Simon is a 3-year-old boy with autism who is new to Toronto and living with his father and two brothers. He displays little impulse control and echolalia. His father is seeking resources to help support Simon. The document provides information on agencies, services, and strategies that can help Simon with his communication, behavior, social skills, and the needs of his family as they settle into their new community.

2. Scenario
 Simon, three-year-old boy, is in junior preschool classroom
where I work.
 He has autism: very little impulse control and echolalia (repetitive
oral language).
 Fond of cars and wheels
 Two teen-aged brothers.
 Living with his father and brothers in a single parented family.
 New comer to Toronto.
 His father is looking for service resources and seeking my advice.
Source: Assignment package, ECEP 233

3. Special Needs of Simon
 Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) health card to access to a
neurologist, psychologist, developmental pediatrician, speech
language pathologist, learning consultants etc.
 Agencies that provide various services for autistic children
 Live in a loving, caring and happy environment
 Proper social acceptance and inclusion
 Constant communication and socialization
 Involvement in group settings so he can feel
himself accepted and included.
Source: http://connectability.ca
Source: www.do2learn.com

4. Needs of Simon’s parent/family
 Find housing
 Settlement services
 Childcare services including counseling and services to adapt
Simon’s special needs
 Family support services.
 Workshops
 Resources
 Information and advice on
Simon’s special needs
Source: http://connectability.ca Source: www.do2learn.com

5. Simon has ‘Autism’ - a neurological disorder that affects brain
functioning. Its characteristics are:
(1) Impaired communication:
 Language developed slowly or not at all
 Echolalia is evident.
(2) Problems with social relationships and play skills:
 Little interest in making friends
 Little eye contact
 Hugs, holding hands craved or avoided
 Little spontaneous or imaginative play
 Poor motor-imitation skills
 Short attention span
Source: www.do2learn.com

6. (3) Stereotypical/repetitive behaviours:
 Overactive or very passive
 Repetitive gross motor sequences
 Tantrum for no apparent reasons
 Demonstrate strong interest in a single item, idea, activity or person
 Demonstrate difficulty during routine changes
(4) Sensory problems:
 Show various levels of sensitivities in areas of sight, hearing,
smell, touch and taste.
Source: Reading package, ECEP 233

7. How I would help Simon:
It is important to understand and identify Simon’s strengths, needs
and skills in six developmental domains as well as self-care skills
so that appropriate strategies are adopted for Simon.
Observing & understanding behaviours; identifying skills:
 Simon has little impulse control and he has echolalia.
 These require some adaptations and modification in approaches.
 I’d regularly observe, identify and record his existing skills and
behaviours
 Accordingly, to teach Simon, I’d adopt various strategies
described in next slides.
Source: http://connectability.ca and Reading package, ECEP 233.

8.  Adjustments in group settings:
Appropriate adjustment in group settings includes
 Physical environment: space and materials
 Visual supports
 Transition strategies
 Schedule and routines
 Individualized programming
Source: http://connectability.ca
Source: http://connectability.ca

9.  Setting goals and teaching new skills:
 A short-term teaching target.
 Identify specific skills that work on Simon.
 Break a skill into smaller steps so that he can learn easily.
 Adopt prompting and fading using physical, modeling, gestural,
visual and positional prompts
 Praise, encouragement and reward strategy e.g. patting and saying
“Good job!”, “Excellent!” etc. and offering attractive stickers
 Keenly record Simon’s behaviours on regular basis to assess
developmental changes
Source: http://connectability.ca and Reading package, ECEP 233.

10.  Developing communication skills:
 Simon has echolalia. So, one strategy is to form phrases from his
perspective.
 For example, when something (say a red toy car) fascinates Simon,
I’d say, “I want red car.” instead of saying, “Do you want red car?”
 Thus, he would practice appropriate phrases from his perspective.
 I’d perform it consistently.
 I’d use adaptive devices
e.g. Sign language.
Source: http://connectability.ca
Source: http://connectability.ca

11.  Developing Adaptive behaviour
 Break tasks of daily living into smaller steps; e.g. “Zip up a zipper”
 Through task analysis, teach Simon daily living skills to develop
adaptive behaviours.
 Improving pro-social skills:
Using some strategies, I’d teach Simon how to perform
 self-calming
 joining in a group, sharing and turn-taking
 asking for and offering help, asking for play
 using “Please”, “Excuse me” etc., greetings and farewells
 recognizing other children’s emotions and nonverbal cues
Source: http://connectability.ca and Reading package, ECEP 233.

12. How I would help Simon’s parent/family:
As an ECE, I would make an extra effort to connect him with local
agencies that support children with autism and their families. I will
 Communicate and report him regularly about Simon’s progress
 Encourage him to teach Simon the skills at home, using the
same techniques as I adopt in the classroom
 Provide lists of autism support services agencies
 Brochures or pamphlets that provide information about autism.
 Provide support system that maintains open communication
with the child’s family
Source: http://connectability.ca

13. Geneva Centre for Autism, Toronto
 A multi-service agency
 Provides direct clinical services to families living in GTA
 Extends clinical services in Peel, Halton, Simcoe and York Regions
 Provides information, resources, consultation and training to
 individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD),
 parents,
 service providers,
 educators and
 other professionals
across Ontario, Canada and globally. Source: www.autism.net

14. Geneva Centre for Autism (continued)
Services available for children:
 Toronto Partnership for Autism Services (TPAS)
 Behaviour communication and social skills services
 Respite
 Asperger specific programs
 Fee-based Services
 Summer camp
Services for parents-caregivers:
 Parent support and Parent training,
 Fee-based services Source: www.autism.net
 Service coordination.

15. Autism Ontario (formerly Autism Society Ontario)
 Skilled and committed volunteers organize and support parent to
parent contact
 Provides representation for ASD in boards of education, camps
and public awareness forums.
 Mission: “To ensure that each individual with ASD is provided the
means to achieve quality of life as a respected member of society.”
Source: www.autismontario.com
Source: www.autismontario.com Source:www.autismontario.com

16. Autism Ontario’s programs include:
Potential Programme:
 Designed to ensure greater access to ASD experts in communities.
 Provides community-based learning opportunities for children with
ASD.
ABACUS:
 Specializes in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in Ontario.
 A self-searched listing of ABA providers in Ontario.
 Families who are looking at setting up their own ABA program use
this resource to locate and connect directly with providers.
Source: www.autismontario.com

17. Surrey Place Centre, Toronto
 Provides specialized clinical services that meet the needs of
individuals with developmental disabilities in Toronto region.
 Services and programs include assessment, diagnosis, one-on-one
treatment, family counseling and group support.
 Offers workshops for clients, families and caregivers
 Provides education and consultation services to community
agencies.

18. Surrey Place Centre’s services
Treatment services:
 Behavioural analysis and behaviour therapy
 Counseling
 Developmental therapy
 Medicine and nursing,
 Parent training,
 Psychology
 Speech-language pathology
Source: www.surreyplace.on.ca

19. Surrey Place Centre’s services (continued)
Clinical services:
 Children and Youth Program
 Infancy and Early Childhood Program
 Toronto Partnership for Autism Services
 Toronto Autism ABA Services
 School Support Program
Source: www.surreyplace.on.ca

20. Do2learn
 Provides a great deal of free pages with social skills and
behavioural regulation activities and guidance, learning songs and
games, communication cards, academic materials and transition
guides.
 Offers various products including View2do, JobTIPS, FACELAND,
books and apps.
Source: www.do2learn.com