Asperger Syndrome & Autism

Description: This lesson proposal is organized around the theme of Autism and Asperger syndrome through the use of a magnificent in its detail work of art by the Australian Steven Coventry, an artist with Asperger’s and a touching short film, “Q & A” by StoryCorps. The Visible Thinking routine used is I used to think..., But now I think...

Level: Intermediate-Upper Intermediate
Learners: All ages
Theme: Asperger syndrome and Autism
Language: Autism and Asperger related language, expressing opinion, may + infinitive
Skills: Observing and describing, speaking, watching a short film, developing reasoning abilities, recognizing cause and effect relationships
Materials: slides, a short video, worksheet, interview transcript

Step 1

Write the word Autism on the board and brainstorm your students around the theme.

Step 2

Show your students Steven Coventry’s painting and hold a plenary discussion around the work of art by asking questions such as: 

What do you think it is?
Do you like it?
Can you find a title?

http://www.redbubble.com/people/stevencoventry/works/10217674-blue-butterflies-tongue

Encourage your students to use language of expressing opinion such as:

I think…
I believe…
I suppose…
In my opinion…
As far as I am concerned…
As I see it…
It seems to me that…
In my point of view…

Step 3

Tell your students that the title of the painting is Blue Butterflies tongue. Then, show them the photo and ask them if they would ever think of drawing a butterfly’s tongue like this.

Step 4

Explain that what they see is a work of art by an artist who has Asperger syndrome, a form of autism. Write on the board: If we want to accept and embrace any person within the autism spectrum we have to think out of the box. Have your students express their opinion about what the idiom think out of the box means (think freely, creatively, imaginatively, unusually). Ask them if they agree with the statement. 

Step 5

Tell your students that they’re going to watch a short video about Asperger with the title Q & A, which is based on an interview. Ask them to predict who will be the interviewer and who the interviewee. Allow 5 minutes and then show the video once.     

Step 6

Let students compare their predictions. Then, ask them how the video made them feel.

Step 7

Let your students in the same groups and tell them that they’re going to watch the video again and that they can ask you to stop it at any point and discuss vocabulary or expressions. Show the video.

Step 8

Ask groups a) to discuss the statements in the worksheet and decide whether they’re true or false and b) write as many sentences as they can using may + infinitive to describe Aspergers. Help them with vocabulary. Allow 20 minutes for the groups to complete the activities and get feedback.

ASP Worksheet

 

Step 9

Show the autism awareness posters and quotes and ask them to discuss them in small groups.

Homework

Give students the transcript of the interview. Tell them to have a more careful look at it at home and ask them to write a short paragraph where they should reflect on their thinking about the theme of Autism and/or Asperger by using the stems:

I used to think…
But now, I think…

Q & a Transcript

I hope you find this proposal worth experimenting.

Disability

Description: This proposal is organized around the theme of disability related to mobility issues through the use of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting The Beggars (The Cripples), a short video by Claire Cunningham, a multi-disciplinary performer and choreographer based in Glasgow, and a short animation from the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland. The Visible Thinking routines used are Compass Points, and Headlines.

Level: Intermediate-Upper Intermediate
Learners: All ages
Theme: Disability
Language: Disability related vocabulary, can/can’t

Skills: Acquire vocabulary for talking about disabilities and ableism, watching 2 short videos, exploring various facets and sides of disability, talking about stereotypes, summing things up and coming to some tentative conclusions

Materials: 2 short videos, painting slide, statements slides, worksheet

Warm up
Brainstorm your students around what they can or can’t do. Conclude that for each one of us there are things we can and things we can’t do.

Step 1

Show your students the picture below and ask them what they think the woman in the picture can or can’t do. Keep a visible record of students’ answers.

Step 2

Tell your students that her name is Claire Cunningham, and she’s a multi-disciplinary performer and choreographer whose work is initially rooted in the use of crutches. Through them she explores the potentiality of her specific physicality as a disabled individual, and aims to challenge conventions around classical aesthetic and dance. Tell them that they are going to watch a relevant video. Show the video.
 

Step 3

Work as a whole class. Draw a compass in the centre of the board or on a construction paper and mark E, W, N, S. 

Provide students with the following prompts to talk about:
E = Excited
What excites you about this idea?
W = Worrisome
What do you find worrisome about this idea?
N = Need to Know
What else do you need to know or find out about this idea?
S = Stance or Suggestion for Moving Forward
What is your current stance or opinion on the idea?

Keep a visible record of students’ responses in the appropriate direction: E, W, N, or S. Students’ responses are recorded for the entire class to see so that they are enabled to build on each other’s ideas. 

Step 4
Show your students Pieter Bruegel’s painting and ask them:
What have the picture and the painting got in common?
How are they different?

The Beggars (The Cripples)

Step 5
Show them the slide and ask them to match key words about disability with their definitions.

Step 6
Organize your students in groups. Hand out the worksheet and ask them to classify the words in two groups: words that reflect dignity and a positive attitude towards disability related to mobility issues vs. words that are hurtful or offensive. Go round the class and help with vocabulary if needed or advise students to look up unknown words in the dictionary. Allow 20 minutes and get feedback.

Words by chrysapap

 
Step 7

Write on the board: Stereotype. Explain to your students that it is grouping individuals together and having thoughts, beliefs or judgements about them without knowing them. It is the product of ignorance or unfamiliarity. Explain that stereotyping is not only hurtful, it is also wrong. 

Step 8

Tell your students that they are going to have a look at some slides involving both stereotypical and right ways to think about people with a mobility disability. Show your students the slides below. Pause at each slide and discuss which case it falls into. Ask individual students to read the statements in the slides. 

Step 9
Ask your students:
What problems might persons with disability face?
What are their rights?

Tell your students that they are going to watch a short animation video from the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Show the video.

Step 10
Hold a plenary discussion on the rights of disabled persons mentioned in the video. The right to…choose support for independent living/work/equal access and participation to education/be free from violence/have their voice heard/access sport, culture and leisure /decide where to live/who to be in a relationship with/who to live with/have access to information.

Step 11
Discuss the idea that disabilities are in society and in a lack of accessibility, rather than in the individuals themselves. 

Step 12
Ask students: If you were to write a headline for this topic or issue that captured the most important aspect that should be remembered, what would that headline be? Let students expand on it creatively or by writing a newspaper article on the theme.   

I hope you find this proposal worth experimenting.