New to Autism

G'day everyone,

I am a behaviour teacher in Australia. I work with a case load of students that have behavioural diagnosis such as ODD etc. In the past few months the people who make the rules are placing Autistic students on our case load as a behaviour problem. Therefore I am having to come up with [programs and methods to assist teacher in running their classes.

Being new to dealing with Autism I am unsure how to go about this. I was hoping that there would be educators here that may be able to help.

Specifically I have a 5 year old boy who has just been diagnosed as 'high functioning' autism. He is great in the classroom but struggles in the playground. Therefore he is being isolated and having to sit in teachers offices while other students are playing.

For me this is in no way a solution and is unfair on the student who is missing out on a number of social outcomes.

If there is anyone with some ideas or links to programs that have been effective for these situations it would benefit e and this student a great deal.

Thanks

Alex - mod over 14 years ago

Hello Sterling and welcome to the community. We hope that you find it a useful resource to learn more about Autism and to help you support your students on the Autistic Spectrum.

I’ve moved your query to the education section of our community, because hopefully more people will see it there and you’ll get a better response.

Coping with break and lunch times is a common concern among many parents and teachers so I’m sure that other members will have ideas to share and suggestions to try of things that might help this particular student in positively accessing unstructured times during the school day.

It is important to recognise that every student with Autism is an individual and that you will therefore need to tailor your approach to his specific needs. It might be useful to begin by trying to identify the causes of his difficulties and structuring a programme to work on these one at a time, gradually building up his independence. If you haven’t yet seen our information on education you may find something useful there both in helping identify potential issues and solutions:

http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/education.aspx

In particular you may find our information sheet ‘Understanding difficulties at breaktime and lunchtime’ useful. You can access it here:

http://www.autism.org.uk/Working-with/Education/Educational-professionals-in-schools/Lessons-and-breaktimes/Education-understanding-difficulties-at-break-time-and-lunchtime.aspx

Also of use may be our information on classroom and playground support which considers some of the difficulties students with Autism may have:

http://www.autism.org.uk/Working-with/Education/Educational-professionals-in-schools/Lessons-and-breaktimes/Education-classroom-and-playground-support-for-children-with-autism-spectrum-disorders.aspx

Beyond our own information, the Autism Education Trust has a number of useful resources so you may find it worthwhile having a read of their website in order to get a general understanding of Autism as related to the school environment:

http://www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk/

One particular resource on their website that may be relevant to you looks at personal and social development:

http://www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk/Good-Practice/Written%20for%20you/professionals/P%20Personal%20and%20social%20development.aspx

This document also has a number of references which you might find it useful to follow up, depending on the level of information you want.

We hope that some of these resources are useful to you. I’m sure other members will suggest things that have worked for themselves or their children. If you have any further questions, just ask.

Alex-mod