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WORDS THAT TEACH QUANTITY... Another great tool for teaching the autistic child!!! I use many words to teach the concept of "the part" verses "the whole". The words below are but a few I use. In addition, when teaching a specific thing, a specific concept, the "degrees" within that concept need to be taught... the part verses the whole in everything. For example, in teaching emotions, let's look specifically at the emotion we label as "happy". The various or "in between" degrees of "happy" need to be taught to the autistic child since he knows no "in between"... he is either happy or not happy, sad or not sad, angry or not angry... the autistic child experiences only the "full blown" emotion or none at all. This is also true in everything else in the child's life... the part of the whole must always be taught... that's why labels are so critical in their world. It's as if they just "can't process or even perceive" the part to the whole in many many areas... and when "parts" enter their world, frustration erupts! So, in teaching emotion, you should illustrate the various "degrees of happy" of happy. These would include teaching the concepts of: giggling, snickering, grinning, contentment, enjoyment, pleasure, satisfied, ecstatic, elated, overjoyed and so on. The point is to teach the various "degrees" or "in betweens" ... between the "a little happy" and "very super super, absolutely ecstatic happy". Once the child understands the various "labels" for the "in between" levels of "happy", s/he can then make use of these emotions. Emotions no longer become outbursts as labels to variations of one thing provide a coping mechanism for the child. As with emotions, the part of the whole must be taught for absolutely EVERYTHING in their life in order to provide the necessary coping mechanisms for these children. The words below will help with teaching the "part verses the whole" in many many facets of life... I learned to use these constantly to provide labeling opportunities throughout the day.
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