Teaching Tips for Children with Autism

Lessons tailored by the child’s health care professionals need to be applied on a daily basis in order to help the Autistic Child overcome many of their problems. This can be achieved though the help & guidance of committed parents &

Autistic Children need a structured daily routine combined with firm but gentle guidance… This is not an option, it is essential that structure & a firm but gentle manner is used with these children or inappropriate behavior can & often will surface. Autistic children see the world differently to you & I so often lessons need to be re-iterated time & time again before complete understanding sinks in.

Incorporating role playing games into your daily routine helps the child grasp hold of some of the various social skills he will need in day to day life. A good way of doing this is by the use of different dolls which are able to represent each member of the family or special people in the child’s life. At home we act out little games with the dolls such as ‘going to the shops’; ‘our first day at school’; or ‘what to do if you get angry’. Games can be adapted to meet the current situations in your family’s life & help the child learn how to relate in our world.  Our lad has great difficulty talking appropriately to people so we are constantly teaching him what type of things he can say by using this method.

If your child has speech therapy it is essential that both you & your child’s school practice their lessons everyday.

10 Tips to help your Autistic child

• 1.) Autistic people are often visual thinkers.  Nouns are the easiest words to learn because they can make a picture in their mind of the word. To learn words like "up" or "down," the teacher should demonstrate them to the child. For example, take a toy airplane and say "up" as you make the airplane takeoff from a desk. Some children will learn better if cards with the words "up" & "down" are attached to the toy airplane. The "up" card is attached when the plane takes off. The "down" card is attached when it lands.
  

• 2.) If the child can read, write the instructions down on a piece of paper as people with autism find it hard to remember sequences. Instructions with more than three steps have to be written down. Phone numbers are especially hard to remember.

• 3.) Many people with autism are good at drawing, art & computer programming so it is good to encourage these talents as they can be used to help get future employment.

• 4.) Autistic children often get fixated on one subject such as trains or maps… fixations can become great motivators when it comes time to tech a child how to read or tackle math problems. A Child who loves trains can learn to read books on trains… I’ve noticed young Autistic children almost always attach to the Thomas the Tank Engine series. A lagging interest in maths can be encouraged by using problems which utilise longitude & latitude  to locate a position on a map, or calculating the length of time it takes a train to travel between 2 cities.

• 5.) The use of concrete visual methods helps Autistic people grasp number concepts. Using a set of blocks can help a child learn to add or subtract or slicing an apple into four pieces can help a child learn the concept of quarters.

• 6.) Many autistic children have problems with motor control in their hands. To reduce frustration & help the child enjoy writing a computer really does help. My son couldn’t do his HSC until he was allowed to use a computer for the written language aspect of the course.

• 7.) Some autistic children learn reading more successfully with phonics. Others learn best by memorizing whole words. Children with lots of echolalia will often learn best if flash cards & picture books are used so that the whole words are associated with pictures. It’s important to have the picture & printed word on the same side of the card. When teaching nouns the child must hear you speak the word & view the picture with printed word simultaneously. An example of teaching a verb would be to hold a card that says "jump," & you would jump up & down while saying "jump."

• 8.) Loud sounds like a school bell can hurt an Autistic child’s ears especially if they have sensory issues. Our lad doesn’t like school bells, PA systems, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, thunder, or a lot of conflicting noises going around him at the same time. We combat this issue by the use of a portable mp3 player when appropriate. The fear of a dreaded sound can cause bad behaviour so we need to be ready to act quickly either removing the child if necessary or implementing calming measures until the noise passes. When a child covers his ears it is an indicator that NOISE it is upsetting him.

• 9.) Again visual distractions & fluorescent lights can upset some Autistic children. To avoid this problem, place the child's desk near the window or try to avoid using fluorescent lights. Try using the newest bulbs you can as they will flicker less or putting a lamp next to the child's desk.

• 10.) Hyperactive autistic children who fidget all the time will often be calmer if they are given a padded weighted vest to wear. Pressure from the garment helps to calm the nervous system. For best results the vest should be worn for twenty minutes & then removed for a few minutes. This will prevent the nervous system from adapting to it.
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For more tips on teaching children & adults with autism… visit http://www.autismtoday.com/teachingtips.htm

An Added thought... I personally believe that IF Parents, Caregivers & Teachers alike can learn to be observant with their Autistic Children they will begin to notice many little things that can be adapted as personalized teaching aids...