Week 3-Environmental complexity and novelty

When Jonny initially began his classroom placement, he had significant difficulty in handling any new situations. One specific example was his need to use the exact same bathroom stall each time he entered the bathroom. He would tantrum if someone went into that stall before he got there, and this behavior would continue when back in the classroom. The strategy that was used with Jonny was a combination of sensory input and a social story. Upon arrival, the speech therapist would read a social story to Jonny while he sat near the table on a large therapy ball. The story contained the explanation for flexibility in using any stall in the restroom. The strategy was very successful and was eventually faded entirely. From the readings in this module as well as previous modules, it appears that Jonny’s difficulty in processing environmental complexity is his inability to visually process the entire environment and all the activities that are simultaneously happening. Additionally, Jonny attends 2 programs that are structured (or not structured) very differently, and he needs to shift his knowledge of each environment twice each day. Jonny is aided by visual schedules for transitions and has consultation to his daycare to provide visuals and strategies that attempt to give consistency between programs.

Hodgdon, Linda. Visual Strategies for Improving Communication. Troy: Quirk Roberts Publishing, 2000.