Can somebody give me tips on how to teach an autistic child?

Question

I would really apprciate it. Thanks in advance

Answer 1

As each child with autism is so different, it's difficult to recommend something specific. The following resources have been very helpful to me, and I hope they help you too. Best of luck!

Here are some of my favorite resources. I hope this helps!

Websites:

"Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew" by Ellen Notbohm - http://www.southflorida.com/sfparenting/sfe-sfp-autism,0,6196233.story

Website of Paula Kluth, Ph.D. - http://www.paulakluth.com/autism.html

Positively Autism (free online magazine, includes free lessons/activities) - http://www.positivelyautism.com

Teaching Tips for Children and Adults with Autism by Temple Grandin, Ph.D. - http://www.autism.org/temple/tips.html


Books:

"Your Life is Not a Label: A Guide to Living Fully with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome" by Jerry Newport

"You're Going to Love This Kid!: Teaching Students With Autism in the Inclusive Classroom" By Paula Kluth

"Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism" By Paul Collins

Any book by Temple Grandin

Answer 2

I work with 3 autistic children all with varying levels on the spectrum. Since autism is more of a social disorder, there is no one best way. The 3 that I work with all enjoy singing, "Ring Around the Rosy" is a big hit. Also try to get communication from the child, whether it be verbal or eye contact and games such as peek a boo. Bouncing, marching, jumping, and swinging are also good to help the child to interact. The most important strategy is to be persistent in your teaching and interacting. For more information try looking up floortime, PLAY project, ABA, TEACCH, or sonrise. These are all different types of programs that are structured towards the education of autistic children.

Answer 3

Transition times are very important. I've learned with 2 autistic children, both need this. I give 5 minute "warnings" for everything. Five more minutes of play time then we will be leaving the park. Five more minutes to finish up your work and then we will eat lunch. For some reason this is very important to them or they will have meltdowns & get upset. Routine and structure is important also.

I think they can learn whatever you want, but I find they sometimes need just many more repetitions to learn it, and as someone mentioned visuals are really good. Both my autism children are visual learners. They also seem to have more up and down days, sometimes they will just have off days where they have more difficulty learning, but then the next day they will do a lot better. I've learned that when we are having a rough day, the next day will get better so try not to get frustrated.

I also thought you could use one of the websites I like: http://www.senteacher.org/main/print.php also you might be able to use www.donnayoung.org

Answer 4

Every autistic child is different and they all have very different styles of learning. It's good to build up a relationship with the child first so you can get a feel for their style. In the past I have used visual tools and also tapped in to their special interests to help them tell and write stories, count and do creative activities.
Most autistic children are more highly strung than other children so you need to stay positive and allow for lots of time out. They need this time to gather their thoughts and chill out. It is not a negative time out but a break for them.
You need to Structure your day and make a timetable so that the child knows 8:50am go over timetable so they know what is happening today, 9am news time, 9:30 Maths, 10 break, 10:10 recess, 10:25 Spelling etc. If there are going to be any changes in the timetable you need to let them know well in advance so they can process it.
Most of all never get angry without very good reason. Some autistic children can't understand other peoples emotions so you need to let them know. I used to wear a lanyard that had all different faces on it. Happy, Sad, Angry etc and i would change it to however I was feeling so they would know. Tell them they have made you happy with what they have done or how they have behaved.
Encourage them to make eye contact with people and shake hands with people they meet from a young age. Help them to interact with other children even if it's just asking the other children a question all interactions are positive.
Finally remember things these children learn from a young age stay with them for life. They learn how to interact with people, life skills and how their behaviour affects others so teach them not only age appropriate things but things that will stay appropriatewhen they are an adult.
This is a very rewarding job!!!

Answer 5

My son is autistic, and from everything I've learned, it really depends on the severity of the condition. Contrary to popular belief, autistic children can learn, but it is best if the appropiate care is implemented at an early age.

You really need to look at this child as an individual and work with him depending on what his/her symptoms are. A lot of children have problems with functional communication and social skills, some children are very agressive and hurt themselves. There are therapies designed to minimize these behaviors.

Try to work on his/her speech. It takes a lot of time and patience because sometimes you don't see much progress right away. Don't give up! If he/she is echolalic, use that to your advantage. Ask him a question and make him repeat with you the aswer. I have used a lot of prompting to teach my son words or phrases that he should use for different occasions. Using flash cards seems to help a lot because they are visual persons. I usually show my son a flashcard with a new word that I'm trying to teach and then we repeat the answer 3-5 times. When I show him the same card again, he usually remembers what he's supposed to say. after a while you won't need to use prompting as much.

Read a lot on the subject. There are a lot of great books that give you tips on managing certain behaviors. One of the best books I've found so far is called "overcoming autism" by Lynn Kern Koegel, Ph D and Claire LaZebnik. There's a lot of great tips to deal with different behaviors.

I wish you the best of luck! Don't give up!

Answer 6

Read two books and you will know

Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew, by Ellen Notbohm

1001 Ideas for Teaching Children With Autism, by Ellen Notbohm

They are easy to read and fabulous...as a teacher of children with autism and a parent of an autistic child both.

Answer 7

I am a Life Skills Coach for individuals with disabilities. Spaced repeteition is the best. Look into which form of learning style the child has (ie audio, visual or kinesetic). Work from that. Should you want more info you can ask me.

Answer 8

You need to bone up on autism. There are many forms and how a child can be reached differs greatly. Some its touch, some hate that. Many are through music, but some are not, you cant throw out a blanket and cover everyone. Like I said, read up and know what your dealing with first.

Answer 9

try visual things to help teach the child also try not to make the items to busy the simpler the better. EG an image of a dog just the dog.
Also try to make the images into what the child is intrested in that will help make the child intrested in learning.

Answer 10

Depends on how profound the autism is. People with autism are sometimes very visual so try giving them some pictures.