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• Into the Community More information on Community-based Instruction

Into the Community

• 1-3 students learning in community settings accompanied by staff
• small group instruction that focuses on specific skills from students’ IEPs which takes place on a consistent basis (weekly, etc.)
• consistent instruction focused on skills students need to be more independent now and in later life (for example: crossing streets safely, placing orders, using money/carrying wallets, finding appropriate bathrooms)
• instruction in a variety of actual settings where students will need to have life skills (libraries, grocery stores, department stores, discount stores, laundromats, movie theaters, fast food restaurants, sit-down restaurants, post offices, etc.)
• instruction that varies slightly from time to time (teaching students to be able to generalize skills from place to place without getting locked into identical routines each time in the community)[If a routine is allowed or encouraged, it is not reasonable to expect the student to understand and to remain calm at a later date when the routine must be changed.]

My son is 27 and lives in our county health center. What community skills could he possibly learn now?

Learning takes place throughout a lifetime. Unfortunately for your son, we know a lot more about educating people with autism now than we did 20 years ago. However, your son needs to learn the same basic skills for the community as do younger individuals. Start at a basic level. Work on things such as: waiting at street corners until a staff member gives the okay to cross; remaining seated on city buses; carrying a wallet; waiting in line; using words or pictures to select items for purchase; and using a variety of public restrooms.

My child is in 5th grade and is doing well academically but has some social skill difficulties. Why does she need to work on community skills?

I have found that many of my students who are academically able really have difficulties in community settings. Such settings involve numerous social skills in constantly changing environments. This is extremely difficult for many children/adults with autism. I would recommend having a non-family member take the child into the community and observe strengths and weaknesses. The need for community-based instruction can be determined from the findings.

Some difficulties I've seen:

• inability to recognize who the "safe" people are to ask for help (clerks, bus drivers, etc.)
• inability to recognize when people are not interested in a topic
• fixating on one issue and forgetting safety skills (late for bus so cross streets without looking) -inability to keep personal belongings/money with self

We take our son out with us all the time. He doesn't need to spend time in the community during his school day. Right?

I have found that while a child may do well with parents in a specific routine in the community; once on his own (supervised) he may have very limited skills. One 10 year old child whose parents were very good about taking into the community assured me that he did well in fast food restaurants. I quickly discovered that upon arrival at a restaurant, he immediately headed for a specific booth (regardless if it was already taken) and sat expectantly. He had no clue how to order, carry his own money or interact with the staff at a restaurant. He did not know that sitting with strangers was not acceptable and had no alternative.

Often, it is easier for staff to break routines and to try new things with children (or adults). Frequently, I get requests from parents to work on specific things in the community that are difficult to address since the individual has had a lifetime of routine learning within a family. Success comes when new things are learned and transfer to settings with the family as well.

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