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First/Then

EllenML

I am a SEN Learning Support Assistant to a child with autism. I'm fairly new to education and working with children, and particularly to autism, but have made great progress in the few weeks I've been in my job.

Something I'm finding difficult to get my head around, however, is the First/Then book that "my child's" autism support worker (from the council) insists I use. Whilst I realise that a lot of adults do say "He doesn't need that", when in fact, autistic child in question does need something, I really REALLY feel like the first/then book is not working.

There are a few issues:

  1. He is too forward thinking. He wants to know what is happening first and then...and then...and then...whereas the book only allows for the first activity
  2. The first activity may change very quickly and, apart from the fact that he struggles with change, I don't even have the chance to make the change of activity in the book before it's started and new, unexpected demands are being made of him.
  3. He doesn't seem that motivated by rewards. He won't get on with something because he knows something else is coming. I don't see it drives his behaviour.

I've pushed back a few times, trying to come up with alternatives, but keep being told I need to use it. It just seems pointless. And given that I spend the most amount of time with him at school, and she sees him once a week for 5-10 minutes, shouldn't she be listening to me when I tell her it's more of a hinderance than a help?

Has anyone else had experience of using this? How effective was it? Any tips on how I can better integrate it into his day?

Thanks!

Ellen

Parents

  • Another illustration is Thinking in Pictures, and variants of this "what is little Johnny thinking" mentality.

    Yes it helps some people on the spectrum to compensate for lack of social feedback. But is there an age limit after which it is counterproductive?  And should it be used where children are better able to pick this up for themselves?

    These tools just seem to be a fall-back armoury for people who don't really understand autism and think going through some robotic process is constructive or helpful. It actually puts some young people off seeking help for the simple reason - instead of listening - some well meaning person wheels out little johnny - for the n thousandth time.

    What Thinking in Pictures is supposed to do is help people who cannot read other people's minds properly - hold on - are NTs "Mind Readers" then? Mind blindness has underlying causes.

    People on the spectrum do not get good social feedback because they aren't paying sufficient attention to facial expressions, aren't reading gestures properly, aren't making good eye contact etc.

    Thinking in Pictures cannot cure that. Nor does it address the converse that individuals on the spectrum have difficulty producing the correct facial expressions to back their words, producing the right gestures, and giving the right indications through eye contact. Thinking in Pictures is a one-way dialogue

    All Thinking in Pictures does is remind you of a deficiency. It may help people adapt and compensate. But using it inanely all the time is pointless.

    I suspect First/Then's main weakness is it assumes things about people on the spectrum that aren't necessarily so. And there's an awful lot of that about....

Reply

  • Another illustration is Thinking in Pictures, and variants of this "what is little Johnny thinking" mentality.

    Yes it helps some people on the spectrum to compensate for lack of social feedback. But is there an age limit after which it is counterproductive?  And should it be used where children are better able to pick this up for themselves?

    These tools just seem to be a fall-back armoury for people who don't really understand autism and think going through some robotic process is constructive or helpful. It actually puts some young people off seeking help for the simple reason - instead of listening - some well meaning person wheels out little johnny - for the n thousandth time.

    What Thinking in Pictures is supposed to do is help people who cannot read other people's minds properly - hold on - are NTs "Mind Readers" then? Mind blindness has underlying causes.

    People on the spectrum do not get good social feedback because they aren't paying sufficient attention to facial expressions, aren't reading gestures properly, aren't making good eye contact etc.

    Thinking in Pictures cannot cure that. Nor does it address the converse that individuals on the spectrum have difficulty producing the correct facial expressions to back their words, producing the right gestures, and giving the right indications through eye contact. Thinking in Pictures is a one-way dialogue

    All Thinking in Pictures does is remind you of a deficiency. It may help people adapt and compensate. But using it inanely all the time is pointless.

    I suspect First/Then's main weakness is it assumes things about people on the spectrum that aren't necessarily so. And there's an awful lot of that about....

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