Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions related to the teaching approach presented on the website.

Select the FAQ topic below (General, Declarative Language, etc.) and select a question to view the answer.

If it is easier and faster for me to do the chores around the house, why should I bother to get my child involved?

If you continue to get your child involved, then at some point they may be able to learn to do the chores independently while you relax! In addition, while doing chores with you, the child learns many things: how to work with another person, vocabulary about household items and actions, causal factors for conditions, sequenced steps, basic science concepts (e.g. absorption, impact of heat on materials), tool usage, problem solving, and more.
What is the purpose of visual referencing?

If you use visual referencing, as opposed to language, the child learns to look at your face. Since the face is the source of most social information, it is very important that the child learns to shift their source of information to faces.
How often should I use visual referencing during the day?

As our goal is to have the child be attuned to the face, i.e., to gain information from the person’s face, the more we use visual referencing to guide the child, the more the child learns to look to the face to gain information.
How can I incorporate visual referencing throughout the day?

Some suggestions for incorporating the daily use of visual referencing are: Offering two items and visually referencing the one the child should take Letting the child know where to put something based on a general statement, like “over there”, paired with a visual reference
Why is it so hard to use declarative language?

Since we want to get things done, we are used to using and giving commands. It can be difficult to reset our brains to instead use declarative statements when we are comfortable with commands.
How often should I use declarative language?

In the beginning, using declarative language can be difficult. Start by choosing one activity to practice using declarative language. You can even 'translate' the commands you typically use during that activity into declarative language ahead of time (e.g. instead of “get the plate”, say “we don’t have a plate”). Once you become a declarative language expert, you should try to use it at least 80% of the time.
Why are patterned activities a good way for a child to participate in life activities?

Since a pattern is established, the child knows what she needs to do and can feel competent participating. Competence is a better motivator than M&M’s!
What is a patterned activity?

A patterned activity is one in which one person has one role and another person has another role. These roles are defined ahead and each person stays in his assigned role, e.g. one person gives and the other puts/ one person sprays and the wipes/ one person soaks up the liquid and the other squeezes the sponge/ one person scoops and the other spreads.
Do I have to set up specific activities for patterned activities?

No! Once you learn what a patterned activity is about, you can set up a patterned activity about anything you are doing in the household, e.g. apples into the refrigerator/ boxes into the cabinet/ shoes into a box/ wiping a table/ drying dishes/ washing dishes, etc.
How is coordination different from imitation?

Coordination is when two people align their actions but don’t have to be doing the exact same movements. For example, when walking we coordinate our walking to match manner, pace, stop and go but we don’t have to move in exactly the same way.
What is attunement?

The ability to look to the face for information about emotional reactions. The ability to share facial expressions reflecting emotional states with another person.
Why is attunement important?

Social interaction is based on being attuned to other people: reading other’s reaction to what he is doing or what I am doing or saying; figuring out what a person might be thinking about based on the person’s eye gaze.

Glossary

Attunement

The child focuses on the adult’s face re facial expressions/ the child looks at the adult and offers facial expressions to communicate an emotional reaction. For example, if a child watches intently as an adult takes an item out of a bag and makes a positive or negative facial expression to determine if the item is desirable or not. The child tastes a snack and makes a face indicate enjoyment or disgust.

Chain of behaviors

Understanding how one behavior acts as the antecedent for another. For example, understanding that if a child does not share his treat with a friend that the friend will likely not share his treat with him.

Cognitive flexibility

The ability to accept a change or impose a change without becoming upset. For example, accepting a change in a routine, using a different tool for solving a problem or changing where a task could be done.

Collaboration

Creating a plan for an activity with another person, accepting ideas from the other person, making adjustments to the plan with the other person.

Competence

The ability to do something well and to have a sense of that ability. Competence can act as a motivator for further participation in the activity.

Coordination

When two people work together doing the same activity/role at the same time. For example, carrying a box together or stirring a batter together.

Declarative language

Sharing an experience or feelings with someone else about a prior experience, an ongoing experience, an opinion or a memory. It is 80% of the language in a regular conversation and is characterized by:

the formation of episodic memories
it reflects the ongoing interaction
it involves the sharing of emotional content
it can incorporate an information provided within the interaction
it is the communication that is used in a dynamic system
while one individual does not control the other, there is control within the interaction
there can be self talk for the purposes of supporting self-regulation
the language is defined by the communicative Intent and not syntactic rules or memorized scripts.

It is used to convey a wide range of communicative functions, e.g. commenting, regulating, wondering, referencing, anticipating, predicting, inviting, celebrating, clarifying, repeating, explaining, reporting, encouraging, complementing, sharing, narrating, planning, joking, rehearsing, co creating, comparing, suggesting, etc.

Dynamic analysis

The ability to consider multiple factors when determining a choice, a tool or a solution. For example, understanding that you can move quickly when carrying a tray with empty glasses but must move slowly if carrying a tray with filled glasses. Understanding that you can pop a balloon with a range of sharp items.

