Wendi Rinaldi: social use of laguage programme

[sophia]

I am very concerned about the effect the social Use of Language Programme by Wendi Rinaldi might be having on my 4 year old daughter. It was recommended that she started the programme after she was diagnosed with ASD. she seemed to respond well to Looking Luke but the following stories particularly Betty Butting In seems to make her very self conscious about whether or not she had friends, she?s started telling me she didn't want to go to school because she has no friends... when I voiced my concerns to her ST I was told that children go though a stage of perhaps misunderstanding the programme but in the long run its a useful tool to refer to the various characters at appropriate moments during social interaction as a reminder for the child to adjust her behaviour. I am not convinced, my daughter identifies with the main character and with the fact that the character has no friends because of the way she behaves. I think it is particularly negative when poor Betty Butting In is not redeemed despite her efforts to take turns in conversation and features again in a later story.

What I am not sure about is whether or not the programme is being implemented correctly since I read an article on the NAS site evaluating the programme. In it it mentioned how children were grouped with at least two adults in each group for modelling activities.

My daughter is simply being read the stories by her STon a one to one basis.

Any ideas about how this programme is supposed to be implemented?

[Karen A]

Don't know the answer to your question but welcome to the forum.Karen

[Kathryn]

Hi Sophia and welcome . I'm sorry I have no experience of the programme you refer to.

 

I'm moving your topic to the Help and Advice section in the hope that you will get some more responses.

 

Kathryn.

[Flora]

Hi Sophia

 

Welcome to the programme.

 

I don't know the answer to your question, sorry, but your concerns appear to be well founded from what you have said. Hope you get some answers.

 

Flora

[CarerQuie]

Hello,

 

My 8 year old has followed this excellent programme at school and has really come on.At his school,they do it in groups with at least a couple of adults and various props.(One of the charcters in the Betty Butting-In story wears gigantic ears to denote being a good listener.)

 

It's excellent!xx

Edited September 11, 2006 by CarerQuie

[UltraMum]

My daughter is simply being read the stories by her STon a one to one basis.

Any ideas about how this programme is supposed to be implemented?

 

Don't know much about the programme as such but I would have thought that more explanation etc would be needed, especially as your daughter is identifying with the main character. Role play and modelling with adults who know what they are doing sounds fairly crucial to the programme ...

 

Reading the explanation of the proframme on the NAS site ... ot doesn't seem that the programme is being used properly ...

 

 

The stories start with the basic skills listed above and then move onto more difficult concepts such as friendship skills. Ordering the sessions according to the teacher's manual is therefore very important as a means of building up basic skills. Children are assessed on communication skills and self/other awareness before embarking on the programme, and assessment is continuous throughout. Children are then usually grouped appropriately, with each group including two members of staff. This is essential for the modelling activities, which take place. An initial session sets up and gels the group. The sessions that follow begin with warm up activities such as 'who has the ted?' and then move on to raising awareness of skills such as good looking, through the various stories available eg the 'Looking Luke' story.

 

Next, the two adults present a model conversation between speaker (A) and listener (, first with B being a poor communicator then with B being a good communicator. Children feed back on these modelled conversations, with staff asking prompting questions to focus observations. Key points from each of the activities can be reinforced with the posters and stickers of the various characters available in the pack. The children are then asked to join in a game that requires them to use the interaction skill being practised. The children then go on to have conversation practice in both the listener and speaker roles, with the other part usually being taken by an adult at first. Other children observe and give feedback, and the leader revises the learning points from the lesson.

 

Once the children have worked on all the basic interaction skills they go on to look at more abstract concepts through more complicated stories. Stories and concepts that may be covered in this part of the session are (for example) 'Bertie the rabbit who wanted to be best', which examines winning and losing. Other activities in this final part of the session may include matching games or find a partner games.

 

The programme requires each activity to be applied to all communication skills and each self/other awareness topic before moving on to the next. For example, good sitting is taught using all the interaction skills activities available before moving onto the next skill.

You could try asking the clinical manager of the SALT service what training the ST has had in delivering the programme, although that may get their backs up a bit ...

 

Hope you get things sorted

[madme]

You could call Wendy Rinaldi herself - I know someone who did and found her v helpful an informative. Good luck

[sophia]

Thank you all for welcoming me to the forum and all your advise.

I did talk to Wendy Rinaldi on the phone and as I suspected the programme was not being implemented correctly.

Wendy was extremely helpful and took a lot of time explaining the recommended use of the SULP programme. I am convinced, not just by my talk with Wendy Rinaldi but also by talking to other professionals who have used the programme, that it can be very beneficial for children with my daughter's difficulties.

With the help of Wendy's advise I raised the issue in a meeting with the school yesterday and they have agreed to implement the programme correctly.

 

Sophia

[UltraMum]

 

Well done - keep an eye on them though ...