Organizer for Autism Spectrum Disorders (Chapter 9)

1. The 3 broad areas that children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) struggle with are:
a. Impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication
b. Stereotypical behavior
c. Onset before age 3-Child must not meet criteria for Rett syndrome or childhood
disintegrative disorder
2. Outline the differences between Autism and Aspergers in the table below (add or delete
rows if necessary):
Autism
Little or no eye contact
Unaware of social situations
Little to no verbal communication
May have intellectual disability

Aspergers
Awkward eye contact
Interest in social environment
No clinically significant delay in language
No clinically significant delay in cognition

3. The following are the instructional and curricular guidelines for teaching children who
have ASD. Write a brief description of what each one is and an example of how you
would do this in class:
Approaches/Guideline
s

Your description (to help you

understand what it is). Include
steps if necessary on how it
works.
An assessment of students likes
and dislikes.

Example(s) of implementation
in the class

Teach Communication
skills

Build a plan that maps out the

communication skills the teacher
plans to teach and how to go
about it.

Learn about

Systems that attempt to facilitate

During a break or snack time,

take a moment to work on skills
needed. Ex: Student with
hearing impairment can work
on signing
Using a communication board

Preference assessment

Ask students to list the items

they like. Assess what context
students find challenging.
Establish classroom
Creating a consistent classroom
Make sure students know where
routine
routine and communicate the
to go/what to do when they first
routine to students.
enter the classroom. Design
routine for individual students
based on their needs.
Be aware of your
Know what may trigger certain
Make adjustments in the
classroom environment reactions with students and how to classroom to match up with
(hypersensitivity)
adjust routines and schedules to
students particular needs and
help the students
make them feel comfortable in
their classroom environment

Alternative and
Augmentative
Communication
(AAC) devices

and compensate for, temporarily

or permanently, the impairment
and disability pattern of
individuals with severe expressive
and/or language comprehension
disorders.
Teach Social Skills
Work with students to teach them
on how to initiate appropriate
social interactions, respond to
social initiations from others, and
terminate interactions
appropriately.
Social Story
Social skill instruction involving
interventions
individualized short stories
designed to clarify a particular
social context, the perspectives of
others in that context, and the
social skills to be performed.
Establish Collaborative Allow families/parents of the
Relationships with
children to be as involved as
families
possible in their childs education
Functional Behavior
Assessment

A method of gathering data to

design the most effective positive
support plans and to monitor their
progress

Positive Behavior
Support

Modification of behavior
management principles applied in
various community settings with
supports to reduce problem
behaviors and develop appropriate
behaviors that lead to enhanced
social relations and lifestyles

to have students interact

Allow more group/partner

activities to allow students to
develop better communication

Develop stories tailored to the

students comprehension level.
Provide opportunities for roleplay, modeling, and feedback

Possibly create a fun, familycompleted holiday project for

students to work on with
families
Interview the students parents
and previous teachers to clearly
describe and identify any
challenging behaviors as a
means of indirect assessment
Allow interventions that call for
means to teach new skills that
foster independence for the
students

4. Visual aids are used to help students who have ASD. This website has free visuals to use
to teach everyday routines and tasks: http://www.visualaidsforlearning.com/ Explore the
Free Packs, Free Sequences and the Special Packs (Adolescent Boy/Girl) depending on

the age level that you will be teaching. Pick two favorites from each category and write
down how you would use them in class. Do you think these would help children other
than those who have ASD?
1.

Visuals (Type/Name)
Early Childhood Pack
Contains visuals relating to daily routine,
class and individual behavior expectations,
In school occurrences and communication
needs.

2.
Emotions free sequence

Contains visuals that can help children to

express to their teachers/ careers / parents
how they are feeling, help them understand
how to label their emotions and what
emotions others around them may be
feeling.

How I would use them

Ive seen these in classrooms I have
observed/helped out in before and loved
the idea! Visually showing a student
with special needs a card that correlates
with an action, for example bathroom,
can be very helpful for them.
Ive also seen these frequently in
classrooms. I think its a great visual for
students with special needs to be able to
show to others to help express what
theyre feeling; especially if theyre
frustrated.