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posted Feb 12, 2014, 10:14 AM by Quoc-Anh Vuong
No, it's not Revolution Per Minute! It's Rapid Prompting Method, a technique to teach autistic children to express his own thoughts. For few months now, Elizabeth, Huan's speech therapist, has been using this technique on Huan, and the results are just amazing!

Here is a report for Feb 11th, 2014 session:

What a great session with Huan the philosopher! And SO EXCITING to have it on film! You are right Huong, Huan does really start showing off at about the 14 minute mark. I do structure my lessons this way so that we move from shorter, very factual questions and answers to more open ended questions. The earlier, structured questions provide time to warm up a bit - get the motor movements going and improve fluency. You will notice that I generally give significantly less prompting as we go along in the session. Also, Huan's speed tends to pick up a bit too. I like to finish the lessons with a little creative writing or open ended communication. It is SO thrilling to watch my kiddos open up and communicate freely instead of from rigid scripts! I never get tired of this!!!

Here is the transcript from our lesson!


Confucius was born around 551 BCE in Lu province in the Chou era. His parents were nobility, but had become poor when the empire disintegrated into feudal states.
Tell me one thing you just learned about Confucius. CONFUCIUS WAS FROM CHINA

When Confucius was about 15 years old, he became quite interested in learning. In those days, only the nobility and royals were allowed education. All the teachers were government officials. It was hard for Confucius to find a way to learn, so he went to work for a nobleman. This gave him the opportunity to learn and to travel to the imperial capital.

What made it difficult for Confucius to pursue and education? ONLY NOBILITY WAS PERMITTED TO LEARN (Love the word choice of permitted!)

What was his solution? WORKED FOR A NOBLEMAN


How was Confucius different as an educator? TAUGHT WHO WANTED TO LEARN

What were the principles of Confucianism? RIGID RULES OF CONDUCT

I wanted to make sure that Huan understood what these words meant, so I asked him, "What does rigid mean?" FIRM; "what does conduct mean?" BEHAVIOR


What is the difference between s a philosophy vs. a religion? RELIGION IS LOVE GOD. PHILOSOPHY IS LOVE THINKING. (wow!!!)

The most important things to Confucius were peace and order. He felt that everyone had a proper role in society, and that if people were willing to accept their role and fulfill it, that peace and harmony would abound.

What is your role in society? TO BE A GOOD PERSON

In order to help people accept their roles in society and establish order, Confucius laid out what he called ethics. These ethics outlined how individuals should treat one another. The most important of these ethics outlined the responsibilities of children to respect and listen to their parents and other elders. He also laid out ethics for how subjects should follow rulers, for how rulers should treat subjects, how husbands and wives should treat one another, and how friends should treat each other.

Name one of Confucius' ethics. RESPECT YOUR PARENTS

What ethical principles guide your life? I TRY TO MIND MYSELF...."what does this mean?"....I LISTEN TO MY THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT I SHOULD DO.

During his own lifetime, Confucius’ teachings were not widely accepted. However, within a hundred years they were being used by the emperor to help him rule, and eventually became a widely followed religion. Confucianism would remain a powerful force in Chinese history.

"Would you like to talk about some quotes or do some creative writing?" (verbally....QUOTES)

Here are some quotes by Confucius. Tell me what they mean to you.

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." PEOPLE MAKE LIFE MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT NEEDS TO BE.

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." IT IS EASY TO IMITATE BEING SMART BUT REAL WISDOM HAPPENS THROUGH THINKING. (Holy cow! So profound! There is no way I could make this stuff up!!!)

*Such a fun session today!!! Have a great week and bundle up for the upcoming nasty weather! Looking forward to seeing you next week!!! Elizabeth