Friday, May 24, 2002

I'm off to Vermont to run in the Burlington City Marathon.  I was just thinking about how most Autism/Asperger's individuals hate to do any physical exercise, let alone do any long distance running.  I wonder if anyone has any experience getting Asperger individuals to do a lot of physical exercise?  I remember visiting the Higachi School in Boston a number of years ago (a residential school for individuals with severe autism)...they literally forced all residents to run a mile or two each morning.  Counselors would blow whistles and even shove them back on the course inorder to get them to comply with the run...At the time I thought it was "over the top," but lately I've been thinking that it may not be such a bad idea. Any thoughts? 11:04:12 PM    comment [] I just returned from an IEP meeting for a 10 year old boy with Asperger's where I encouraged the team to develop Behavioral Tests (BAT's) for each social skill goal.  For example, if the goal is for the student to initiate conversations with other students in the hallways between classes, then design a simple 10 minute test to assess their progress...have a staff person follow the student in the hallway between classes and record the frequency and duration of conversations.  The BAT is already used for assessing outcome in major behavioral research studies, including the National Institute of Health's multi-center study of social phobia.  BAT's are easy to design and implement and help provide the IEP team with important data about a child's progress in developing social skills. 12:02:52 PM    comment []

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