How to Teach Autistic Students
Teaching an autistic child can be much more difficult than teaching a child not on the autism spectrum. Autism presents many challenges that can be frustrating for teachers. While there is no "cure" for autism, there are things that can be done to make teaching a child with autism easier and more successful. Read on to find out some techniques for teaching autistic children.
Things You'll Need
- Visual schedules
- Sensory items such as weighted vests or weighted pencils
- Social stories
Instructions
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Work in the proper setting. The best setting for a child with autism is a room without many distractions. Try to minimize audio and visual stimulation in the room you are using. Also try to minimize visual stimuli on the walls of the room. A lack of distractions will make it easier for the child to focus.
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Allow for frequent breaks. A child with autism may have more difficulty focusing for long periods of time than other students, so try to schedule more break time into a lesson plan. It may make an activity take longer, but it will have more benefit to the child.
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Use visual timing devices. Children with autism have a difficult time dealing with changes, so it is important to provide visual cues to help the child prepare for changes. For example, keep a visual schedule posted and refer to it often. It may also be helpful to use a timer, or give verbal warnings to alert the child to oncoming changes. For example, it may be helpful to say: "In 5 minutes, we're going to ___". This allows the child to prepare himself for what is coming.
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Avoid using idioms and other figures of speech. Just because a word or phrase may make sense to you, you shouldn't assume that it will make sense to the child. Children with autism are very literal, and they may become confused by common expressions.
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If necessary, use sensory items to help keep the child calm. For example, the feeling of a weighted vest or weighted pencil may be enough stimulus to help keep the child focused.
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Use social stories. Social stories are stories designed for children with autism that describe a specific social situation, with a focus on how to react in that situation. They can be extremely helpful in teaching children with autism about social conventions that they may struggle to grasp.
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Tips & Warnings
While inclusion in a normal classroom setting is beneficial, children with autism also have very specific needs, so it is generally helpful to get more individualized attention.
One potential area of difficulty for students with autism can be when working on art projects. Many children on the autism spectrum can become frustrated with art projects because they have a clear picture in their mind of what their project should look like, but they are unable to recreate it. This can be incredibly hard for children with autism, and can trigger negative responses.
