One of my elementary school students has Asperger's Syndrome and finds it very difficult to keep her desk organized and distraction-free. Once a month we work together when her class goes to computer resource or library, when the classroom is quiet and we can break down her messy desk and get it back in shape, so she can be more efficient in class.
Except for the few people in the world, like me, who love to organize...
Blog of an Organizing Nut ...
most folks find any excuse to avoid the task. This third grader is no exception and she discovers all kinds of reasons to walk to and fro in her classroom to do things instead of sticking to the task of cleaning out her desk. So...last month we started using 10 tokens to keep her on track and today we upped the ante.
Before we dragged any papers or notebooks or broken crayons out of her desk, I gave her 10 tokens. They weren't fancy, just little pieces of scrap paper with the numbers 1-10 written on them, stacked on top of each other in reverse numerical order. When she walked across the room to bring over the trash can to her desk, she handed me token #10. When she went to the sink to retrieve damp and dry paper towels she gave me token #9. Her goal was to finish the whole desk and backpack organization routine we had practiced all year, before she ran out of tokens. All year long she had been increasing her independence with the routine but she needed to break the habit of scurrying around the room instead of staying at her desk and working.
At the end of the 45 minute session she had 2 tokens leftover. Pretty cool, I say.
Clearly, not my finest hour. If you're working with students who have visual impairments or limited attention to task, like the four students in this elementary classroom for students with significant intellectual disabilities, pastels are not the way to go. Sigh.
