Asperger’s Syndrome and Academic Skills-Focus on Speech and Language Support
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This session will provide extensive treatment strategies that can be implemented tomorrow. Having a student with Asperger’s Syndrome presents serious challenges regarding academic skills that many speech and language support staff are not well equipped to handle. This presentation will discuss the academic skills and deficits frequently associated with Asperger’s Syndrome. Participants will learn a variety of behavioral supports designed to enhance the child’s ability to initiate work assignments, increase motivation, decrease distraction, compensate for gross and fine motor deficits, adapt the curriculum, modify academics, and increase cognitive processing. Each of these supports will be presented form a speech and language perspective so that the SLP can make the connection between communication skills and academic success.
Many educators are frequently frustrated when presented with a student who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Techniques that have been successfully used for years with traditional speech-language deficient students in the classroom setting are often ineffective when dealing with Asperger’s syndrome and leave both the student and educator frustrated.
This presentation will discuss the difficulties frequently seen in an academic setting as a result of Asperger’s syndrome. It will focus on identifying the difficulties students with AS have, such as talking off-task, daydreaming, ignoring new information, reading comprehension, tendency to focus on unimportant information, organization, self-monitoring skills, time management, procrastination, fine and gross motor skills, defeatist attitudes, eye-hand coordination, group sports, intelligence, problem-solving, literalism, perfectionism, and hyperlexia.
It will offer extensive strategies to enhance academics around seven core academic issues: initiating work assignments, increasing motivation, decreasing distraction, compensating for gross and fine motor deficits, adapting the curriculum, academic modifications, and increasing cognitive processing.
Attendees will be able to:
Describe the characteristics of Asperger’s Syndrome as it relates to the academic setting and speech/language skills.
Detail seven core issues found in the academic setting regarding communication skills.
Describe strategies to produce positive change in the academic setting regarding communication skills.
Implement techniques to improve cognitive processing for communication skills.
Implement curricular modifications for speech and language support.
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