Language for Learning for Students with Autism
and/or Developmental Disabilities
Language for Learning is a Direct Instruction program and as such falls under the ABA umbrella. This means that it is carefully scripted, written using a skill sequence, uses multiple examples to teach concepts and plans for generalization. It is sold by SRA (Science Research Associates). Unfortunately, only those affiliated with a school in the U.S. are able to order this way. In Canada, SRA is represented by McGraw Hill. You can either find a District Representative or order online (for substantially more than the US School price.) There is a 2008 edition available as well as the older version, now designated as the 1999 edition. Also read my short practical review of use in the classroom.
Direct Instruction programs are not meant to be implemented without modeling, hands on training and instruction from an experienced trainer. However, you can be successful by carefully reading the material, rehearsing the signals and script to fluency prior to working with children and getting feedback by taping yourself and or asking a colleague to watch. There are checklists for self-evaluation which you should use frequently. Practice makes perfect and will allow you freedom to adapt the material for individual learning.
Martin Kozloff from the University of North Carolina has written several fact sheets to help individuals implementing Language for Learning or other DI programs: Self-Evaluation and Instruction Tips.
Who Is Able to Benefit From Language For Learning?
According to Z. Engelmann there are 5 prerequisites for using Language for Learning. The student should be able to
- imitate a word of phrase spoken by an adult
- respond to questions such as "what’s this?" or "What are you doing?’ - or be able to learn to do so quickly
- respond to simple yes/no question e.g., "Are you standing?"
- point to and label common objects such as a door and complete simple actions such as "sitting."
- describe pictures of objects and actions using the same words that are used to name actual objects and actions.
However, not all our students met these prerequisites when they started. We grouped these students together and used the Language for Learning format to extend and generalize their Intensive Teaching programs. They were able to take part in the same activities as their peers but at a different level.
Getting Started
You have been lucky enough to find or purchase a set of the Language for Learning manuals. What’s next?
Take some time to go through Books A-D and read through the Teacher’s Manual. It is very important to understand the format patterns, how to use the hand signals, how to hold the book etc.
Print out the Placement Test which is found on the SRA website. I have found that it works best to print an extra set of pictures and paste them on separate pages, the test seems to flow better. You are not allowed to prompt or give any assistance on the test, but do give praise for answering, sitting properly, etc. Make sure that you understand the criteria for stopping the test - there is no point in continuing once the student has made the maximum allowed errors.
It is important to place students who are at similar language levels together. Do not try and push or hold back students for the convenience of the instructor. You will be able to change groupings as you progress through the program. If you do have a student who could benefit from extra practice and you know really enjoys it, then you could have him or her work with a lower level student as a peer tutor.
Daily instruction is best, three times a week is probably minimum for progress to occur. You may want to begin with a shorter time and extend it as student’s attending and responding skills increase. Set criteria for mastery of each exercise in a lesson and collect data on progress, you may have to change frequency, wait time, prompts, reinforcement etc. if your student (s) does not seem to be learning a particular target skill. (see Download page for L4L Data Collection sheet.) Be patient as acquisition rates do increase as the student learns how to learn in this format.
It is important to take the concepts you are learning in L4L into the real world. If you are teaching names of objects in pictures, go for a hunt and find them in the classroom or neighbourhood. Have fun with the program. After the format has been established mix up the visual and auditory signals that you use (especially if you are working with older students). You might even be able to use facial prompts such as raising your eyebrows to signal an answer.
If you are working with one student be sure to insist that they attend to the signals rather than answering at will (an easy situation to fall into). If you can arrange to have two students for at least some of the time it will help group attending skills, students taught solely on their own tend not to listen for their name and answer every question all the time.
Some Students who have benefitted
from Language for Learning
- L. has a diagnosis of autism and started at age eleven in the Language for Learning program with minimal expressive or receptive language (less than ten words or commands). She had always been taught in a one to one setting (she had not been included in any classroom) and did not display the prerequisite skills for starting Language for Learning. She worked in a group of 2 students on the first four lessons for 15 to 20 minutes every day for an entire school year. At the end of the year she knew her first and last name, the school she attended, her teachers name, could follow all the receptive commands and could put together a few four word sentences. These skills generalized to the classroom and into her home as well.
- M. also has an autism diagnosis but received intensive early intervention. He began at age 8 in Language for Thinking. He had age-appropriate verbal skills but was not always fluent. We did one lesson per week for a year. We alternated roles occasionally with T becoming the instructor. At the end of the year his speech was more fluent and he had a strong understanding of synonyms, antonyms, analogies and how to classify objects. We stopped the program at the end of the school year.
- D. was a 14 year old boy who arrived in Canada from Iran with minimal English language skills and an vague history of delay. Formal testing and identification cannot take place until a student has some language instruction so D. was enrolled into a beginner ESL class. This class was too advanced for him so it was decided to additionally place him into an Language for Learning group. In this setting D. learned basic English vocabulary and had many opportunities to speak in a safe environment. He became comfortable with English far quicker than any of us expected. By the end of the year he was able to participate more successfully in the beginner ESL classes.
