Visual Timer
The issue:
When it is time for Christopher to move to a new activity within the classroom, he gets upset because most of the time he doesn't finish his task, because he didn't know how long he had to begin with, and didn't know how long he had before the task ended.
When it is time for Christopher to move to a new activity within the classroom, he gets upset because most of the time he doesn't finish his task, because he didn't know how long he had to begin with, and didn't know how long he had before the task ended.
The Artefact:
A timer will be set up near the student so that they can see exactly how much time they have left. The timer will include up to an hour and count down. The section of red on the timer indicates the allotted time, so when the red section disappears, the allotted time has run out.
A timer will be set up near the student so that they can see exactly how much time they have left. The timer will include up to an hour and count down. The section of red on the timer indicates the allotted time, so when the red section disappears, the allotted time has run out.
'Timer' by Different roads to learning: http://blog.difflearn.com/tag/schedules/
How the Artefact will help the issue of transitioning:
Timers can incredibly useful tool to teach students with Autism and facilitate successful transitions. (Autism Community, 2011).As visual learning is key for individuals with Autism, it is incredibly helpful for students to 'see' how much time they have left of an activity before they transition to another activity. Timers have been proven to be an effective way to reduce the latency time between activities, as well as helping students develop their skills to transition independently. (Harris, 2012). Also, "Providing the student with increased time to process upcoming changes enhances the opportunity for increased participation in existing routines and transitions." (Banda et al., 2009, p.16). Time related concepts can be abstract, especially for individuals with Autism, so saying "... (i.e. “You have a few minutes”), often cannot be interpreted literally (i.e. “Just a second” or “We need to go in a minute”), and may be confusing for individuals on the spectrum, especially if time-telling is not a mastered skill. " (Hume, 2008, para. 5). Therefore concepts related to time will become more meaningful when shown in a visual manner. (Hume, 2008). A study was conducted with a young boy where a timer was placed in his visual field, and displaying a section of red that would disappear when the allotted time ran out.
The results showed that by using a timer, the boy would continually refer to it to see how much time he had left of an activity, and when he saw the red portion of the timer was almost gone, he would start working at a much faster pace. (Dettmer et al., 2000).
Timers can incredibly useful tool to teach students with Autism and facilitate successful transitions. (Autism Community, 2011).As visual learning is key for individuals with Autism, it is incredibly helpful for students to 'see' how much time they have left of an activity before they transition to another activity. Timers have been proven to be an effective way to reduce the latency time between activities, as well as helping students develop their skills to transition independently. (Harris, 2012). Also, "Providing the student with increased time to process upcoming changes enhances the opportunity for increased participation in existing routines and transitions." (Banda et al., 2009, p.16). Time related concepts can be abstract, especially for individuals with Autism, so saying "... (i.e. “You have a few minutes”), often cannot be interpreted literally (i.e. “Just a second” or “We need to go in a minute”), and may be confusing for individuals on the spectrum, especially if time-telling is not a mastered skill. " (Hume, 2008, para. 5). Therefore concepts related to time will become more meaningful when shown in a visual manner. (Hume, 2008). A study was conducted with a young boy where a timer was placed in his visual field, and displaying a section of red that would disappear when the allotted time ran out.
The results showed that by using a timer, the boy would continually refer to it to see how much time he had left of an activity, and when he saw the red portion of the timer was almost gone, he would start working at a much faster pace. (Dettmer et al., 2000).