A. Autism Spectrum Disorder: Meeting the Challenges

4. Meeting the Challenges

Start by watching this 19 minutes video that will highlight some of the characteristics of students with autism but will also offer some picture-big strategies. While the title says it is for secondary students, the information applies to most children with autism. While the link is automatically putting the closed captioning into Arabic, you can watch the video on YouTube and switch to English clicking on the title and changing the settings in the new window.

As we said at the beginning of this lesson, gifted children with autism are complex individuals. You need to work with families and colleagues (special education, gifted education, mental heath, for example, all working together) to individualize plans to help with the child's needs. There are some steps and research-based interventions you and your school might put put into place. First, be sure that teachers recognize common ASD characteristics and practice patience, flexibility, and understanding with students with ASD. Also, be sure gifted ASD students receive gifted services in their areas of gifted identification with appropriate support in place to allow them to access advanced curriculum. Provide social skills and learning challenges (e.g., inference, perspective-taking, expressive writing) instruction, behavioral supports, and monitor for bullying. Examine the environment for ways to minimize distractions and sensory stressors. Look for ways to use assistive technology supports.

Big Picture Support and Accommodations for Gifted Students with ASD:

Provide gifted services in strength area with appropriate supports
Think of each student as an individual.
Establish appropriate expectations for growth and competence (don’t underestimate abilities in areas of strength and/or interest).
Meet the student where he/she is.
Use interest areas to increase motivation, attention, and learning.
Differentiate products or ways to show proficiency or master --writing is NOT always the best way to show competence
Teach how to generalize behaviors because students with ASD don’t generalize skills to new environments
Shape behavior by making small changes at a time and utilizing reinforcement strategies
Use visual and task schedules
Promote independence by teaching individuals with ASD to regulate their behavior
Address social skills with social stories, small groups, and explicitly teach the "Hidden Curriculum" (see below)
Announce transitions and make them visual
Teach organizational skills

For students with autism it is important that we first address sensory needs in the learning environment. If a student is overwhelmed by the environment they will have a hard time engaging in the learning.

Sensory Issues and Support

According to Cornerstone Autism Center: "Children with autism often present with similar delays and deficits....Some of those delays are in fine motor skills, gross motor skills, sensory processing abilities, balance and coordination, weakened core, poor postural control, and delays in self-care tasks as well as school-related tasks...." Sensory interventions refer to treatments or therapies which aim to improve sensitivity to, one or more of the senses. Some interventions - such as sensory integrative therapy - may use a range of motor and sensory techniques and be designed to improve a range of motor and sensory functions. Motor interventions refer to treatments or therapies which aim to improve, motor functioning i.e. control, coordination and movement of the whole body or parts of the body (National Autistic Society, Strategies and Interventions). As you heard in the video above, children with autism can have extraordinary sensitivity to sense stimuli and react to sound, smell, and light that doesn't even register with neurotypical students. Reflect upon the school environment if you have a child who is reacting. You might ask everyone to avoid using perfume or turn off a flickering fluorescent light. Some teachers will use lamps and avoid fluorescents all together. Allowing students to use noise-cancelling headphones is a common accommodation, as is providing plenty of sensory breaks. Because students can’t concentrate when they are on sensory overload, sensory issues should be addressed first. All staff members who interact with the student, including "specials" teachers such as art and physical education teachers, should be informed and knowledgeable about children with ASD's sensory issues and their supports.

Your special education professionals, mental health, or occupational therapists might suggest other sensory supports such as:

Wiggly, fidgety tools
Disc-Sit cushion
Velcro strips on or underneath desktop
Playing games where the child is forced to use muscles
Activities involving crawling, jumping, running, crashing, climbing, pushing or pulling something heavy, marching, balance work, tunnel crawl, jumping on a trampoline, dance, playing ball/catch, obstacle courses
Tweezer or chopstick play … use pincher fingers to move small items
Playing with Legos, small figurines, or games with small game pieces to facilitate increased grasping and grip strengthening.
Sensory processing and modulation aids, such as:

•Rice

•Beans

•Putty

•Play dough

•Shaving cream

•Cooked noodles

•Sand

Social Skills and Affective Development

While ASD brings challenges in social skills, children with ASD can learn about feelings and improve their ability to express and respond to emotions and social situations.

Ways to support

Individuals with ASD need direct, explicit teaching of social skills EACH and EVERY day. Social skills curriculum and activities have to be planned and implemented with as much consideration as math, literacy, and every other area.

Teach the “Hidden Curriculum” These are the unspoken "rules" of behavior that everybody knows it, but no one ever verbalizes or writes it down. An example would be

Picture of cover of Hidden Curriculum Book -- Don't have significant eye contact in elevators. People will think you are weird or rude or scary…they might say something rude to you like…”What are you looking at!!!”

