Strategies for Teachers Working with Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Strategies for Teachers Working with Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

•  Role play/model situations (so students can see instead of just being told)
  •  May also video tape so students can see

•  Be consistent
•  Make sure to keep expectations the same, every time someone is inconsistent it takes 8 times of being consistent to “undo” the inconsistency

•  Foreshadow changes in Schedules
  •  Make it visual by using a symbol or writing it down

•  Use “rules” to enforce concepts
  •  Many students are rule orientated but don’t over use rules, for example you may say the rule in _____ grade is that you stand in line with your hands at your side.

•  Match Student work time to their performance time
  •  If they are able to attend a task for approximately 15 minutes have that much work for them to do (not a lot more or  less)

•  Use alternatives to writing in order to demonstrate competence
  •  May use magnetic words/letters, word processing device, dictating responses, or use symbols

•  Teach Social Skills as part of curriculum
  •  Remember there is no such thing as “commonsense”

•  Understand cycle of tantrums/meltdowns and try to prevent
  •  If you know something is going to set them off, don’t do it, teach student how to handle situation before putting them in it

•  Schedule in down time
  •  May be a 30 second “break” or a 15 minute break depending on student, could be sensory or just a walk

•  Have realistic expectations
  •  Not everyone is social all of the time, not everyone is on task all of the time!

•  Success builds Success
  •  Start a new skill in an area of success first

•  Share success between home and school

•  Focus activities on turn taking/self management
  •  Use visuals to assist (ex.Wait card)

•  Pick a goal and focus on one for each activity
  •  Is the goal the academic content, independence, or socialization

•  Maintain Structure
  •  Try to stay a sconsistent as possible with a routine
    
•  Offer Choices when possible
  •  If two assignments need to be complete give student the choice of which one to do first

•  Use a variety of stimuli in lessons
  •  Use visuals and hands on materials when possible

•  Understand the function of a behavior
  •  Look fo rthe reason behind the behavior, not just the behavior itself

•  Use social stories, role playing, or video taping to make abstract concepts concrete
  •  Try to think of picturing things in your mind or giving a definition of something, if you can’t you need to make it more concrete (ex. Showing what emotions look like, having a wait card, showingwhat “there” is)

•  Teach in a variety of settings for generalization
  •  Introduce anew skill in a variety of places so that the student can see it applies to more than one setting

•  Match visual supports with verbal instruction
  •  Example: hold up a math book when telling class to get out book, write page numbers on board

•  Allow for “wait time” to receive a response
  •  Average processing time is 30-60 seconds, repeating won’t improve comprehension, you need to “wait”

•  Use If/Then and First/Then statements
  •  Example: First complete your math then it’s recess

•  Autism is a reason, never an excuse
  •  Look for the function of a behavior and go from there!

•  LESS IS MORE when it comes to verbal
  •  Even if a student is very verbal, talking too much creates anxiety and makes thing more difficult

•  Stay Positive