Supporting Students on the Autism Spectrum and Beyond 08/03/2017

What is Autism?

Inside Look at Yourself Daily Routine “Need for same” Calendar Daily schedules Sensory Self-regulation Textures

Inside Look at Your Room Is there a quiet area? Is it organized even a little bit? How close are the student’s to each other? Is it obvious what happens in different places in your room?

Routines and Hidden Curriculum Classroom routine Homeroom PE Music Library Computer Lunchroom Recess Other classrooms if they change classes Hidden Curriculum Refers to the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school. Examples??

Prevalence of Autism Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 68 American children as on the autism spectrum. Autism is 4-5 times more common among boys than girls. 1 out of 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are diagnosed with autism in the U.S.

Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity Back and forth conversation Reduced sharing of interests Reduced emotions or affect Failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.

Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction Abnormal eye contact or body language Deficits in understanding and use of gestures Total lack of facial expressions Nonverbal communication

Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships Adjusting behavior to match various social contexts Difficulties sharing imaginative play Difficulties making friends Absence of interest in peers

Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech Lining up toys Flipping objects Echolalia Idiosyncratic phrases

Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, ritualized patterns Extreme distress at small changes Difficulties with transitions Rigid thinking patterns Greeting rituals Need to take same route Eat same food everyday Preoccupation with unusual objects/interests

Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in environment Indifference to pain/temperature Adverse response to specific sounds or textures Excessive smelling or touching of objects Visual fascination with lights or movement

Visual Supports A permanent product – can leave them for a student for them to refer to (on their desk). Can include written words, symbols, photos, pictures or graphics, graphic organizers, timelines, scripts or objects. We process visuals/pictures much faster than words. Visuals strip the social layer of understanding from the communication.

Visual Schedule How many of you have a classroom schedule posted? Post small version on child’s desk – can break into morning and afternoon.

Other Examples of Visual Schedules

Ideas Escalation vs. de-escalation Choices Quiet place Helper – carry books to library Mark areas where to stand, sit, activity, etc. Consider closeness to others Structuring task/task analysis Choices Fidgets – must teach how to use Picking your battles Parking lot Prepare for changes Peer helper Incorporate sensory breaks Heavy work

“Don’t think that there’s a different, better child ‘hiding’ behind the autism. This is your child. Love the child in front of you. Encourage his strengths, celebrate his quirks, and improve his weaknesses, the way you would with any child. You may have to work harder on some of this, but that’s the goal.” – Claire Scovell LaZebnik

“People with autism are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It’s that you’re destroying the peg.”- Paul Collins  “Autism … offers a chance for us to glimpse an awe-filled vision of the world that might otherwise pass us by,” Dr. Colin Zimbleman, Ph.D.