Can You Advise This Teacher of Children with Autism?
I am a teacher at an all boys middle school. I would like some tips on how to support boys with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) to work on tasks that are given to them by their teachers, as some boys use many avoidance strategies and become quite anxious or become a behaviour concern when pressed to remain on task. Sometimes a simple modificatiopn to the task is required, but most often it seems to be simply work refusal.I'm not an expert in autism education as described here, but I do have a few thoughts to share.
First - I wonder whether there is a pattern to particular tasks that particular boys choose to avoid? If John is always uncomfortable when asked to work in a particular spot, or with a particular aide, chances are that there is a sensory issue in that particular spot - or a personal issue with that particular aide. It's certainly worthwhile keeping a record of what is occuring, and under what circumstances.
Second - if, as it sounds, the teachers are using an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) system to teach these boys, it may be that the ABA itself needs some tweaking. From what I've learned recently, the "discrete trials" method, which involves a great deal of table work, is only a small part of the ABA puzzle.
Are you a teacher of children on the autism spectrum? Or are you a parent or an adult with autism who can offer advise?
Comments
I highly recommend the books of Paula Kluth, like “You’re Going To Love This Kid” and “Just Give Him The Whale.” You can purchase these through her website (paulakluth.com), or perhaps even find them in a library (you can contact your local chapter of the Autism Society of America for information on where to borrow these books). Paula Kluth is an expert on autism in the inclusive classroom, and has the most positive, can-do message out there.
I have been professionally diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, and I raise three boys with varying degrees of autism spectrum behaviors.
You should know by now that AS children do not recognize emotions well. Generally this means that the AS child will not respond to a look of disgust or disdain, etc. They may respond to obvious blazing anger. They will not respond to peer pressure until it gets to overt teasing and discreet punches. (I was constantly bullied in school; punched, kicked, jabbed with compasses, personal items stolen as I watched, chewing gum stuck in hair, etc.- no one ever got in trouble for doing this to me, no one ever ratted on the bullies, but if I ever retaliated in even the slightest way, there would be a dozen hands pointing at me and I was severely punished.)
When the AS child perceive the emotions and motives of people around them as swinging between unnoticed and an extreme, life can be rather “touchy”.
Since Dr. Spock’s book on child raising in the 40’s, we have been told to “spare the rod”. This may be good advice for a normal child, but it leaves the parent of an AS child with few options, since words and emotions do not connect. We cannot undo the consequences of Dr. Spock’s book, and emotional ploys will go right over the AS child’s head, so we are left with taking away privileges as the last remaining tool.
It is difficult for a teacher to take away privileges in a classroom; this means that taking away privileges has to fall back on the parents. The teacher and the parents have to have a pact, that if there is unacceptable behavior or performance in the classroom, that it will get back to the parents, and the parents will have to revoke a privilege, such as watching television, or playing video games. This is not easy when dealing with an Asperger’s child, for they may simply choose to ignore the parent and help themselves to the revoked privilege. I had to disable devices, lock things up in steel cabinets, etc. in order to enforce denial of privileges, and even that wasn’t always successful, because sometimes they just went to someone else’s house, and many of these friend’s parents were “enablers”.
Once you have a structure in place of consequences for bad behavior, then you must communicate it the AS child. Do not use sarcasm or expect your expression to convey meaning. State the problem, point out the consequences, and if things do not improve, you MUST consistently carry through with the privileges being revoked. If you want to convey your emotion to them, say it in words- “I am angry”.
Do have some pity for some things beyond the AS child’s ability to change. They are easily distracted. Remember, their brain is concentrating on the distraction; they have truly forgotten what they were supposed to be doing. Try to head off distraction by putting them in the front row, coming down hard on them if they leave their seat. Someone whose thought process is a series of concatenated obsessions will not remember homework or any other series of assigned tasks. I suggest you require each child keep a pocket notebook and REQUIRE them to write down the assignments. This is not foolproof, they may keep forgetting to bring the notebook back to school, but you will just have to work with the parents to reinforce the concept of them checking the notebook each evening, and trying to make sure it goes back to school with them in the morning.
One last challenge- a good percentage of the parents you deal with may be on the autism spectrum themselves, and you will represent a category of people- authority figures- who the AS parent has learned to distrust and fear throughout their life. Some of the same arguments as above apply- be specific, reach out for ideas. The parent may be just as disorganized as the child, and just as likely to forget to make certain homework gets done and school books make it back to school. All is not gloom and doom in this case; for the life with an Asperger parent can yield a wealth of interests and knowledge, which will compensate somewhat for what is not accomplished at school, though it has to be reinforced over and over that to succeed at a job someday, the AS child will have to be saddle-broken.
Lots of good info in that last comment. One thing I would say, though, is that loss of privileges can often cause frustration and anger in an Asperger’s child. I prefer incentives (sticker charts, etc.) to encourage appropriate behavior rather than punishments (taking away privileges).
My child has to deal with teasing and more frustration than I ever did while I was in school. I praise his ability to with stand other’s ignorance. He realizes that everyone has problems and faults, and is secure enough and stable enough to not to tease others for their weaknesses.
These children have so many abilities, insight, and talents to offer others.
As a professional who works with children on the spectrum, as well as the parent of a 10 year old on the spectrum, I have learned that the way that works the best for me is a combination of treating them with respect, and using humor.
My best friend always commented on how easy it is to deal with my son if you talk to him in a matter of fact manner, as you would another adult. Physical discipline doesn’t work with him, and I am not willing to engage in such practices. Tell him how you feel, and send him to his room (limited isolation) work best for my son. He comes out of his room ready to apologize.
