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Those who have seen previous “Whole Child” workshops
will recognize familiar concepts such as
reinforcement, extinction,
NET
(Natural Environment Teaching), etc. However,
the application of these concepts may need to be
tweaked as kids grow older, particularly for
those who are not functioning well in regular
education for at least one hour per day.
It may be easier to achieve the academic goals of a
school or home program by teaching the individual to
be proficient in the application of the
goals. For example, an individual may become
better at adding and subtracting on paper after
he/she has had experience purchasing items regularly
at a store. And for some learners, establishing the
functional use of money may be more important than
academic exercises for which he/she can see no
purpose.
Community-based (and other natural environment)
instruction is often necessary, but it also exposes
many deficits that aren’t apparent in learners who
work primarily at a table. For example,
learners may create dangerous situations by running
at inappropriate times. They may lack the
focus to travel 10 feet and retrieve something.
They may not respond appropriately to “No,” or may
have debilitating ritualistic behaviors.
Targeting these types of deficits is particularly
important for older children, and increasing
community-based instruction is only one way that
programming adapts as learners age.
In this workshop, the presenters will:
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Discuss differences in programming for younger vs.
older learners across several critical dimensions
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Show and describe examples of programming for older
learners
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Introduce a new assessment tool
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Conduct at least one case study using the assessment
tool
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Problem-solve multiple programming issues
with members of the audience
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