1 Longitudinal Curriculum Development Plan

Longitudinal Curriculum Development Program Plan D

By: Nicole Beck

2 Longitudinal Curriculum Development Plan Student Description: D is a 16-year-old sophomore at a High School in a small urban area. D is a part of the school's program for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, according to his mother; D has Asperger's Syndrome. As a part of the program, D is in all academic classes with his peers without disabilities and has one class in which he receives instruction from his case manager, a special education teacher that specializes in instruction for students with ASD. It is mostly during this class that Ds IEP goals and objectives are targeted. D is also working with the school's special education teacher who focuses on vocational skills. D is currently working on identifying his skills that can be used in a vocational setting. D's English and Math classes are co-taught by general education and special education teachers, but only by coincidence in the way those classes are scheduled, as he doesn't have deficits in these areas. His academic classes' teachers report that he is a very intelligent and witty student, and that these characteristics come through in the written work he submits. They explained that his classmates don't have the benefit of exploring D's ideas because he does not like speaking in class. Since there is great emphases on the Common Core State Standards, most of the classes have a heavy discussion base, to accommodate his strengths, D shares his views and responds to the other students in writing. In addition to his academic skills, in which he is meeting standards except when discussion is a necessary factor, the teachers describe his as being "a sweet young man." D is able to maneuver the school environment independently. His mobility is comparable to his peers without disabilities. D does not like the presence of large numbers of people in "chaotic" environments, like the hallways of the high school during passing periods. He does not

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use the social and communication skills required in getting through the crowds in the most efficient way. For example, saying, "Excuse me," or walking through groups standing in the middle of the hallway is a challenge. D will walk with students that he is familiar and comfortable with to get to the next class. Besides these sorts of brief interactions, D prefers not to socialize with many people besides his twin brother, a freshman in the school's functional life skills program. However, D does really like the weather, as does another student in the ASD program and he will communicate about that. D does not like eating around other people and has lunch in the ASD resource room daily. When there are other students in the program, present however, D will eat his lunch, typically in a more "private" area of the room. His social and communication preferences do impact his current skills in the life skills domain, particularly in the recreation, leisure and community domains. D performs toileting and eating skills like his peers without disabilities at school. Challenging however, is Ds dislike for showering, brushing his teeth and other areas related to grooming and hygiene. D also dislikes performing household chores and relies on his brother to clean their room.

Description of Current Residence and other Environments: D lives in a one story, two bedroom duplex with his mother and twin brother in a small urban town. At the entrance of the home is the family room. The family room has a sofa, love seat and lay-z-boy style chair, this is where the family spends most of there time. There is a television with a DVD player and Wii system video game attached. There is also a tall book shelf with many books In addition to the book shelf and television stand, there are many DVDs, video

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games and books around the room. D and his brother share a bedroom and has bunk-beds, D sleeps on the top bunk. The boys have a television in their room, but they rarely use it, there is also a shared dresser, closet and dirty clothes hamper. Across the hall is D's mother's room, this is where the familys computer is located. There is one restroom in the home with a linen closet, medicine cabinet and a cabinet where cleaning materials are stored. The family has a large, eat-in kitchen with a table and chairs, sometimes they eat in the kitchen, sometimes they eat in the family room. The kitchen has all the typical kitchen appliances, but no dishwasher; this is also where the family's clothes washer and dryer are located. Off the kitchen are secure sliding doors that lead to the back yard.

