Incidental Learning

Incidental learning is perhaps one of the most effective teaching strategies. It allows the child to learn in a non-pressurizing environment and helps him to learn about generalization- adapting the skills that he knows in any setting that he is in.

However, very often we as adults miss out on the many opportunities presented to us for carrying out incidental teaching. We are so entrenched in our own learning system that education happens only in the classroom, that we fail to see the natural environment as a valuable teaching tool.

Natural environment versus controlled setting.

A controlled setting is an environment that is manipulated so that activities within it can yearn results that are not affected by external factors. For example, a lesson is held in the classroom so that students do not get distracted by outside noises and thus may concentrate better.

A natural environment contrary to a controlled setting, involves activities held outside of a manipulated setting. For example, instead of conducting the sketching lesson in class, the art teacher brings her students to the park to complete their drawings.

While there are advantages in learning in controlled settings, we tend to overlook the positive effects a natural environment has in many aspects of education. One of the merits of a natural environment is the opportunity for incidental learning. For example,

1) A community visit to the zoo is fun for the children but it also teaches them about animals and the various concepts that are associated with the animals.

2) A grocery shopping trip can be more than just stocking up on home necessities but also be a lesson about social rules (queuing up, wait for turn),  different categories of items and money counting skills.

3) Playing a game with the family teaches about following rules, social cues and manners and encourages social interaction such as sharing.

4) Going to the gym not only promotes gross motor skills and motivation but also provides opportunities to teach action words and verbs.

The possibilities and advantages of incidental learning in a natural environment are endless. Of course, incidental learning can be done in a controlled setting too. However, there are so many things the natural environment has to offer. Why restrict ourselves and our children to just the structured and standard routine? In fact, we want to inculcate a sense of flexibility in our children's daily life as discuss in my Flexible Thinking Series and the natural environment is always a helpful ally in achieving that goal.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions that you would like to share with me and other readers out there , please do not hesitate to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.

Also, visit my website, www.triumphantkids.com to find out more about the services that I provide.

How Experience is a Splendid Thing!

How do we let a child know what a dog looks like? Well, by showing him a dog and by telling him that what he is looking at is a dog! However, children with autism may have difficulty accommodating the fact that dogs look differently or that there are many different kinds of dogs.  Showing the child pictures of different dogs may aid in accommodation of the idea that there are more kinds than that one dog he had been exposed to. Thus this brings us back to the importance of categorization- when teaching a child to categorize the different kinds of dogs (for example, big dogs vs small dogs or dogs of different breeds) facilitates the gathering and locking in mentally of information regarding dogs. 

As discussed in the previous post about choice making, information is crucial in the process of choosing. Not just children with autism or other special needs but all children and all adults – everyone – have to rely on their past experiences to retrieve what they know and like about something in order to choose what they prefer. 

Of course, it may be so much easier to make a choice when presenting the items in front of the child. However, the purpose of not presenting the items - if you remember from the previous post – is to encourage thinking. Furthermore, at times it is difficult to present the selection available or allowed within sight due to several reasons such as it is impractical to bring out the items from the pantry and playroom and line them up in front of a child whenever a choice has to be made. Furthermore we want to teach the child to initiate thinking and communication. Yes, a child may get tempted to try a piece of tasty looking candy or she may get excited over a cause and effect toy being demonstrated in front of her. But the real world is a place that, most of the time, demands people to rely on their past experiences to initiate choice making.  

Also, a child’s ability to make use of more complex language in making choices depends on their degree of exposure to various experiences. Think the difference between “I want biscuit” versus “I want to eat chocolate biscuit” or “I want ball” versus “I want to play basketball”.  Thus this leads us to the following formula – 

Experience →Thinking → Choice (motivation) → Language (Communication)

Simply put, positive experiences motivates a child to think on how to get the preferred item or activity that he wants and language is the common tool used to achieve that goal. In other words, experiences that are meaningful play a huge role in eliciting communication from a child whether he is verbal or nonverbal (understanding the fact that nonverbal children always have other options of communication available to them). 

There are so many reasons why we must conscientiously, purposefully and constantly expose our children to various new experiences. The above examples are just a few. It is time we as adults take more responsibilty and action in engaging our children with activities and information we often take for granted as we were growing up neurotypically. We must also not forget that taking time out to enagage our children with activities that create positive experiences helps in the cultivation of positive relationships between the adults and the children. Surely positive relationship is another key to increased positive behaviour towards learning!

If you like what you have read today, please help spread the words around. And please do bookmark this blog and come visit regularly for teaching and autism based content. Also, do not hesitate to email me with any feedbacks or questions. I will also be adding more contents to my website. However for now, you may still want to visit it to find out more about the services that I provide.

Till the next post, I wish you and your children all the best. :)