#28 101 Ways a Teacher Could Help a Child with Autism

Category:  General guidelines when dealing with autistic children

Suggestion #28:  A young autistic child will strongly associate their feelings about you with what you do with them and for them. 

We all do this to some degree, don’t we?  Both my sister and I love to plan things.  I believe that because of this, when they were little, my niece’s and nephew were always sooooo excited to see me!  And, why wouldn’t they be?  We always meet up with my sister at amusement parks, play grounds, swimming pools, pony rides, you name it!  Because of what we did together, it was easy to be the “fun” adult!
I believe that this connection between what you do with someone and how much you like them is even stronger for a young child with autism.   Please give me a moment, and I believe that I can explain why.  When you were a child, and your mother introduced you to someone she respected, you noticed how she treated that person, how she defered to that person.  Think of when she introduced you to your kindergarten teacher; you just knew that it was important for you to do what this teacher wanted.
Now, imagine that you are oblivious to social cues, and imagine the same meeting.  Imagine that you had no clue that your parent wanted you to respect this person, this teacher.  Now imagine that this person starts asking you to do this, to do that.  What has this person ever done for you?  Why should you stop playing to come inside, because they said so?  Why should you stop playing with these fascinating blocks and sit quietly and listen to the story?  Really, who does this person think they are?!?  I want to go home!!!

So, remember, there is always a connection between what you do with a person and what they think of you.  The younger the child is, and the less they understand social cues, and the less time that they have to know and respect you for other things, the more important it is going to be for you to establish a relationship with them through fun activities.

#26 101 Ways a Teacher Could Help a Child with Autism

Category:  General guidelines when dealing with autistic children
Suggestion #26 If it is a new experience, do not expect them to be verbally responsive. Try to eliminate all unnecessary questions during the experience. Ask the questions after.

This isn’t only true of new experience, but also any situation in which that requires their concentration.  When they are focused on something, it is difficult for them to process what you are saying.  So, before they go into a new situation, give them directions and ask them if they have any questions.  It will be hard for them to ask once the activity has been started.

#27 101 Ways a Teacher Could Help a Child with Autism

Category:  General guidelines when dealing with autistic children

Suggestion #27:  They are not motivated to try to please people that they have just met.  Trying to coax or talk them into something they do not want to do may frustrate them.

My son is very shy when meeting new people, he doesn’t want to look them in the eye or carry on a conversation with them.  This is also true when he meets new adults or care givers that are supposed to be in charge.  Immediately, many adults who are placed in charge of children start to give them directions, even before the child becomes familiar with them.  If the autistic child doesn’t know you, they don’t understand why they should do what you say.  They may find you asking them to do something that is distasteful to them, and they will wonder why they should, or even if they have to listen to you at all.

Think of it from their perspective, if you went into a place and someone you didn’t know started telling you to do something that you didn’t want to, wouldn’t you be irritated?

In other words, try to make the first couple of times that you are in charge of the child as fun as possible, focus on what it is that they like to do.  Have the mother, or a care giver that they are familiar with, let them know the rules and tell them about the less preferred activities.

#25 101 Ways a Teacher Could Help a Child with Autism

Category:  General guidelines when dealing with autistic children

Suggestion #25:  Role plays for them what is going to happen before they go into a new situation.

I find that my son has a very difficult time asking questions once he becomes agitated or upset.  Therefore, role playing helps him tremendously.  He is able to communicate any questions that he might have at time when he isn’t upset or over stimulated.

#24 Ways a Teacher Could Help a Child with Autism

Category:  General guidelines when dealing with autistic children

Suggestion #24:  Avoid multiple directions from multiple people -- have one main person giving them directions
My sister recently went through a very difficult week.  A person very close to her was rushed to the hospital with a serious illness, there was flash flooding in her town and her furnished basement had a foot of water, and then her laptop had a fatal error.  After she saw the message on the screen of her laptop, thinking that she had just lost all of her files, she froze.  She said she sat there starting at the screen for twenty minutes before she could move, not able to comprehend everything that could have been lost. 

One thing many people who have not worked with autistic children don’t realize, is that type of mental overload happens to the child all the time.  It might have happened to you at one time, if you think back over your life you may think of a time when so much happened to you in such a small space of time that you just couldn’t process it.  You just shut down for a few minutes.  Now, imagine going through that shut down and having many different people asking you questions at the same time; would that be helpful?  Instead, imagine one person, speaking very clearly in short, simple, clear directions; that would be better, right?  It still might be hard for you to really understand what they are saying, but you would have a chance. 

Too many people giving directions at once is just going to be confusing to an autistic child.  In any situation that they are in during the school day, they should have one particular person that will explain things to the child.  Best case, it would be the same person all day.  At the very least, the child should be told who they are to communicate their questions to and who will be giving them directions.

#23 101 Ways a Teacher Could Help a Child with Autism

Category:  General guidelines when dealing with autistic children

Suggestion #23:  If the child is showing sign of being upset, allow them time to calm down.

Autistic children may become over stimulated and overwhelmed.  Essentially, their mind needs time to process and they may need more time than you would think to process whatever it is that is upsetting them.
It will be so much easier for them to handle, if you slow down the stimulus as soon as you notice them becoming agitated.  Asking them a lot of questions is not the way to lower their stimulus.  Instead, try to remove them away from any loud noises and sensory input before they are at a breaking point.

#22 101 Ways a Teacher Could Help a Child with Autism

Category:  General guidelines when dealing with autistic children

Suggestion #22:  Avoid surprises during less preferred activities or transitions.

As I have said before, communicating with autistic children may be difficult.  Even if they hear what you are saying, they may not understand.  This is one of the reasons why setting up a schedule for them is so important, that way they will know what is happening, which lowers the amount of communication necessary.  If they have a hard time transitioning from one class to another, and you (during their transition) change something on them with no warning before the transition starts, you could seriously throw them off.  They may need all of their concentration to be on simply getting to the next class.
So please be certain to warn them if even the smallest thing might be different during this time.  (Examples: we are not going to bring your back pack with us; a different TA is going to walk you to the class; we are not going to be having snack during this period, it will be in the next)  No matter how small the change, they will have a hard time understanding why it has to change and they will need time to process and adjust to the fact that it has been changed.  You would greatly increase the difficulty for them to process this information if they also have to transition at the same time.