How to Modify Lessons for Students with Autism

Autistic children often show long periods of repetitive play with one toy.

Autistic students often have limited language and poor social skills. They also exhibit inappropriate and repetitive behaviors, resist change, and give extreme reactions to sensory stimuli. If these students are included in a classroom, teachers will need to modify their instruction, lesson content, and classroom structure. All students will benefit from some of these modifications, as well as from their exposure to students of varying abilities.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Pictures of items relevant to the lessons
• Small items for students to manipulate
• Stickers, tokens, and other items desired by the student

1. Build on the student's strengths and interests. If the lesson is on famous people from the 1900s, and an autistic student in the class is interested in airplanes, ask the student to report on Lindbergh. If the student has limited language skills but excellent woodworking skills, ask him to build a model of the Spirit of St. Louis.

2. Get the child's attention before speaking to him. Use simple and direct language, rather than idioms and figurative language. If the lesson is on a poem or some other work with substantial, nonliteral content, do the following: give the student a list of the nonliteral forms with their literal meanings; ask another student or aide to explain each of the nonliteral forms to the student; or discuss each of the nonliteral forms and their meanings in class.

3. Alert students to any upcoming transitions. For example, alert students class is about to end 5-10 minutes beforehand. Assign someone to help the student at the beginning of a new or unexpected activity, such as a fire alarm.

4. Use visual aids to instruct, organize, prompt and motivate the autistic student. Students may need manipulatives to complete math problems, such as how many apples are left if you start with 10 and eat six. Use stickers or simple drawings to represent each of the classes in the student's schedule. Describe how to complete complex tasks -- such as finding a book in a library or a program on a computer -- by listing and illustrating the required steps. Teachers also can motivate students by depicting the goal of a lesson as relevant and desirable -- for example, using a photo of a car to represent math problems involving miles per gallon. Gradually eliminate these visual aids as students improve.

5. Autistic students may require extra time to complete an assignment. Pace your lessons so students are not rushed.

6. React consistently to the student's behavior with positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior. Withhold positive reinforcement for inappropriate behavior. Reinforcers include stickers, tokens, praise and time engaged in an activity. Positive reinforcers should be dispensed at the completion of a difficult task, and at the completion of each step in a complex process. Reinforcers should be withheld consistently for tantrums, extensive daydreaming and other inappropriate activities.

Tips & Warnings

• Minimize clutter and noise in the classroom.

• If the autistic student has frequent temper tantrums, remove any breakable items from his vicinity.

References

• VCU: Autism
• BCED: Teaching Students with Autism
• DODEA: Reaching and Teaching Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
• Ed2Go: Meet your Students with Autism
• Learn NC: Inclusion Strategies for Students with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Resources

• "Behavior Modification"; Including Children With Autism ..."; Joshua K Harrower, et al; 2001
• Autismtoday: Curriculum Planning for an Inclusive Classroom