的孩子由於本身興趣狹窄，可能只對某一科目有興趣，對其他科目往往興趣甚低，學習動機低，因此學習成效也低。
語言理解能力弱 (Language comprehension)
患有自閉症的孩子很多時語言理解能力弱，他們習慣聽一些簡單直接的指令或講解。可是，學校老師講課時不會只說重點，他們會用不同方式去表達要教授的內容，例如利用比喻或舉例去說明重點，學生也需要利用因果推理等技巧去理解。患有自閉症的孩子往往缺乏這些重要的技巧，因此未能明白講解，便更容易分神了。
記憶（Memory）
記憶也是重要的一部分，在學習過程中，孩子們需要記著很多東西, 例如課堂的程序、新的詞語或資訊，可是，患有自閉症的孩子卻不會主動記著這些資訊，往往聽完便算，因此未能有效學習。
Autism Partnership治療方法
一對一密集式ABA治療
資訊提供:
王勵勤 (Autism Partnership 行為分析治療總監) |
王勵勤 王勵勤小姐為國際認證行為分析師，擁有行為分析的碩士學位。於2001年加入AP, 為個別個案進行ABA訓練。 她經驗豐富且資歷甚廣， 負責個別治療、小組訓練及 ABA為基礎的教室。 自2005年起， 她致力培訓本地、新加坡及日本各級別的治療師及導師。 她現負責監督個別個案、治療師培訓、為各家長提供支援及海外諮詢服務。 她亦定期赴美國洛杉磯總部接受Ronald Leaf博士和John McEachin博士的培訓及持續進修。 |
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