#13 101 Ways a Teacher Could Help a Child with Autism

Category: Before the Child’s first day in the classroom

Suggestion #13:  Show the child the outline you made of their day at school.

During the Suggestion #9, present to the parent and the child the plan of the child’s day at school that you created for Suggestion #7.  Go through the day that the child will have.  Focus your attention on the child and determine if they show any anxiety from some of the activities.  Ask the parents if they feel the child will have difficulty with any part of the day.  Don’t be fooled if the child showed no outward signs of stress, but the parents still believes a particular activity will be difficult for them.  Autistic children don’t typically display their feelings until they become very overwhelmed by them; but they are feeling a lot, you will just see very little signs of it in their face or demeanor. 

If the parents and the child have no concerns about your plan for their day, give them the plan and ask the parents to review it with the child the nights before the first day of school.

If they do have concerns, take notes of what they have concerns about and determine if you can be proactive and modify the child’s schedule in order to remove the problems before the child’s first day.