Estimated time: 8 minutes
The students are lead through a series of exercises that demonstrate aspects of not knowing how to adjust for personal space, control voice modulation, follow social cues and rules, and read non-verbal information. This activity demonstrates some of the problems that children with ADHD, Non-verbal Learning Disability, and Autistic Spectrum Disorders have.
Sample script:
Now I am going to ask you to start using your brains! Can anyone tell me what are the five senses are? Sight, Touch, Smell, Hearing, Taste. (Write these on the Board as the students say them.)
Did anyone ever teach you how to taste? Did you go to class to learn how to feel? No, you just know how to do those things. They are the senses that you were born with.
Did you know there is another sense that we call the “sixth sense,” which is what we call the “social sense?” It’s the sense that we have that we know how to act towards other people and in our surroundings. (Add this to the list on the board.) Most children develop their sixth sense by the end of kindergarten. But some children have a problem in this area. Their sixth sense is either partial or almost absent.
Let me give you a sixth sense example.
(Personal space: make an example by going up to a child, standing way too close to them and talking to them loudly. Ask the child how they felt when you did that.)
(The children will also react to the behavior. Discuss the feelings they have when someone comes too close and is talking loudly. Explain that this is part of the sixth sense. Did anyone teach them these things? NO. But some kids don’t have this sixth sense and don’t know this is not appropriate.)
(It is a great thing to have an arrangement with your volunteers that every time you say the words “sixth sense,” they clap. The speaker makes sure to say “sixth sense” many times. This, of course, is very confusing and the children react to it.)
Hey, what’s all this clapping going on? How does it make you feel? (uncomfortable) Well, our presentation team decided on a SOCIAL RULE of clapping every time they heard the words “sixth sense.” Because you did not know the social rule you felt uncomfortable and didn’t know what to do – just like the child with a sixth sense problem. What social rules do you have? (putting your hand up if you want to talk, being quiet in an assembly, waiting in line without bumping into people and without cutting…) Imagine what life would be like if someone had to teach you each social rule – because you are not able to automatically figure it out. This is called being able to READ a social situation – and some kids have a hard time doing this kind of reading.
People with a sixth sense issue have problems guessing what other people are thinking. For instance, does your teacher ever come into school in a bad mood? (This will make the children laugh and involves the teacher in the activity!)
How do you know he or she is in a bad mood? You know that by the look on her face and what we call her body language. Did anyone teach you that or do you just know that? You know what other people feel. Right, you just know that. Show me how you would look if you were angry. Show me how you would look if you were bored. Show me how you would look if you were anxious to leave because you are about to be late for an appointment.
Well, there are some kids who don’t have the sixth sense who just don’t know that. They cannot read body language and will react inappropriately.
What would be the consequences of the sixth sense difficulty?
•Don’t read level of interest in one’s speech, so on wrong topic or talk too long.
•Don’t understand what others think of one’s actions such as personal space, eye contact, talking too loud.
•Don’t know the correct response to a given situation.
A person like this might have trouble making and keeping friends and can experience the world as scary and unpredictable. Even though kids like this sometimes have difficulty playing with others, they very much want to and do feel the pain of being left out and teasing. It’s easy to think of these children as being stupid or that they are intentionally behaving badly. BUT THEY ARE NOT!
Do you know anyone who has this problem? Did you know that in this school (e.g., 500 students) about 40 kids will have this difficulty? That’s a lot!! Lots of these children are, in fact, very bright. Famous people with this difficulty include Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, and Bill Gates.
If you had problems doing these activities, don’t be worried. The activities were set up to show you what it is like to have different abilities. But if you find you are having difficulties in class and you think you might have a problem, don’t be afraid to talk to your teacher or to your parents about it.
Can anyone tell me how you feel when you see someone with different abilities – for instance someone in a wheelchair, someone who has trouble walking, someone who acts differently than you expect?? (Discussion.)
Can anyone tell me about someone you know like that? (Discussion.)
Remember that someone who has different abilities is not unintelligent or unfriendly or
someone to be afraid of. They are just someone who does things a little differently than regular people.
Can you tell me the best thing to do when you meet someone who is differently-abled? (Discussion.)
Remember that someone who has different abilities is not unintelligent or unfriendly or someone to be afraid of. They are just someone who does things a little differently than others.
Can you tell me the best thing to do when you meet someone like that?
Yes, you might help them. Before doing something for someone always ask, “Would you like some help?” Often the best way to help is to wait patiently when they are slow, allowing them the pride of doing it by themselves. What is the most important thing for you in school? Is it the principle? Is it your teacher? Is it your desk? Or is it your friends? (Most will answer “their friends.”)
Yes, friends are very important to all of us. Some kids who are different sometimes don’t have many friends
The MOST important thing for you to do is to include them. You need to talk to them, make sure they are part of your group, that they are part of the game you are playing, to ask them to your parties, to ask them to come to recess with you, to ask them to join you for lunch.