Help planning activities for autistic children in Reception class.

I like Former Member's suggestion of incorporating the children's special interests, that's pretty inspired! Using the, let's go with trains too, as a project from which to hang all of the other subjects would be more likely to engage the children.

Phonics: hIGH train - low train, maybe having the train driven up a hill by the children? 

Maths could be fun, the addition symbol looks like a person standing with their arms outstretched. Standing between two trains it makes visual sense that the symbol brings the two together / adds them. Putting a minus symbol on a tunnel, where the train 'taken away' disappears into, makes visual sense too. I think the key with maths is to make it practical, physical, something the children can literally grasp like lego bricks where the one and one making two looks and feels and is verifiable as different to the children from one on its own. 

The reading / story time should be easier as there are children's books on just about every subject. 

Good luck!       

Hello and thank you so much for your reply! Your advice is really great and I am working on building a good relationship with the children I work with. Taking their interest and combining it with their learning is a absolutely brilliant idea. I really want to be able to support their learning and development as well as I can! 

Hi NAS36811. I have no experience in this area but I wanted to thank you for coming on here and asking. I do know there is information on this site with regards to using social stories, how to create them and how to adapt them for certain needs/situations.

I guess my contribution would be to build a rapport with the kids and find out what they enjoy. For example, and I know I’m being stereotypical here, but say for example one of them enjoyed trains, I would say bring that into the learning experience, for example, let’s count trains. I just know that with me, I’m more likely to engage with something when it relates to one of my special interests.

I guess any progress will come from a foundation of a shared relationship so developing that, by using something they’re interested in would be a good start.

I suspect you’ll find your way with them because you have already shown that you are prepared to go the extra mile and do what you can to help these children.

Sorry I can’t be of much help but I would like to thank you for doing the job you’re doing and for taking so much care of it. I admire you greatly and thank god there are people like you in this world who can take good care of our little ones who need that extra help.

I think the thing we all want most is to be seen, admired and respected for who we are and I think you’re already giving that to them and it will come through in whatever you do with them.

Hi, thank you for your response.

During phonics they are practising sounds such as 'ure' and 'igh' etc. including writing simple sentences. During maths they are doing addition, take away and word problems. During English they are reading stories and talking about characters and the plot etc. Whatever is being taught in the class by the teacher is too difficult for my children. I am just left to get on with it.

One of the children I work with only uses single words for things he recognises such as trampoline, water, banana etc. The other child does not speak at all. However, he does enjoy nursery rhymes and it sounds as if he is copying some of the rhymes at times as I am singing to him.

What are the rest of the class doing during these lessons? Do you have a lesson guide to follow? (It's difficult to make any suggestions without knowing exactly what 1:1 typically involves.) 

What exactly do you mean by non-verbal, that the children don't speak at all (even at home) or that they just don't speak in school?