Use clear, precise language and avoid using slang and sarcasm with people who have ASD. Teach an understanding of language, such as figurative language, e.g., idioms and metaphors, and how to look for and highlight key words in the instructions and directions.

Teach the Art of Conversation

Intentionally teach all students how to engage in reciprocal conversations and how to identify nonverbal social cues
Teach all students how to identify emotions and engage in appropriate conversations
Teach turn-taking skills and following rules using cooperative games

For social skill interventions, the type of intervention strategy should match the skill deficit and student goals.

Increase understanding of strengths and challenges to minimize teasing and bullying
Emphasize strengths and interests in cooperative learning situations
Most importantly, students need time to practice their newly learned skills as well as generalize and transfer into their day.

Other Intervention Strategies and Resources (in brief)

-- To skim and possibly bookmark for later and/or project development

Social Skills: Expanding The World Through Social Development: Your “Wh” Questions, Part 3: Conversational Social Communicators (3-Part Series) (Tri-State Webinar) -- Webinar available through the Colorado Department of Education -- Certificate available upon completion

Social Thinking Curriculum

Relationships: Superflex ™ -- "Superflex provides a fun forum in which they can explore their challenges and identify ways to modify their thoughts and behavior in different settings."

Social Narratives

Social Autopsy Worksheet

Social Behavior Mapping -- Social Thinking ™

Social Skills Groups -- such as ”Lunch Bunch” and structured/planned play groups,

Some optional conversation resources:

$Picture of the conversation train book$

Cover of Talk With Me Book

Teaching Kids With Autism The Art Of Conversation: NPR

Regulation Strategies

Incredible 5 Point Scale - teach social and emotional concepts to individuals on the autism spectrum

5 Point Scale Book Cover

Alert Program

The Alert Program^®, with its user-friendly approach, helps anyone articulate their inner experience of self-regulation (how alert they feel). Self-regulation awareness turns into action with the program’s simple strategies as outlined in the Take Five! book. The program emphasizes how to change alert levels throughout the day, making it easy to get out of bed, work, play, learn, relax, socialize, and go to bed. (Authors of How does your Engine Run?)

Zones of Regulation

Executive Function and ASD

Students with ASD can also be delayed in the executive function skills (Credit for below: Autism Speaks . Difficulties can manifest themselves in many different ways. Here are a few:

Some individuals pay attention to minor details, but don’t see the larger picture.
Others have difficulty with complex thinking that requires more than one train of thought at a time.
Others have difficulty maintain their attention or organizing thoughts and actions.
EF difficulties can be associated with poor impulse control.
Often lack the ability to use skills related to planning, sequencing and self-regulation.

All the same instructional strategies to teach and support EF from the Part 1 course may be used. Here are a few reminders:

Use visual schedules
Send a rubric home to be signed and returned so parents are kept in the loop and are aware of assignments.
Use graphic organizers
Color code for different activities and assignments
Cue and re-cue often
Provide rubrics and outlines for assignments
Take the TIME to help students write assignments in planners (consider using a peer buddy to assist or use online planner)
Pay attention to where the student is in proximity to the teacher and model peers
Use technology (email, calendars, individualized applications--using email, for example, as a way to keep track of assignments.)

Establishing Routines: 3 minutes: A young student may need a lot of support as they are learning to be a student. As they get older, they need to be gradually weaned off these supports and taught to be more flexible- this requires planning. It takes about 8 seconds for them to disengage from the first stimulus to the next. Without visuals, they often have difficulty processing what teacher is saying.

• Set clear rules and expectations

• Provide visual and auditory directions

• Teach that there’s a place for everything-everything in its place

• Provide structure even for unstructured activities

• Give several prior reminders for transitions

• Rehearse procedures for unexpected events (fire drills, guest speakers, picture day, assemblies)

Review of Big Picture Accommodations for ASD:

Hidden Curriculum are those social rules that neurotypical students learn just by observing others, students with ASD have to be taught them explicitly.
Students with ASD don’t generalize skills to new environments, so you have to teach them how to generalize behaviors
Think of each student as an individual.
Establish appropriate expectations for growth and competence (don’t underestimate abilities in areas of strength and/or interest).
Meet the student where he/she is.
Use interest areas to increase motivation attention and learning.
Shape behavior by making small changes at a time and utilizing reinforcement strategies.
Use visual and task schedules.
Promote independence by teaching individuals with ASD to regulate their behavior.
Address social skills with social stories, small groups and information from the Hidden Curriculum.
Announce transitions and make them visual.
Teach organizational skills.
Writing is NOT the best way to show competence.
Program for generalization.
For students with autism it is really important that we address sensory needs before anything else. If a student is overwhelmed by the environment they will have a hard time engaging in the learning.