Having a primary SDC-Autistic program, it becomes necessary for me to greatly adapt my homework assignments. This one was extremely difficult because Autistic children do not have abstract thinking and have great difficulty in learning to generalize. I could make up the data and fill in all the answers to the planning/work sheet, but I feel that it is more important for you to know how paper airplanes motivate my children. Finding activities that interest the autistic mind and teach the IEP goals can be difficult, but I found making things that fly is highly motivating to my children.

Timmy, who hardly looks at anything that isn't food or Disney related, got up from his chair and came over to see what I had in my hand. He had a big smile on his face as he picked up the plane and gave it to me. He spontaneously verbalized "m" and signed "more". Until now food was the only thing that prompted him to communicate spontaneously. He wanted me to fly the airplane again. When I asked him if he wanted to make a plane he immediately went to my table and picked up a straw. During the one to one session to make the plane, he repeated the word plane several time. He was also very attentive to the task.

David is more verbal. As soon as he saw the plane, he jumped up and said, "Fly". His next phrase, "No Wings", started an autistic conversation between teacher and student. David wanted to fly but without wings. In a very simple way, David and I talked about "Can you fly without wings?" He said yes. We took the wings off the plane and tried to fly it. As David said, "Fall, no wings", I felt he, in very simple terms, understood that we cannot fly without wings. To confirm this, I watched David immediately try to tape the wings back on the straw and say, "Fly, wings, no fall".

Jose let me know, in his simple vocabulary, "Mi Dad" "casa" "Jose", that he wanted to make a plane and take it home to his dad. Although he usually gives up on any project that involves cutting, Jose's attention to this task was greatly improved by his motivation to take it home to fly with dad. I did not have to supervise his cutting at all. This was a first.

And Manuel, well usually every activity is a fight. But not this one. He sat in his chair without a fight. Tried to use the scissors independently --needed to be motored for control-- but did not resist the contact. And tried to blow through the straw. I was so glad that he was able to make the plane move on the first try. He became so happy and was so motivated that he got the plane back on the launch straw without help.

I only have four students, so this lesson was a 100% success. All students were highly motivated, language was developing, and learning was taking place. From now on, paper airplanes will be a part of my curriculum. With more time to develop lessons, I feel that I can develop a small unit on flight that will end with a trip to the airport.