I teach autistic teenagers - looking for advice

Hi,

I'm Autistic myself and have studied Autism for over 20 years, I may be able to help.

Researching - Interested in Art is not the same as researching Art, I'm a fine artist but I have no interest in researching Art and Artists. That's possibly why. If they find researching difficult that's another possibility.

Imagination - I strongly assume it's females who have bigger imaginations. That's one of the differences between Autistic males and females, females have enormous imaginations compared to males, some even say their imagination feels more real than reality itself. 

If I find more I'll let you know.

Thank you for your insight. 

Interestingly I have found our boys are more imaginative which is interesting. 

The researching element has been a bit of a struggle, most students whilst not too enthused will get on with it and complete is - as it is a key part of the course. we have one particular student who when at home will spend hours looking at things on the internet, searching forums etc but in the school environment completely shuts down when it relates to their work. I am wondering whether it is a home/school thing in which they don't want to overlap? But unfortunately it is a necessary part of more than one of their chosen GCSEs. 

Thank you for your insight. 

Interestingly I have found our boys are more imaginative which is interesting. 

The researching element has been a bit of a struggle, most students whilst not too enthused will get on with it and complete is - as it is a key part of the course. we have one particular student who when at home will spend hours looking at things on the internet, searching forums etc but in the school environment completely shuts down when it relates to their work. I am wondering whether it is a home/school thing in which they don't want to overlap? But unfortunately it is a necessary part of more than one of their chosen GCSEs. 

HettieLleshi,

When autistic people shut down or close off it’s often because of something in or about the environment. If no one’s done so yet it will be worth observing the environment for distractions, like if any are over or under sensitive they may be too many stimulants in the environment overstimulating them. An ASD Specialist on a documentary I watched says that the more overwhelmed and overstimulated they are the more they try to control, at home they’re in control of everything. 

One of the differences in an autistic mind is it doesn’t filter out information so soon, once they’ve processed so much information without it filtering out they can feel overloaded and exhausted. I’ve listened to an employer who only hires autistic people, he shared that while doing IT testing there was an autistic person who could not forget a specific set of numbers and it exhausted him that at break time he always took a nap. Those doing the IT testing were looking for a certain fault, after asking the autistic one why he kept taking naps he shared that set of numbers. They came to find that the solution to the fault was in that specific set of numbers, they might be something in the research they’re holding onto and can’t stop thinking about it.

If the parents know of anything else they will only do in certain environments at certain times take note and see if there’s any common factors.

It’s found that autistic people, especially females, have an enormous imagination. One girl I’ve listened to said I quote; “Sometimes my imagination feels more real than reality.” end quote.