Description of Future Residential Environment: Since D is currently a sophomore at Central High School his mother expressed that she would like D to go on to college and eventually move into a supported apartment with his peers. She expressed concerns about full independence and would like him to still receive supports in his future apartment. She would also like her son to live with other individuals within the autism spectrum. After exploring different options for where D could eventually live we found that Community Choices would fit his needs best. Community Choices has a variety services available including community living, customized employment, social opportunities and family support. Within community living, Community Choices helps assist individuals with independent living including recruiting support

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staff who oversee the individual in their apartment. Since it was very important to Ds mother that he still be supported once he left the home, we believe that the support staff would be very beneficial to D and his needs. When talking to Community Choices they informed us that they conduct person centered planning for each individual as well as teaching them life skills. Community Choices has weekly meetings where they have classes dedicated to different subjects such as hygiene, financials and social aspects of life. Many of Ds objectives are centered on his hygiene and socialization. Having these classes available to him would allow him to continue to work on his objectives even after he leaves his home and high school. One of the positive aspects of Community Choices is that the individual is able to freely choose whichever apartment complex they want with the assistance of family members and staff. Once they have chosen where they would like to live, Community Choices caters to the individual and will make professional decisions to better assist and accommodate to the individuals needs. D will also benefit from the social opportunities that Community Choices offers. Every Wednesday they have a lunch club that meets at Market Place Mall in Champaign. This is a way for all of their clients to form friendships and work on the socialization skills that they have learned in their classes. They also have a weekly movie night, monthly dinners and other fundraising events that get both clients and their families out together. After looking into several different options for D we found that Community Choices would be the best choice due to the extensive amount of different opportunities that it provides.

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It gives the perfect balance between full independence and too much support. We believe that both D and his mother would be extremely happy with Community Choices in their future.

Domestic Domain IEP Objectives/Skill Cluster/Rationale:

1. While getting ready in the bathroom, D will use soap and water to wash his face in the sink with 100% accuracy on 7 consecutive days. 2. When brushing his teeth, D will brush the front and back teeth on the top and bottom of his mouth for 7 consecutive days. 3. When D is finished eating a meal he will first gather his trash and place that garbage into the nearest garbage can and he will then wipe down the surface that he ate his meal on with 100% accuracy for 5 trials. 4. When D is finished with his meals he will gather a wash cloth and use a back and forth motion to wipe down the entire surface of where he was eating with 100% accuracy for 5 trials. 5. While showering, D will independently wash all areas of his body and wash his hair with his specialized shampoo daily for 7 consecutive days. 6. Before getting dressed in the morning, D will apply his deodorant to his underarms and apply his lotion to all areas of his body daily for 7 consecutive days.

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I chose to write 6 objectives for the domestic area because from what his mother said it was clear to see that he needs the most work in this area. He has a lot of trouble taking care of his grooming and hygiene independently. By coming up with these objectives the hope is that he will be able to master all of these skills independently and be able to take care of his grooming and hygiene once he has moved out of his mothers house. All of the skills I chose to write objectives for were ranked very high and were things that Ds mother had expressed concerns with. The first objective that I chose dealt with washing his face. I chose this school because his mother had expressed that his hygiene in the bathroom was something that she really wanted to work on. If he got into a consistent routine of washing his face daily I believe that this objective would be very simple for D. The next objective that we focused on was getting D to independently brush his teeth daily. This is an extremely important skill for him to learn. He will need to learn the proper way to brush his teeth and it is important to teach him this before he leaves his mothers house and moves into his own apartment. The next objective that I focused on was his cleanliness after eating a meal. Being able to through his trash away is an extremely important skill to learn at his age because if he goes out to eat he will need to be able to clean up after himself and throw away his own garbage. The next objective also deals with Ds cleanliness after eating a meal. The fourth objective requires D to wipe down a surface after he has eaten there. After he throws away his trash D should also be wiping down his eating area. Being considerate of his surroundings and making sure to keep

