Bryan, Adam, and Ian (starting from left) learning to do DIY clothes hanger
Learning how to set up a DIY Cloth hanger is an exciting and adventurous project for our students. The objective of this project is to construct a movable hanger to dry hand towels in a limited space. This double-pole telescopic clothes hanger is made of stainless steel and bought from a 2nd hand store in Petaling Jaya.
Challenges to children with autism and ADHD
Set up a DIY Cloth hanger is an easy task for typically developing children. But it could be great challenge for these children with learning difficulties in the following aspects
Difficulty in attention span-Hard to stay long in one task.
Difficulty in eyes-hand coordination.
Difficulty in developing logical thinking in solving a problem.
Excessive impulsivity or hyperactivity behaviours may include interrupting others.
In order to help them to set up a DIY Cloth hanger, I have to be very patient, use prompting (either verbal or physical prompt), demo and keep on encouraging them when they made a mistake or not following instructions.
Ian (on right) did the base for the hanger while Adam (standing on left) stacked up the bar
Learning to make things steady and firm was a challenge to Ian and Adam. They had to identify and group bars of the same length and join them together. Matching the bars and manipulating them into standing positions required good eye-hand coordination as well as spatial skills.
Bryan (on right) and Adam working as a team to set up the base for the hanger
At first, they grappled with the difficulty of constructing a firm base. The bars kept falling and scattering everywhere. Later they discovered that they needed to work as a team and also to be patient. One person had to hold the bars in position while the other person inserted the bars into the right holes before tightening the bars. It was a practical and good lesson in working together.
Hand towels with clips were put on the hanger
About an hour later, their efforts paid off. They also added two bars into the middle with cable tights to wrap at the side. That created more space to dry the hand towels. The boys put out the wet towels to test the balance of the hanger. It worked! YEAH! Congratulations to the team.
Report by
Caleb Chang
(Facilitator of SHARE)
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