Collecting good data doesn’t need to be something we dread…not when we learn to make it simple and still get the information we need. Classroom teachers have A LOT going on…we get that because when we aren’t training; we work in schools every day. We’ve also lived with kids that have autism and have worked in many of their homes…and wow… parents have A LOT going on too! That’s why when we need to collect data, it has to be efficient or it just won’t reliably happen. Let’s say we want to get started on a toilet training program. Parents will need to communicate how it is going at home and teachers will need to communicate how it is going at school. It doesn’t really work to just kind of talk about our general impressions because we miss out on too much valuable information. Besides, our perception of “how things are going” isn’t always so accurate when you compare it to actual data. So, if for example, we wanted to share information about when the child is most likely to urinate we could just record times when accidents occur each day. By looking at that data for natural patterns- a more refined and realistic toilet training schedule can be set which saves everybody time! We’d love to hear about how you’ve made data easy to collect and how you’ve used it to make good decisions for kids with autism spectrum disorders. Bev and Susan
The Dreaded “D” Word…DATA!
Category: teachers and parents
Tag: autism, data collection
Taylor Koehne says:
I love this blog! Yall offer so much great info/advice for teachers and parents alike. It is so true how much you can learn from data (that can be so easily looked over when you are immersed in the classroom with students day in and day out). Sometimes it’s that one piece of information that can seem so trivial that ends up being the missing link.
As much as I hate to collect it… it really is important especially when meeting with parents. It makes the parents feel much more at ease and comfortable with a teacher when they see such documentation being taken.
Wendy Olson says:
I agree with you Taylor, data is the missing link in a lot of classrooms that really can drive the direction of instruction for a child. The data speaks clearly whether it be a behavior you want to increase or decrease. Aside from the ease and comfort level it brings to the parent, graphing the data is so visually appealing and easy to understand. The direction of the behavior and interventions can be “seen”.
I honestly don’t know how I would teach without taking data. It is the only way to show progress and help me know whether I am on target for the path for my students! The data sheets are such a help. Bev and Susan’s “How To” handbooks are great as well with providing the data sheets and how to take the data. This really is a plus if it is a challenging behavior!
Pam Edson says:
So true! The value of collecting and visually displaying data has been radically demonstrated to me as a teacher when I confer with parents and present in ARD meetings. Data is our preferred method of communication and gives us the road map for our children. Bev and Susan have been instrumental in providing the perspective and expertise in the “how-to’s” and “where-for’s”….