Meaghan's Goals and Objectives
Below are the objectives Meg and I have come up for her this year. They are the objectives this website was specifically designed to address. They are also the objectives that will bring Meg closer to achieving her stated goals. She and we can track her progress as she advances towards her goals on her "My Daily Progress" page.
Meaghan's Objectives
Meaghan Will Master Independent Typing.
This will be achieved by daily practice on sequential Typing Lessons and typing responses to Educational Lessons and Photo discussions. All progress will be tracked and no lesson, once mastered, will be repeated. Meaghan will also work toward achieving this objective by attending monthly skill building sessions.
Meaghan Will Increase Her Intentional, Conversational Verbal Output
This will be achieved by daily practice with making choices and answering questions related to her Feelings, her Lesson preferences, her thoughts on photos, lessons and quotes. Initially full sentences will be modeled for her, but these prompts will be faded as she progresses. Rhythmic tapping will be used to slow down her rate of speech in order to insure better pronunciation. Meaghan will also read aloud her typed responses.
Meaghan Will Become Less Reliant on Repetition and Self Stimulation
This will be achieved by giving Meaghan more control over her life. Her emotions take over when she is upset, anxious or frustrated. When this happens, she starts stimming - generally repetitive asking, but if this isn't working she will resort to self abuse. Our job is, first and foremost, to talk to her as the highly intelligent adult that she is. Then we need to do as she has asked -- ignore her unintentional speech and calmly re-direct her to choices and activities that require motor planning and/or rational thought. This practice needs to be 100% consistent with all staff in both the day and residential programs.
Meaghan Will Master Self Care and Basic Social Skills Through Dropping Steps
This will be achieved by targeting specific skills in a step by step manner. Initially, she will be prompted in all the steps. On day 3, the prompt for step 1 will be dropped. Meg will be expected to begin the sequence on her own. On day 5, the prompt for step 2 will be dropped. This will continue until Meg is performing all the steps without prompting. For newer independent skills, like showering, the prompts can be dropped on a weekly basis. Again, all staff need to be 100% consistent in following through with this.
Meaghan's Goals
These four objectives go hand in hand, and they are all focused on Meaghan becoming a more independent and self confident young woman so that she can fulfill her stated goals of auditing college courses, advocating for others with autism, making new friends and perhaps, at some point, traveling and experiencing different cultures around the world.
Important Partner/Support Information
1. This site is designed to accommodate Meaghan's sensory processing problems, but what I haven't been able to do is pair sound with the choices offered, and this is CRITICAL because it plays to Meaghan's auditory strength. So the verbal input, while scripted to a large extent, must be spoken by the person partnering with Meg. Feel free to improvise!
2. Tone of voice is important. She can sense your enthusiasm or lack of. The more invested you are in Meaghan's success, the more motivated she will be to make you proud of her. Talk in a calm voice, but one that is animated enough to make the lessons enjoyable. The lessons provide plenty of fodder for conversation.
3. Sit on Meaghan's right side and make sure that the iPad is centered in front of her right hand rather than centered in front of her body. This makes cross-over movement a bit easier for her.
4. Aside from the photo galleries, which Meg might enjoy going back to, once an activity or lesson has been accomplished, it should not be repeated. Trust in Meaghan's prodigious memory and move on.
5. I will update the "My Daily Progress" page on a regular based on emails I receive from NuPath staff. The format is very simple, so it shouldn't take but a few minutes out of your day.
Remember, Success reinforces more success!
