Early Adolescent ASD: Simple Strategies for Educators and Parents Alike

 

Simple Strategies for Teachers and Parents Alike

As educators we deal with academic and behaviors challenges with students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It's important to have some strategies on hand to deal with both areas of concern. 

Academic Strategies 

Visual Supports: Visual supports help students with ASD focus on the task at hand. They provide clarity, supporting focus, and provide structure and predictability. Using visual aids like pictures, posters, erasable writing boards, written-out schedules, color-coded prompts, etc. For more on visual supports and their usage, click here.

Structured Teaching: Students with ASD are sensitive to abrupt changes in routine and will learn best in routine situations. Therefore, whenever possible, it is most effective to maintain a predictable routine when teaching children with autism. This ensures that each child will know what is coming next so that they can anticipate and prepare. 

Support Special Interests: My favorite is using topics or activities that interest students with ASD. By focusing on their favorite subjects, I can help them complete their work, focus on academics, etc. Speaking from my own experience as a para, I currently work with a fourth grade student who loves the "Alien" movie series. I set aside time for my student to tell me about the movies, the aliens (called "xenomorphs"), and then we do a scaffolded writing or math assignment. Then he gets to draw xenomorphs as a reward. This is our set schedule and it's effective. It's also helped me build a trusting working relationship with this student. Aim Higher ABA has a great article on supporting special interests in teaching students with ASD. Click here to read the article. 

I've also included the 2020 Evidence-Based Practices Report presented by The National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence & Practice. It contains more information on social skills training, structured teaching, functional communication, visual supports and more. It is highly recommended for teachers and paras who are working with ASD students for the first time. To read the definitive report click here. 

Behavioral Strategies

Manage Transitions: Transitions are difficult times for students with ASD. To avoid behavioral challenges, time the transitions carefully. Give 5- or 10-minute reminders when classes are changing. Write visual schedules too and make sure to list the times when classes begin and end. 

Reinforce Positive Behaviors: It's important to develop strategies to increase the behaviors we want to see in students. It helps to do the following: 

• Celebrating their strengths, goals, and achievements;
• Validate their concerns and emotions;
• Offer simple goals and incentives to do their best emotionally.

I also work with a second grade student at my school. We have a chart where he earns up to four smiley faces. He has to do his work while maintain his behavioral expectations to earn his smiley faces. If he earns them, he gets a choice activity, whether it by gym time, drawing, music, etc. 

Limiting sensory overload: Students with ASD can get easily distracted, especially when it comes to sounds, smells, lighting, loud chatter in the classrooms, etc. I strongly suggest noise-cancelling headphones. Most schools are equipped with those. Ask your administrator to access them. I would also recommend, based on my work with ASD students, to find small ways to keep the classroom as calm and relaxing as possible. Look at your surroundings are see what you can fine. Finally, sensory toys can help reduce stress and behaviors as well. Schools should be able to provide you with those. To see what kinds of toys are recommended, go to this website.