Teacher Tips

The autistic child does not learn nor respond in any kind of typical, expected manner. Often teacher's feel slighted or not respected by an autistic child due to the lack of obedience or sometimes even acknowledgment of a teacher's authority. This makes for an untenable situation for both the child and the teacher. What follows are some tips to avoid just such situations and provide a learning atmosphere that allows autistic children to succeed.

Children with autism work better with greater success in controlled, quiet environments. While much research has been documented that active, creative, and even noisy classrooms often benefit the educational process, for an autistic child, the more ordered and calm the climate, the better. This means that a child with autism is better suited for certain personality teacher types. This is no reflection on the quality of a teacher, but simply a reminder to administrators and teachers that not all teachers are well-suited for children with autism.

Since autistic children think in pictures, it is necessary for instructions to be written down and even supported by pictures when possible. This includes details for mundane activities such as lunch or snack time or recess. Often pointing at an ordered schedule that includes a step by step approach can save in the frustration of verbal instructions that are not easily understood. Materials for school should be readily accessible and perhaps numbered for reference. I recall when Joel spent several days not eating the lunch we gave to him which included spaghetti in a little bowl. Finally after several questions and confusing moments at home, we realized he would not eat without a fork. In our minds, he could simply walk over to the forks at the cafeteria and get one, but in his mind he simply did not have one and therefore could not eat.

More patience is needed in dealing with autistic children. Remember that words heard (and an autistic child may actually not hear the words due to being caught up in something else) are visually imagined before they are interpreted as to their meaning. This means that it takes double the amount of time to understand what is being said. Patience may be the single most important concept a teacher needs to remember when dealing with autistic children.

Unfortunately in today's world of classroom instruction, we often create learning environments that are collective. While in some ways this is beneficial to autistic children, in that they need to learn how to respond in a group setting, mostly it is confusing and frightening. When possible a school needs to provide some kind of individual instruction either from professionals or paraprofessionals or in some instances peers. Peer guidance is vitally necessary in the classroom and can be a key ingredient for the autistic child provided it is the right kind of peer.

Tests, assignments, and projects require limited problems per page. When an autistic child encounters 10 or more questions, he gets overwhelmed and has trouble completing the first one. Fewer problems on a page, even though it causes more pages, results in a feeling of accomplishment and goals. Connected to this is the inevitable mistake. A spelling error on the paper or a cut-off letter from a poor copy can shut down the learning for the child who is unable to get past the problem. Teachers must make extra effort to present a clean copy free of mistakes to the autistic child.

Homework may be necessary at times and even educationally valuable to most children but to an autistic child and his parents, it is torture and suffering at home. Parents may or may not understand the expectation for the homework and without written instructions, the homework will likely not be done accurately. Furthermore the distractions and requirements of home are not generally conducive for careful attention to homework. A 10 minute project often takes 2 to 3 hours to complete.

Money and value of objects have little to no meaning to an autistic child. Teachers may work to point out how specific values of objects or spend time explaining how money works, but much of that remains a mystery to the child. For example, an autistic child may one minute write on a tissue and then later on a desk or in a book. To the child, it is all the same--a place to write or draw, but to a teacher, the child has defaced a valuable object.

One of the most difficult things facing a teacher and a parent is the idea of punishment. All children (and adults for that matter) require punishment occasionally in order to learn correct behavior. Many schools have a system of check marks or name on a board or some kind of warning system. After three of these, the child must put head down or do extra work or perhaps see the principal. Unfortunately for the autistic child, very little of this makes sense. Yelling, physical punishment, isolation do not generally have great meaning. When punishment is necessary, it is best to use it in some kind of positive way by temporarily denying that which is valued by the child. "Because you hit Johnny on the playground, you will not get to draw on your paper this afternoon." In this instance, a picture showing the improper behavior would likely get better results.

If teachers will keep in mind the need for written, simple instructions, an ordered and quiet environment, specific and limited goals, and great patience in all things, the autistic child can actually be a great help in a classroom. Correcting spelling or grammar mistakes, placing the books in order, organizing the materials, or getting the papers straight can all be exercises that are beneficial to the child as well as the classroom. Mostly teachers and administrators have to recognize the individual requirements of the child and work to meet those needs as much as possible.