Autism Spectrum Disorder
- You may find students having difficulty with:
- Communicating efficiently and clearly
- Planning and organizing large assignments, essays, or projects
- Regulation of behavior and amount of participation during class time
- Making peer connections
- Applying concepts to real life scenarios
- Eye contact
- Sitting still or refraining from repetitive behaviors
- Interpreting idioms, metaphors, sarcasm, humor, double meanings, slang
- Asking for help
- Abstract thinking and/or understanding how little details fit into the ‘big picture’
- Transitioning between tasks, classes, or assignments
- Fine motor skills
- Considerations for Instruction
- Clearly define course requirements including dates of exams, quizzes, and assignments
- Give advanced notice of any changes to dates or deadlines in verbal and written formats
- Use concrete language and avoid using metaphors, slang, idioms without an explanation
- Be concise and direct when giving feedback
- Make sure all expectations are direct and explicit – don’t expect student to generalize a rule from one assignment or situation to the next
- If student’s behavior is inappropriate, meet with student individually and give a specific example of why the behavior is not okay and identify the behavior that is appropriate to do instead
- Give options for students to work individually instead of in groups, when possible
- Students may need assistance with classmate interaction
- If student doesn’t understand the appropriate participation level, give specific expectations(ie. You can answer up to 3 questions per class to allow others a chance)
- Work with student to set up a cue so that they know if they need to stop an inappropriate behavior (ie. John, if you have talked too many times in class, I will come and quietly tap my pen on your desk while I continue teaching. This means that you need to stop answering questions)
- Accommodations May Include:
- Copies of Classmate’s or instructor’s notes and/or Power Points
- Audio-recording lectures
- Use of lap top for note taking
- Extended time on tests
- Low distraction testing environment
- Pre-defined cues for behavior management
- Use of computer for written exams