Scaffolding Supports for Classroom Instruction and Curriculum
Identifying the developmental stage of students can guide priorities and scaffolding of instruction and curriculum to increase student engagement in the classroom. Embedding developmentally appropriate supports can foster student engagement in 3 areas: 3 I ’s of Student Engagement: I nvestment (or Interest), I ndependence and I nitiation. Developmental Stages: PRE-SYMBOLIC/BEFORE WORDS STAGE – Students at this stage are not talking or using symbols to communicate. Priority at this Stage: Build a high rate of nonverbal communication (e.g., conventional gestures that have shared meaning such as: giving, pointing, pushing away, gesturing)
Goal: Initiate 2 communications per minute during highly motivating situations * How this relates to AAC: Because we target student engagement with people (e.g., a
child’s bid for social interaction) at this stage, we primarily focus on modeling for comprehension of single words. The priority is single word meaning and includes: people’s names, actions, prepositions. For comprehension, students may more readily understand real objects paired with directions or presented content.
EMERGING LANGUAGE STAGE – Students at this stage are early communicators and are using single words or symbols. They are learning how to combine words flexibly to communicate. Priority at this Stage: Increase communication involving others (e.g., requesting actions or routines, commenting on experiences with teachers, friends, family) Goal: Build subject + verb combinations (e.g., Harper open cookies. Jamie’s turn) * How this relates to AAC: The priority goal is to develop flexible language to ultimately include
subject + verb + object/descriptor combinations. For comprehension, students will benefit from visual supports for content and for s+v+obj/descr word combinations.
CONVERSATIONAL STAGE – Students at this stage have developed motivation to socially interact with others and readily attempt to maintain reciprocal conversations. They can form word combinations flexibly to communicate a variety of thoughts. Priority at this Stage: Build a sense of self-efficacy and target social norms in conversation (e.g., self-regulation abilities, executive functioning skills, reciprocal turn taking, vocal volume, proximity, topic selection, and topic maintenance etc.) Goal: Build the student’s awareness of social expectations and ability to predict intentions of others. * How this relates to AAC: The priority goal is to develop awareness of social norms and foster
appropriate interactions and emotional regulation skills. Visual supports can be provided to facilitate ability and independence to self-regulate and navigate social interactions. This increases a student’s ability to feel effective as an active participant and communicator within the environment.
Rubin, Emily (2017, March). Navigating evidence-based practices for children with autism: Application of the SCERTS framework for selecting critical educational objectives. Go SSLP Conference, Atlanta, GA. Developed by Forsyth County Schools AT Team; 8.26.2017
Image 3: Scaffolding Supports by Stages of Communication
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