Episodic memory

Recalling the feeling of an event along with the details of the event, to come up with a unique, personal meaning. For example, remembering that it was really funny when the water balloon popped on mom’s shoe.

Evidence

Physical remnants that support a conclusion, e.g. I know that someone ate dinner, I see a dirty/ empty plate.

Expected behavior

A behavior done by an individual that conforms to that which is typically done in that setting. For example, a 12 year old asks to use the bathroom in a quiet voice when in a room full of people.

Experience sharing

The essence of human communication and interaction in which the goal is to share emotional reactions, intended actions, variations, memories, plans, ideas, perspectives, thoughts and predictions with another person.

Flexible

E.g. flexible sequences, meaning sequences that have small changes/ flexible problem solving, e.g. using more than one tool to solve the problem.

Flexible connections

Offering a range of associations with an object or action. For example, not offering a static association re: a chair (sitting on a chair) but understanding that you can: eat/read/ talk/stand/ laugh, etc. on a chair.

Giver/putter

A patterned activity in which one person gives and the other person puts. For example, one person hands a spoon and the other person puts it in the drawer.

Imperative language

Language of directing and questioning, and often it is used as a means to an end. The response to imperative language is either right or wrong. Responses to imperative communication can be scripted and predicted. Nonverbal communication is not important in imperative communication. Imperative language involves: questions, directions, commands. It is not dynamic in nature and may not require any further interaction.

Joint attention

A behavior in which two people focus on an object or event, for the purpose of interacting with each other. It can be nonverbal, e.g. looking at an object and then looking back at the other person or verbal + nonverbal, wherein words are paired with the looking or pointing. Being able to engage in joint attention is an early social engagement marker.

Patterned activities

These activities spotlight a basic pattern through repetition. Due to the constancy of the pattern, when the adult makes a change, the child will be more likely to notice it. Given the immediate history of experiencing the pattern, the child will be more likely to be competent to repeat the interaction. This competence will allow the child to assume the responsibility for the regulation, if given enough time. Through the increased competency, the child will be motivated to continue within the interaction. As the child gains competence, the child becomes more resilient and is more willing to accept challenges within other interactions.

Permission

Visually referencing an adult’s face to see a smile or frown and/or head movement (shake or nod) to determine whether or not permission has been granted to take an item or initiate an action. For example, if a snack was placed on a table, the child might watch the adult to gain permission prior to taking the snack.

Perspective taking

Understanding your own perspective (physical, emotional, informational point of view) as well as the perspective of others. For example, understanding that if you look out the door while your mother looks out the window that you will each see different things/ understanding that you might like chocolate but someone else might hate it/ understanding that you might know how many tablespoons are in a quarter of a cup but someone else might not.

Predictions

Offering the next step in a sequence/ activity/ outcome.

Problem solving in patterned activities

The adult embeds a problem within a patterned activity. The problem occurs while the child assumes his role. Problems could involve: increased distance to travel to get the item/ dropping the item the child must get/ visually referencing the item to take, given a choice of two/ needing to open a container to get the targeted item.

Reciprocity

When two people engage in a back and forth interaction. It can be basic such as babbling wherein the child makes a sound, the adult echoes it and the child repeats the sound. It can be nonverbal, e.g. throwing a ball back and forth. It can be complex as when engaged in the back and forth exchange of a conversation.

Self awareness

A sense of personal identity and an understanding of how your emotions and actions impact you vs others. For example, knowing that you like to eat lunch in a quiet space.

Shifting attention

This occurs on two levels: shifting attention by shifting eye gaze from an object to a person/ shifting attention by shifting thoughts as evidenced by the ability to follow a visual reference/ converse on a topic initiated by someone else.

Simple roles

Roles within a patterned activity. Most any given task can be divided into two jobs, i.e., simple roles. For example, one person washes and the other person dries/ one person soaks up the water with a sponge and the other person squeezes the sponge/ one person holds and rotates a cucumber while the other person peels it.

Social assessment

Viewing a setting and determining the social roles, emotional states, and intentions of the participants.

Splitting roles

The child assesses the roles within a task and then offers one role to the other participant and assumes one role or accepts a role offered by the other participant.

STOP

A strategy for assessing a setting based on: the Situation, the Time, Objects and People (who, what doing, how feeling).

Subcategorization

Offering items associated with a portion of a category, e.g. animals with stripes/ animals that live in the water/ animals that live in the forest/ animals that can fly, etc.

Switching roles

The two participants in a patterned activity switch roles, usually by switching seats. For example, if one person was giving socks and the other was placing the socks in a drawer, the two people would stand up, switch seats and assume the opposite job.

Unexpected behavior

A behavior by an individual that does not conform to that which is typically done in that setting. For example, a 12 year old child asks to use the bathroom in a very loud voice when in a room full of people.

Visual referencing

The use of eye gaze to convey meaning. For example, looking towards an item to indicate its location or looking at an object to indicate that one should be selected.