Have you ever found yourself in a situation with a student who needs visuals and you have NOTHING?!?! Here is a tip that has been very successful for me as both a teacher and a mom of a child with Central Auditory Processing Disorder.
Kiddos with auditory processing issues (and other disabilities) greatly benefit from visuals or graphic organizers to remember multiple step directions. When I am at home or in a situation that I don’t have any visuals, I use the counting on fingers method.
This method is simple…. I simply count on my fingers, adding one finger for each step.
While stating the first step….
Stating the second step….
Stating step three….
I do this while I am stating the 3 step direction the first time. When I am first working on following multiple step directions with a student, I run through this finger method twice. Once the student begins to understand it, I work to fade the prompts. Ideally, you want the student to begin using the finger method to cue himself.
Here is an example of how it may look in my house:
First, do your homework….
Then, feed the cats….
Lastly, I want you to clean your room.
My son is now to the point where I don’t need to use my fingers, but I still ask him to tell me the order afterwards. When my son rattles off the 3 things he needs to do he will use the counting on fingers method to cue his memory. Win!
Do you have a tip for helping students who need visuals? Please share!!