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things as cleanly as possible are very important skills that D should learn and are skills that his mother has expressed as being very important. I decided to cluster washing his body and shampooing his hair into the same objective because I feel like it will be easier for D to remember if he learns it all at once. They are both done in the same place at the same time, so I believe that it is appropriate for these two to be grouped together. D has eczema and has a specialized shampoo. It is very important that he washes his body and applies his shampoo every single day. Both of these skills were ranked very high and should be heavily focused on. Ds mother had also expressed concerns of her son not applying his deodorant or lotion. The sixth objective clustered both of those skills together. Both of these skills consist of D applying something to his body and they both need to occur at the same time (after his shower). Due to his eczema he must put the lotion on daily and because he is a teenage boy, deodorant should also be applied daily. It is crucial that D get into the habit of applying both his deodorant and lotion daily. With these objectives, D will hopefully be able to do all of these skills independently and without his mothers reminders. Leisure Domain IEP Objectives/Skill Cluster/Rationale:

1. After school D will participate either independently or with someone else in either running, biking or some form of exercising for two days a week for 3 consecutive weeks. 2. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school, D will choose to read from a book, newspaper article or magazine for 3 consecutive weeks.

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3. Once a week D will engage in a conversation with a peer and ask them to either hangout, go to a social event or go to a play/theatrical event for 4 consecutive weeks. 4. When playing video/computer games, D will choose between three games and will engage in play for the hour he has been given for two days a week for 4 consecutive weeks.

D really struggles when it comes to socialization with his peers or engaging in leisure activities. The four objectives that I came up with will hopefully increase Ds socialization skills and his activity level. His mother had expressed to us that she would like D to be getting some type of exercise during the week. I clustered together running, biking and other forms of exercise because in the end they would all help him to reach the same goal. By doing some type of physical activity two days during the week he may learn to eventually like it and start to engage in these activities even more throughout the week. The second objective that I came up with has D reading for three days out of the week outside of school. It is very important for D to engage in educational activities outside of the classroom so that he can continue that when he leaves high school in two years. Ds mother also expressed that she would like her son to be able to independently choose and play video/computer games. Objective 5 allows D to choose between three video games and engage in play for an hour. The fourth objective that I came up with is something that is very important to Ds mom and will have a real impact on Ds future. For this objective I clustered having conversations,

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hanging out with peers and attending social events. Since D really struggles with socializing with his peers it would be good for him to have something to talk about going into the conversation. The goal would be to get D to be comfortable with addressing his peers and finding an event that he would enjoy engaging in with his peers.

Community Domain IEP Objectives/Skill Cluster/Rationale: 1. After a doctors appointment, D will write down what his doctor has ordered him to do and he will then independently follow those instructions daily for four consecutive weeks. 2. While dining at a restaurant, D will communicate with both the hostess and waiter/waitress and express his wants and concerns (i.e. placing order, asking for items and asking to be sat) to them throughout the meal for 5 consecutive trips to the restaurant. 3. While shopping at Wal-Mart or any other store, D will independently approach employees and ask for assistance when needed for 5 consecutive trips. 4. While in a food court or cafeteria, D will select food items that fit the criteria of a balanced meal for 5 consecutive trips. I chose to come up with four objectives for D in the community category because they are all skills that he will need to be completely independent in his future and were all ranked very high in terms of need. D has a severe case of eczema and has to frequently go to the doctor for it. D often forgets what the doctor had told him to do or he does not follow the doctors orders.

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By writing down what his doctor has said to him and following that order every day, hopefully he will get into the habit of not forgetting. The second objective deals with D communicating with the waiters and hostesses at a restaurant. I clustered talking to a waiter and talking to a hostess because they are in the same environment and if he can learn to socialize with one of them he will hopefully be okay with talking to the other worker as well. As he gets older his mother will not be able to order for him or ask questions for him, so it is important that he learn to do this on his own. The third objective, asking employees for assistance, will be very important in Ds future. When he goes to the store by himself he will need to be able to know who to ask and how to ask a question if one arises. It is very important that he learn the skill of approaching someone and asking for assistance because it is a skill that can be used in multiple environments. The last skill was very important to Ds mother and that is the ability of having him be able to pick out a balanced meal. If D goes on to live independently he will need to be able to come up with healthy options of food to choose from so that he does not just eat junk food all of the time.