Classroom strategies for autistic children
Joshua is seven. Like most first graders, he goes to school every morning. Unlike most first graders, Joshua has been diagnosed with high-functioning autism. He has a demonstrable lack of social and communicative skills that have, at times, proven to create difficult days for his teachers, his parents, and himself. On any given day, there are forces from at least three varying dynamics in play, any one of which could serve as the catalyst for disrupting the day.
The first dynamic is the school and the rules imposed by that construct: the need for a general calm in the classroom to enable the teacher to teach, the necessary scheduling of repetitive activities and the forced, societal peer pressure of peacefully coexisting with other children.
Obviously, these rules affect all of the children and not just those with disabilities like Joshua. For autistic children, these regularly scheduled events and activities serve as touchstones or anchor points of familiarity throughout their day, helping them to stay focused and on task. In cases where that routine is disrupted, the potential for chaos looms large.
Secondly, is home life. Again, disruptions to schedules or changes in the routine can spell disaster. Adherence to a routine, because of how that dovetails into a set of memorized, oft practiced rules and restrictions generally lessens the fear and apprehension of an autistic child.
The third dynamic is the autistic child, them self. Some days, for no apparent reason, all of the painstakingly taught and learned and reinforced lessons, the hard fought forward progress simply vanishes. Parents find themselves reinforcing rules that have not been broken for months. Teachers may find it necessary to retreat to earlier concepts and building blocks of learning that the child had demonstrated an acceptable grasp of previously. With no warning, no indication prior to it happening, the throw back days can mushroom out of control rapidly.
Given the difficulties, what strategies can we use in the classroom to help keep the high-functioning autistic, elementary schoolchild focused, and learning at an acceptable pace?
Establish a sense of order
A clearly defined set of rules and a schedule is a must. The rules need not be overly long or complicated and the schedule could be as simple as recess is after we do math. For the younger elementary school kids, visuals and manipulatives can help; a clock face taped to the student's desk with movable hands, for instance. Mark the face with such "times" as math, spelling, lunch and science instead of the traditional numbers, and allow the student to set their clock to the current classroom time.
Include them individually
Quite often, the autistic child does not view themselves as part of a larger group. If the teacher says, "let's line up" the autistic child may not correlate that he or she is included in the us. However, "let's line up. Joshua, you too" is a cue that most will not miss and serves to help them feel more like a member rather than an observer.
Provide visuals and manipulatives
Tactile reinforcement goes a long way in helping an autistic child reach a solution. It is generally, much more difficult for them to understand a concept without some way to touch it, or to see it. Be creative, but not demeaning or condescending in your use of such aids. It may be necessary to allow for the continued use of the visual aid long after the child has demonstrated a cogent grasp of the concept and has made it obvious that the aid is no longer needed to help them reach the correct solution. This is directly related to the need for structure and scheduling in the developmentally challenged child's life.
Get the parents involved
This may seem rather obvious and is most likely the mantra of all teachers and schools. In the case of an autistic child, it is a necessity. For the benefit of the child, the rules - the day to day structure and ordering of their life - must be consistent. The material covered in class during the day should be reviewed that night at home. Because autistic children learn largely by rote memory, repetition is crucial. This generally means the autistic child may spend longer each night on homework than the average first or second grader, and parents' involvement is paramount.
Individualized Education Program
If the school has the resources available, e.g., money, personnel, and desire to help, an individualized education program (IEP) can prove to be an invaluable training tool for the autistic child. An IEP can range from something simple like a few minutes outside of the classroom for the child to do some physical activity or have some personal quiet time, to a professionally qualified, in-class aide to help keep the student on task and assist them with things they do not know or understand. In some cases, they are nothing more than changing a student desk chair for a stool, or ensuring a certain food is available at lunch. The key is to tailor them to the individual student.
Praise success
More than anything, an autistic child needs to know when they get it right; to know that they can and do succeed, just like the other members of the class. This does not have to be effusive or continuous. A simple "good job" for completing a task that has been difficult, or displaying an understanding of a previously missed concept goes a long way toward building their confidence and helping them get to the next plateau.
Get to know the student
Even on the good days, the days without a meltdown, or an incident, children with high-functioning autism can feel overwhelmed. There are things many of them may never be able to do or grasp as a concept the way other children their age do.
For Joshua, who has a problem with recognizing letters in the proper order to form different words, reading is a struggle. For example "saw" is saw whenever he reads it. "Was" is also saw, because it has the same letters, and "has" is occasionally saw because it meets most of the memorized criteria for him: three letters and an "a" after an "s". Left to right for words is a concept he readily grasped. Left to right for letters within words appears to be an unrecognizable pattern to him thus far.
Though he enjoys working with numbers, the principles behind some mathematical concepts have remained a mystery to him, as well. Three plus four is seven, but four plus three requires counting fingers to get the answer. Five plus five is ten, but five plus four, or five plus six are answers that require time to decipher.
Joshua's smile reaches every inch of his face and reflects from every extremity of his body. His fingers twitch, his feet stutter up and down, and then his gaze slides off sideways, the bars crash down against outward sharing and the radiance blanks away. He can travel from "I did it!" to "I guess I'm not smart" in an instant. His smile is often shattered by tears from a simple misunderstanding, or a perceived disapproval of his actions. It is only a small wonder that he sometimes complains "But this is hard!"
Children with developmental disabilities like Joshua, can succeed in school with some attention to the details. Provide a structured environment; give them a sense of consistency. Involve them as part of the group and find creative ways to keep them focused and on task. The rewards are in their smiles, in seeing them reach a level of understanding. Or, like Joshua says: "Hey, I did it!"