Today’s newsletter will include the following:

• 💡 What is Assent?

• 🔬 How Assent was Gained from Preschoolers in a Recent JABA Article

• 📰 News: A New Way to Diagnose Autism, and a Discussion on the Link Between Aspartame and Autism

• 🌟 Creator Highlight: Visual Examples of Assent and Dissent

• ✂️ A Spooky Ghost Craft 👻 

• 🎓️ Resources to Learn More (and get those sweet CEUs!)

💡 The Learning Zone: Assent in Practice

To assent literally means to agree to a plan or request. When working with individuals on the spectrum, the practitioner must not only stop went assent is removed, but should actively seek assent for all aspects of treatment implementation.

This can be done most simply by asking vocal individuals to assent by asking them if they are ready for a learning activity, or by being attentive to the non-vocal cues of individuals that are not capable of vocal assent.

Note: The removal of assent is called dissent!

🔬 Literature Review: Assent from Preschoolers to Participate in a Group Game

In the linked article, “Using a group game increases preschoolers' step count” researchers taught preschoolers “The T-Rex Game”, a dinosaur variation of tag, to increase physical activity during recess.

While conducting this study with the children, researchers announced to the pre-school participants, “At recess today, we are going to play the T-Rex game again. Remember, you do not have to play, and you can join or leave any-time you want. Just say, ‘I am not playing,’ or ‘No, thank you’ to someone if they think you are playing.” they additionally added “T-Rex only chases humans who are moving because they have bad eyesight, so if you want to be chased, you need to be running, jumping, or climbing.” (Mercado Baez et al., 2023, p. 5).

This is a great example of assent with young children within research that can readily be applied in the learning environment. These researchers were able to provide instructions for vocal assent and dissent to the learners as well as instructions for non-vocal assent and dissent by stating that the child can run to show they want to participate, or not run to show they do not want to participate.

_{This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.}

📰 In the News:

🌟 Creator Highlight!

Check out this TikTok by Behavioral Therhappy @behavioral.therha about identifying assent and assent withdrawal (dissent) with real life examples!

@behavioral.therha

Do you know how to identify Assent and Assent withdrawal? #autismacceptance #inclusionmatters #traumainformedcare #autistictoddler #unmask... See more

✂️ Craft Corner: Simple Tissue Ghosts for Halloween

🎓️ Learn More