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PD NAME: Key Strategies for Success – DATE: 18/10/17

Supporting Students with ASD
TOTAL HOURS: 1
PD PROVIDER: Sue Larkey
EVIDENCE HELD: Proforma of own notes, pdf of
webinar notes

NOTES:

SPECTRUM

Every student is different – out of all the strategies you will learn about, it is likely that only 1 out of
every 10 will work for each individual student you have with ASD.

Keep in mind:
 Strategies wear out
 Not every strategy works for every child
 To know someone with Autism isn’t to know Autism

S
Schedules – School is busy. Students cope better when change is clear and they know what’s
happening next.
 Send home timetables.
 Have a visual timetable in the classroom.
 If there is going to be a change, indicate it early.

P
Processing Time
 You need to allow ASD students extra time to process information. This means both visual and
verbal. Allow ‘take-up’ time before repeating instructions, or taking away visual information the
child need to process to understand a task or concept.
E
SEt up for Success
 Often, students on the spectrum have a fear of failure, and this comes across as perfection.
You need to reinforce to these students that it’s OK to make mistakes. These kind of
behaviours need to be modeled on the board by the teacher. Explain and show to student that
mistakes can be rectified.

C
Communication
 Communication with the child’s parents and other support stuff is vital for the student to be
successful. Often these students can talk very quickly, but don’t process words and their
meaning quickly. They may also have great reading skills, but they may not completely
comprehend the text (hyperlexia). When communicating with ASD students, you need to:
o Slow it down
o Limit instructions
o Break it down
o Keep in mind that these students are very literal, and inferred meanings are missed.

T
Timeframes
 Giving students 5-minute reminders will help them to be organised, as they pre-warn the child
of when a change is coming (this in turn, makes it less stressful). It helps answer their
questions of: what’s happening, what order, how long? Etc.

R
Repeat Activities
 Use ASD student’s love of repetition to their advantage. Giving ASD students the chance to
repeat activities helps to reduce their stress as they know what to expect. For many students, it
keeps them calm. When a student get to repeat an activity, it helps them experiences success,
builds their independence and increase confidence.

U
Understanding
 Remember that these students are VISUAL learners. They may experience echolalia, where
they can echo back what they have heard, but this doesn’t necessary indicate that they have
understood instructions or a task or text.
 For lots of students it is very important to build their vocabulary - use the Salisbury 100 most
frequent word list. Practice this on flashcards.

M
Motivate/Reward
 For ASD students, often their special interest is their strength, so use it. You need to ensure
though, that there are boundaries and rules around using this reward system. If there is 24/7
 access, there is no motivation.
 It is best to use lots of short rewards rather than waiting a whole day. The most effective is a
quick activity, then quick reward. For example: 30 minutes work, 5 minutes building rather than
work all day = 20 minutes building.

REFLECTION:

I too am a highly visual learner, so many of my teaching resources and schedules available to my
students are VISUAL. This helps to support my students. My students also know who is going to be
doing duties each week, as all of this information is listed and tabled, displayed in my classroom.

I also have routines in place for students entering the classroom, and how morning caregroup runs.

Use the five minute pack up across the board – won’t disadvantage the kids who are not on the
Autism Spectrum. This will also help my students who are generally disorganized.

FURTHER ACTION:

Log on TRB.