Black-and-white thinking involves seeing things in absolutes: good or bad, happy or sad, right or wrong. This type of thinking has global implications for individuals on the autism spectrum, including Asperger's and nonverbal learning disability, as well as those with traditional language disorders.

The rigid thinking can impact learning, functioning in social relationships, emotional regulation, writing and problem-solving. Speech-language pathologists are in a unique position to teach the concept and language of the middle ground.

A low-tech, inexpensive technique can target vocabulary for differentiating and expressing feelings while making concrete the powerful idea that emotions may be seen on a continuum from low to high strength. When grappling with negative emotions, in particular, this language scaffold provides the student lead time for implementing communication, self-advocacy and anger management strategies.

A team at the residential Brehm Preparatory School, in Carbondale, IL, implements interventions for adolescents with complex learning disabilities. Speech-language pathologists work with psychologists, social workers, dorm parents, medical staff and instructors in empowering students to recognize and optimize their full potential through holistic programming and remediation. Using language appropriately is often key to their empowerment.

Many of our students face the challenge of emotionality. Intense reactions can occur, sometimes to the point of shutting down. Without warning a student might escalate quickly from mild-mannered interaction to loudness or tears, evidence of the toggled nature of their emotions. Situations may be perceived as good or bad, and related feelings may be labeled by a few limited terms. Their abstract quality makes emotions elusive to those on the autism spectrum.

When students are asked to list emotion terms, their vocabulary often is limited to happy, sad and mad. Speech-language pathologists can expand their lexicon of feelings while helping them pry open the space between happy and mad with a graduated scale of their own creation.

A lesson using Post-it® notes, a marker, and emotion terms related to anger can be done in individual sessions or as a small group activity. Ask students to think of words that express anger. They may list very few terms spontaneously, but the speech-language pathologist can offer others they have heard (e.g., "irritated," "upset," "furious"). Encourage students to write one word on each note, with a goal of 10 words. For each unknown or vaguely understood term, describe and/or elicit the physiological sensations (tense muscles, faster breathing, increased heart rate); nonverbal reaction cues (frowning, clenched fists, scrunched eyebrows); and situations (someone cuts in line; you lose your pencil) that may prompt such feelings. This associates the abstract nature of emotions with concrete internal and external cues.

Prompt the student to order the feelings from least to most, going from left to right. One way to explain how emotions can start small and grow is to use a speedometer analogy. A car doesn't jump from 5 to 50 mph immediately; there is a gradual increase in speed. A more concrete activity involves filling a glass with water, starting with one drop and slowly filling up the glass. Place a low-intensity anger word at the bottom and a stronger word at the top.

At the therapy table ask students to choose a word that represents the smallest amount of anger to them, such as "annoyed," and place it at the far left. Whatever the student chooses should be used unless it is grossly inaccurate. Students then should choose a word expressing the strongest amount of anger, such as "furious," and place it at the far right. The student sorts the rest of the words until all 10 are in a row. One student created this continuum: irked, irritated, frustrated, offended, angry, mad, enraged, furious, ticked off.

Actual situations and reactions should be discussed for as many of the words as possible. Focus on the differences between them, reinforcing the idea that each word progressively adds more intense feeling. The words can be numbered and referred to as levels of anger.

Ask students when they think they might lose control. They can be taught that when they have the feeling just before the emotion that causes them to lose control, it is a signal to use a strategy for self-advocacy, communication or anger management. The speech-language pathologist, social worker or psychologist can teach appropriate strategies.

Understanding and identifying these levels of feeling give students a powerful tool for self-monitoring and self-regulation. An even greater benefit may be obtained by generalizing the key concept of the graduated scale to other situations because many things in life are not black and white but many shades of gray.

Deb Browne is on staff at Brehm Preparatory School. She can be contacted at dbrowne@brehm.org.