Tools to Help Young People with Autism: Whole Body Listener

April is Autism Awareness Month and at PEP, we’re proud of the services we provide that enable young people with autism to thrive. From our PEP Prentiss Autism Center, a Day Treatment Center specializing in students on the spectrum that integrates mental health and special education services during the school day, to our PEP Early Childhood Plus services that provide support to parents navigating their child’s autism diagnosis, PEP has deep knowledge and expertise around neurodivergence. For years PEP has held an internal contest called the “Tools to Use Challenge,” encouraging our experts to highlight the strategies they’re using to enhance the success of the young people on the spectrum.

This year, for Autism Awareness Month, we’re happy to share some of these strategies so that anyone in the community who works with or has a family member with autism can benefit. While it’s true these strategies are helpful for those on the spectrum, they’re also helpful for anyone! Feel free to adapt them to your needs and let us know how they work for you.

What is Whole Body Listener?

Whole Body Listener (WBL) is a tool that was originally created in 1990 by Speech-Language Pathologist, Susanne Poulette Truesdale, to teach students the skills they need to be better listeners as well as how to respect their teachers and peers.

The theory behind the Whole Body Listener approach is to teach that listening does not only happen with the ears. It includes the brain to think about what is being said or done; the eyes to look at the speaker; the mouth to stay quiet/not interrupt; and the hands/feet to stay still and safe. More recently the heart was added by Nita Everly to encourage children to learn and show empathy and respect towards others. Adding the heart piece gives teachers a way to implement a form of social communication to allow for more positive interactions and relationship building opportunities between staff and peers.

Why We Use WBL

We know our students struggle to attend to or focus on even the simplest of tasks at times. It may be a daily, hourly, or even a minute-to-minute struggle for some and as most of us know. The difficulty lies not only with trying to gain our student’s attention, but also in maintaining it, all while attempting to effectively teach the material specified to each individual student’s needs.

But here’s the real question: How can we expect them to listen when many of our students don’t even fully understand what a “good listener” is? That’s where WBL comes in. We use it to teach our students that listening is not just a job for our ears. It’s an active process that requires us to make both physical and cognitive decisions.

When and How to Use WBL

WBL is frequently used at the beginning of the school day during group meeting or before a structured lesson. Once the skill is learned, the teacher can review it by asking students to name a body part used and the corresponding positive behavior.

Truesdale thinks of it as “a tool, not a rule.” In other words, staff need to be flexible about how to use it in the classroom, as well as what their expectations are for each student. There’s no one way to use it and one classroom’s presentation of WBL may look different from another. Some students have difficulty with certain aspects of what’s considered appropriate social communication. For example, maintaining eye contact may cause discomfort, stress, or anxiety for some. In these cases, we need to modify our expectations for that student in a way that is most beneficial for him/her as well as for the group.

WBL Materials and Resources

References

*Whole Body Listener visuals included were adapted from Mayer-Johnson Boardmaker Addendum Print ‘n Play Community Units School

Original story contributed by Kaitlin Condo M.A. CCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist, PEP Phoenix