I also mentioned humor. This has resolved several potential melt downs over the years. I can laugh at myself, which is good for him to see. Nobody is perfect, it’s okay to fail, as long as you try.
And last but not least, praise your child. They love it when you acknowledge their success, no matter how small it may be.
I’ve just deleted an offensive comment on this blog post - I’m so sorry I didn’t get to see it earlier. I’ve also deleted the responses to the remark (because they just wouldn’t make sense now!).
Please do continue this conversation - you’re offering some wonderful advice!
Dear Teacher,
Use Music and Kinesthetic Learning asap!
Investigate ‘n apply creativity to effectively
touch ‘n teach your students. The more sinesthesia (total sensory involvement) you use, the more your kids will “get” the lessons. U must seriously,methodically apply sensory techniques to succeed! I’m a Teacher myself, tho’ in other related fields.
Good Luck!
I agree with the person who said reinforcers are the best way to handle person’s with Autism Spectrum disorders. First, I have a child with Asperger’s AND I am a public school teacher. Last year I actually Had my own son as a student in my general ed class, per my request. The reason I requested him, was that I wanted him to have a pleasant school year, and for once have a teacher who understood his needs, plus I felt it gave me a year where I didn’t have to listen to another teacher constantly telling me how bad my son was. Now, If you ask my son he will tell you that having his parent is bitter sweet. You can’t get away with anything, but you still have the love and support from someone who loves you more than anybody in the world. Those are HIS words, not mine. I learned a lot about my own child. This child of mine who is a happy go lucky,and I’d never seen him other than happy, was a sulker at school. If he got into trouble for talking, he sulked for hours. If he missed something on a paper he cried for an hour. Once in writing class he missed two questions in a row, and he was just unable to stand it. He stood up, picked up a pencil and broke it in half and threw it into the floor. A behavior I’d never seen. After that I learned never to allow him to miss two in a row, in front of the class. If he missed one and I wasn’t absolutely sure he knew the answer, I called on another student. If he didn’t want to do something, again, problems. So I learned a lot. I think that stickers and those kinds of rewards are useless. I think you have got to find out what reinforces that child. Plus, teachers get stuck, I see it all the time. They want to give stickers so they load the kids up, two months later, the kids could care less about those stickers. The reinforcers need to be changed often and when their effectiveness starts to waine. I know for my child, and I don’t even claim to be an expert on him, that possibly shortening assignments or encouraging him to complete something was helpful. Just walking past him saying Wow, that looks great, when you finish why don’t you look at your Star Wars books for 5 minutes.(What ever their obsessions is). For smaller children, I use their obsessions, like Thomas the tank. Instead of having math problems on a sheet, I draw a Train around them and call them Thomas’s problems. Works everytime. I also think the teacher for the AS students needs to be proactive. Students with AS should NOT be doing busy work, and many many teachers do that. They want a sentence for each spelling word, useless work. Make sure the child with AS knows how to write a complete sentence and then give them an assignment that is meaningful to them. Writing their spelling words in a story about their obsession is helpful. They ALWAYS have an obsession! Keeping them focused, having them away from doors, window, and others sometimes is helpful. Let them have a desk in the front of the room. Then when it’s work time, place them somewhere where distractions won’t occur. My son actually tells me he can see lights flickering all day, that he hears the hum of the lights, that he hears and attends to everything. I can’t imagine what that must be like. I also know that when he comes home from school, that he goes into his bedroom for an hour and doesn’t talk to anyone. I guess the stimulation from the day, he needs time just to get rid of it, and relax. Having somewhere safe to go into the school for those moments may help. Can you imagine the havoic on their nerves having to deal with that all day without even a small break? Even with having my son, I’d sometimes send him to the autism room, just to give him a break from the activity and noise. My son was in school MANY years before I had him. It’s always a nightmare for the child and the parent. My son was supposedly in with people who understood his disorder, so why after 2 or 3 days of school, EVERY YEAR were they calling me, telling me how awful he was? These disorders I believe are the last frontier in education. The parents, teacher, staff, and even the child themselves sometimes doesn’t understand why they are different. The saddest part, the child knows they are different and can’t understand why. We need to protect them at all costs. That means from students who bully them, teacher’s who don’t like them, or are unable to sympthize with their disorders, and load them up on useless work. The work should be meaningful, and appropriate, and that standard should be set, and it should be expected that they will do it. I believe highly in reinforcing good behavior, but I also think we shouldn’t say he’s gonna be upset if he has to do this. If he doesn’t do it, don’t get upset, but say you can’t do this, until that is done. So if it’s recess, and he refuses to do his work, and you have been fair with it in it’s amount and appropriateness, just say “Johnny, I’d love to go out on the playground with you and play basketball, but we can’t go until you do this assignment, and stick to it. It’s NOT a punishment, but a reinforcer with an expectation. I know that middle school doesn’t have recess, but if that child is in your class you can make sure they get some time outside or doing something they love, that’s the beauty of your job! Be careful of any type of criticim, as they can fall apart with that. Impress that making mistakes are part of life and that no one is perfect. Help them, support them, go out on the playground with them, don’t leave them alone in a middle school. When you are a child you love being different. Then as an adult you want to stand out and be different, and make a difference. However, those middle school years you just want to blend in, be a carbon copy. At this point students with AS are targeted for being nieve. They should never be left to their own, so that they don’t become targets. I can assure you in my school that child with AS has an advocate, ME! Everyone should make it their mission in schools to learn about AS and do everything to learn about it, as it is a growing issue everyday and every year.