Autism Teaching Tips- Tip #1

With the increased prevalence of autism today and the tendency toward inclusion, I am running into a lot of questions from regular education teachers and paras regarding how to go about teaching kids with autism.  I do have my masters in autism spectrum disorders, so I often get asked these types of questions, and so I have put together some tips to consider when working with kids with autism.  I plan to post various tips over the course of the next several days.

Autism is a Social Communication Disorder

• If you can’t find a way to effectively communicate with your student in a way that makes sense to him/her, learning can not take place.
• Kids with autism require adaptive communication.  Even when kids are verbal, there are likely deficits in their communication skills that require additional supports/intervention.
• Kids with autism are visual, concrete learners.
• Learn to see your student’s behavior as a means of communication.  Their behavior is telling you something.  You can’t change or influence a child’s behavior if you don’t know the source or what’s causing it.

Sensory Processing Disorder is Central to Autism

• Kids with autism can not adequately process (make sense of) the sensations that they are experiencing within their environment or body.
• Their central nervous systems may be easily overwhelmed by sights, sounds, smells, touches or movement, causing them to over react or become upset.
• Their central nervous system may not take in sensory information adequately, so the child may seem to be “seeking” sensory experiences (touching things, chewing on things, moving a lot or playing rough).

That being said... TIP #1:

VISUALS, VISUALS, VISUALS

• Always teach to the VISUAL strengths of the child.  Kids with autism process visual information more readily.
• It is difficult for kids with autism to process verbal information/directions (so just telling them may not be adequate).
• Giving visual cues and visual instruction makes sense to their brain.  **This is why visual cues are so important to use when instructing and communicating with your student.