Parenting is challenging for anyone, but for families with autistic children, there are additional daily considerations. Some examples of items to have in this area include bean bags, pillows, Play-Doh, squishy balls or fidget spinners.”Įxpert Q & A: Support for Students with ASD Having places in the room where children with autism can go to cool down when these behaviors occur can help ease both their frustration and the teacher's a great deal. “This can look like hands flapping, focusing on parts of objects such as spinning wheels, making loud and repetitive noises, jumping up and down and many other behaviors. “All children with autism engage in sensory behaviors or stereotypy,” Leichtweisz explains. Give students space for sensory reactions to the environment.“Providing specific routines and keeping them in place whenever possible will help children participate fully in activities.” “Children with autism respond well to structure,” Leichtweisz says. “Having pictures, especially when transitioning between activities, will help children with autism respond more independently.” “Generally, children with autism are visual learners,” Leichtweisz says. Appeal to ASD students' visual nature.In the following section, our experts weighed in with advice about what teachers can do to create the best environments in which students with autism may learn. Since children with ASD have unique problems that other students usually don't face, educators need to adopt unique pedagogical approaches in order to reach them. “This should be done for all children with special needs, including those with ASD.” What Educators Can Do “Should the student struggle to meet his or her IEP goals, it may be appropriate to reassess the goals or reconsider a change in service delivery if needed,” Lisbon says. Although these agreements can be fairly detailed, it's important for parents to keep in mind that IEPs are not set in stone and can be changed based on how a child progresses. In order to determine the nature of the accommodations necessary to remove restrictions, and create a pathway for academic success, schools are mandated to work with parents to create an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that acts as a roadmap for what the school will provide to the student and what measurable goals the student will be expected to meet during the academic year. Examples of accommodations may include revisions to a curriculum, adaptive equipment, visual support or individual time with a paraprofessional trained to meet the needs of ASD students. The nature of the accommodations depends on what the individual student requires to be successful. “There is often a fine balance between finding the least restrictive environment and one in which children can often learn, and many times parents and schools are not in agreement.” “Children with autism cannot just be thrown into a traditional classroom without any accommodations if they would not be able to benefit from the instruction,” Leichtweisz says. In order to make this possible, classrooms may need to be tailored to the autistic students' needs. Additionally, the law calls for education to be provided in the least restrictive environment, so students who have disabilities have the opportunity to learn among their counterparts who don't have the same issues. First and foremost, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), autistic children are guaranteed a free and appropriate public education meaning students should have access to educational programs that best fit their special needs. The passage of the ADA opened the door for other legislation to be enacted that helps children with disabilities. What this means for ASD students is that a host of legal rights ensure that they can enjoy the same educational opportunities that other students do. When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, it recognized that because of the special challenges people with disabilities face, they need special legal protections to ensure they are treated fairly and not taken advantage of because of their condition. This can cause autistic students to become outcasts among their peers and targets for bullying. In many cases, teachers will allow these students to pursue the solo activities they prefer, but that comes at a price: ASD students are not able to learn the social etiquette and rules with which their nonautistic counterparts are quite familiar. Children with autism tend to prefer doing activities by themselves, which makes them isolated and reduces the opportunities to interact with other students.
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