"I wondered if you had any info to share about the problem of "learned helplessness". Do you have any info we can use to educate parents about it? Thanks for all your help."MC

Answer: Kerry Hogan, Psychoeducational Therapist, Chapel Hill TEACCH Center

In our eagerness to see students with autism succeed, we often end up helping people so much that they become dependent upon our help. This is a particular danger with students with autism because of their preference for routine. Students will frequently avoid beginning an activity or will constantly ask for help, not because they need help, but because this has become part of a routine that they have a hard time changing. I worked with a young man this summer who asked for help several times during his independent work time because he was so accustomed to having someone stand near him and help with any little difficulty, that he had not learned how to be independent. This is why we emphasize the development of visual systems that aren't dependent on another person. Visual systems such as highlighting important information in a reading assignment, giving a youngster a checklist to organize chores, or labeling shelves so that a student knows where to put away toys will teach a student to look for helpful cues in the environment, rather than looking for other people. The therapists who work with adults at TEACCH always say that the clients who are most successful in job situations are those who have learned how to use these cues so they do not require constant supervision.

There are too many types of visual supports for me to mention in this column but a number of useful resources are available for developing these strategies including this web site. In addition there is information at www.teacch.com and in several books available through the Autism Society of North Carolina at www.autismsociety-nc.org.

Once you have chosen a visual system appropriate for your situation, you must try to teach its use without becoming a part of another routine. This can be achieved by minimizing the number of verbal cues you give, and when the student needs help, redirecting them back to the visual system you have created. For the youngster I mentioned above I did two things. First, I made sure that the work I expected him to do independently was work that he had truly mastered so that I knew he did not need my help. This required changing some of his work to be simpler and more visually clear. Then I gave him a sign for his desk that said, "Always try first. When you are finished the teacher will check your work and help you with anything that was too hard." When he started to ask for help, I would point to the sign. In the week I was working with him he didn't fully change his routine of asking for help. His ability to work independently was, however, improving and I am confident that as his teachers continue this strategy, he will become a more independent person. This is obviously a strategy that would not be useful for a lower skilled or younger student. However, picture cues or other nonverbal cues are equally effective in teaching independence.

Here are a few more examples of how you might teach independence:

1. If you are trying to help a student be more independent during transitions, you may develop a schedule. When teaching that schedule, consistently redirect the student to the schedule during a transition. This can be done nonverbally by handing the student a card that matches the color of his/her schedule, or for young student, handing them an object that represents the next activity. For example, rather than saying, "Go to snack," hand the student a cup.
   
   
2. If a student is working on an independent assignment practicing reading comprehension, and you have highlighted some passages to help with this skill, point to the highlighted material when the student needs help rather than actually telling him/her to look at the highlights.
   
   
3. Some students have success with reminder cards as I used with the student I described. For instance, a student working on a relaxation strategy might have a card on the desk that says, "When you are upset, close your eyes and count to 20." Or it may simply be a picture of a person with eyes closed for student who are nonreaders. If you notice that the student is upset but hasn't tried the counting technique, just walk by and point to the card.
   
   
4. Finally, remember to use some nonverbal techniques for students when doing individual instruction. If you are teaching a skill that you expect the student to use independently, try to make yourself a very unimportant part of the instruction. Instead structure the activity and provide enough visual cues that the student will be as independent as possible right from the start. Then use your teaching time to remind the student about the visual cues and help teach the student to use these cues effectively.

   Each of these are examples, not only of using a visual system to make a person more independent, but also of nonverbal ways to teach the use of these systems. If your instruction is primarily nonverbal and is focused on showing the student where the information is, rather than providing the information yourself, the student will eventually look to that information and you will be able to fade yourself from the picture. The student will also develop more confidence that s/he can do things alone and that help is available, even when you are not.

   I'm glad you asked this question. Working with people of all ages, I see how important independence is for people with autism throughout their lives and it's something we must be especially conscious of in our teaching.