Openers for presentation on Inclusion and Autism

Sunny24
Member since 1-11-2010

Hi all

I am a PGCE Primary student, in the middle of preparing a presentation for Uni on Autism and Inclusion. I am trying to think of any clever ways of opening my presentation, by posing the audience a question or getting them to do something. Whatever it is, I want to try and illustrate how difficult it must be being autistic in a mainstream classroom.

Anyone got any ideas?

Posted 5-5-2012 14:40

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sjl9876
Member since 1-1-2009

Hi, I work in a special educational needs setting with autistic pupils who in the majority have additional learning difficulties, however I have some experience of inclusion and autism in mainstream settings. One difficulty I have when training staff to think in an 'autistic' way and I tend to focus on turns of phrase, for example, saying 'wash your hands in the toilet' , you could start your presentation with some pictures and ask them to explain what the instruction was, or the other way around, say the phrase and ask them what they would do. I also had a story to highlight anxieties of an autistic child, where you just go through a normal day and they have to shake a bottle of coke every time there is something that would cause anxiety, and then ask if they would open it, or if your brave ask the, to open it! however that would need an understanding of the anxieties these children face. Ill try and find the story but can't promise. Hope this helps and good luck.

Posted 6-5-2012 14:04

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fishmayfly
Member since 13-12-2009

Often students with an autistic spectrum condition have difficulties reading people's body language, facial expressions and tone of voice. Maybe you could find a video of someone speaking in a really monotone voice (or read something yourself). Get the audience to close their eyes so that they cannot see the person's body language or facial expression. This could be made more difficult by reading a story or speech that includes phrases which have double meanings or are ambiguous. See if the audience can agree on what is being said when they cannot use the normal cues they would pick up on.

Hope this makes sense and good luck with your presentation.

Posted 6-5-2012 15:45

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banana99
Member since 27-7-2011

I presented to my old uni a couple of months ago on autism. I wanted the audience to really think about the challenges faced by these children, and also to realise how wide the spectrum is. I showed three different videos (taken from you tube) of 3 different boys. I asked the audience what challenges they thought each boy would face - it was a really positive and interactive experience (and hopefully educational) . The final video showed a young man with severe autism using SiB - it wasn't easy to watch, but I really wanted the audience to see what some families face - and question whether inclusion was really an option in every case. video really works well, and saves me rattling on ;). I can post the links if you want.

Posted 6-5-2012 16:57

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banana99
Member since 27-7-2011

Another way would be to highlight the sensory processing difficulties and use a mixture of load sounds pre recorded sounds like chairs scraping - pens scratching on paper - usual classroom sounds really amplified. Play it at the beginning of the presention, so it's really uncomfortable for the audience - then ask them if they could learn if they were exposed to this.? This should grab their attention!!

Posted 6-5-2012 17:03

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banana99
Member since 27-7-2011

That should be Loud sounds;)

Posted 6-5-2012 17:07

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Tara Jane
Member since 18-6-2004

I do staff training and an opener i have used involves 2 other people. We all start off speaking the same words 9together) -eg describing where we work and how good it is to come to training to share our experiences etc - then after about 40 seconds each person starts talking about their life (hobbies, family, favourite holiday etc). So we are all talking at the same time. I have "complicated" it by everyone moving round as we talk (like it would be in a class); also one person squirting perfume (or body spray); one person repeatedly making a noise when they talk like using one of those dog clickers; and the third person flapping or spinning etc. Then at the end we ask questions such as "how old were my children? where did i go on holiday etc. People tend it find it hard to concentrate on all 3 of you and sometimes only latch onto to relevant points, eg they hear the word Spain because they went there last year. I think the exercise really highlights some difficulties that our pupils experience (such as knowing which language to filter out and which person it is important to listen to). I cannot stress highly enough how sensory overload gets in the way of learning (smells, noise, visual overload) are extremely important. PLEASE stress that even verbal children with an ASC need to have their sensory needs addressed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plPNhooUUuc - this is a clip showing how different it is to walk down the street as a neurotypical person compare with a person with autism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc - i have used this clip and it has totally mesmerized the audience. i think it is all about not judging a book by its cover; and also look at how some of our pupils need 2stimming" behaviour to help them focus their learning. Good luck with your presentation x

Posted 7-5-2012 12:18

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