Show Me Again What I Can Do: Documentation and Self-Determination for Students with Social Challenges

Abstract

This article describes the use of documentation by teachers and their children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) to develop skills of self-determination. Visual feedback, such as photos and video, help teachers plan and children evaluate their performance in social situations, such as finding a friend to play with at recess. This documentation serves as a tool to create a narrative with both the child and the teacher. This narrative evolves with new iterations as documentation is regularly collected and we find that it helps the child to interpret challenging social situations. Highlighting two teachers and their students, this article describes how documentation helped draw the child into making meaning of frustrating or confusing social situations, thus allowing teachers to guide the child to reflect and reevaluate his behavior. Documentation was used to point to positive social interactions that were affirming for the child.

Notes

I would like to acknowledge the excellent work of new teachers, Heather Soldano and Heather Porder, and their support in assisting with this article. Thank you also to the families of the children who agreed to let us discuss and share their children's progress.