MSI Press Blog

Dennis Standing in the kitchen, cabinet door open, Dennis and Dad are seeking a snack. “Well, Dennis, it looks like we need to make a trip to the store soon. We are out of your favorite items.” Holding his picture communication support device, Dennis requests cookies.  Dad shows Dennis a bag of crackers and a granola bar, “No cookies, how about one of these?” Dennis repeats his request for cookies and Dad replies, “No. No cookies.” A typical snack time in Dennis’ house is usually pretty casual. Dennis may receive a package of whatever snack he wants as long as he uses his communication device to make the request. Following his training and routine, Dennis persists with his request for cookies, creating a picture sentence, “I want cookie, please.” Dad answers more firmly, “No cookies.”  Feeling confused and reprimanded, Dennis becomes agitated, screams out and stomps his foot.  Opening the cupboard wider, Dad encourages Dennis to look inside, “Look Dennis, we have NO cook

  Excerpt from  Understanding the Challenge of "No" for Children with Autism  (McNeil) - Chapter 2 No Running   Raise your hand if you have found yourself plugging along on a multiple-choice test when you were stopped cold, or at least had to slow down and look more carefully at a question stated in the negative: “Which statement is NOT correct?”  Or worse yet, a double negative: “Which answer does not disagree with the following statement?”  Huh?  Okay, slow down. I’m looking for the incorrect answer and the answer that agrees with the statement. Why did the instructor have to be so tricky? As my hand is elevated along with yours, I admit to having gotten more than a few of these answers wrong throughout my education. In my groove, working steadily along, I was busy looking for the correct answers, not the incorrect ones, and I didn’t read the question carefully enough. As scholars, it is our responsibility to read carefully and decipher the negatives in order to respon

  Excerpt from Understanding the Challenge of "No" for Children with Autism (McNeil) - Chapter 3 When No Means Yes   Augustus One Summer Day in a Class for Elementary School Students with Autism Story originally printed in Autism Parenting Magazine, June, 2017    “Good work, Josiah. You are all done! Let’s check your schedule.” Josiah smiles brightly and hurries to his schedule, knowing swimming is next. As he and Miss Leaky walk through the quietly bustling classroom, a small voice calls out, “Miss Leaky, swimming?”  “Yes, Augustus, first work then swimming. Hurry up and finish your work.”  Augustus smiles and continues working. Miss Leaky and Josiah walk outside and across the courtyard to the restroom.  Returning, the pair is met with a commotion of loud crying, pounding noises, and the sight of Augustus lying on his back kicking his feet.  Miss Leaky inquires, “What happened?” Miss Ellie shares, “Augustus is mad because he was not allowed to go with Miss Alan to get read

Communication No running, No jumping, No talking, No shoes – No shirt – No service.   Speaking in this style of negative phrasing is as common and ingrained as answering the telephone with “Hello.”   To the majority of society, the message is direct, concise, and typically easily understood.    Unfortunately, children with autism struggle with deciphering statements requesting the negation of an action. While it is not impossible for these children to learn some regularly used negative statements, it takes more effort and exposure to the exact phrasing to produce understanding. If we look carefully at the information provided by current researchers and practitioners of autism we could pinpoint some of the children’s receptive communication difficulties.   Autism causes deficits to varying degrees in the ability to understand verbal sounds and attach meaning to them.    Further, if the children do understand the individual spoken words, they may not be able to full

  From the author --  The story behind Entienda el desafío del -NO- en los niños con autismo Entienda el desafío del -NO- en los ninños con autismo is the Spanish translated version of Understanding the Challenge of, “No” for Children with Autism. The author Colette McNeil was inspired to write Understanding the Challenge of, “No” for Children with Autism in the hopes of sharing information on how making purposeful choices when speaking to children with autism can improve understanding and cooperation. In her 30 years of working with autistic children, the author has noticed that the assistance provided to parents, care givers and education staff has mostly been delivered through a series of explicit strategies to address specific instances of need. The collection of a bag full of tricks or “tool bag,” is encouraged. For example, if we want a child to learn to request a snack item we teach the specific phrase “I want cookie please.” Then if we want the child to follow a direction to wa

The following excerpt comes from the introduction to the book, Understanding the Challenge of "No" for Children with Autism   by Colette McNeil, long-time special needs teacher and aunt to a child with autism. Corey Giggling so hard he almost loses his balance, on tippy-toes, bouncing foot to foot, arms swaying in the air, 3-year-old Corey celebrates with joy as he watches Alice approach.   “Uh Oh! Corey thinks this is a game. I probably shouldn’t have been so playful.”  Alice has removed Corey from the tabletop three times in the last three minutes.  Each time keeping the interaction light, she spiritedly engaged, “Oh no, no, no, little man.  We don’t stand on tables. Get down.” He was then scooped up in a hug, spun away from the table and gently placed with his feet on the floor.  Now, standing next to the table, Alice speaks in a more subdued, neutral tone, “No, get down.”  Corey gleefully throws his hands up and rests his body against hers. Alice makes an