Advice for Teachers
Key points for those working with children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Visual prompts/cues: these should be given whenever possible as they are a valuable aid to helping the child to succeed and understand instructions.

Understanding the child’s difficulties: everyone working with the child should be clear about the child’s difficulties, Use them as a guide to teaching and ensure tasks are set at the correct level for the child.

Consistent reinforcement is important: when you set a rule/target inform everyone working with the child about it and how you are doing it and what language you are using. New skills need to be taught and reinforced in every new situation using the same language.

Positive language: when correcting behaviour always give the child something positive to do rather than telling them not to do it.

Straightforward language: explanations should be short, clear and concise. When possible use a visual prompt and break instructions down into short simple steps.
The child will be confused by elaborate sentences and is likely to be confused by inferred meaning. Irony, sarcasm and metaphors will not be understood and figures of speech which are commonly used, will be taken literally by the autistic child.

Structured environment: provide a clear visual structure for the child’s day/life. They rely heavily on making sense of the world through clear visual routines. A daily agenda or timetable will help them prepare for each day.

Change of agenda: write this into the agenda and try and give the child as much notice as possible.

New activities/tasks: these should be introduced slowly, using visual clues and lots of repetition. Start with the familiar. All teaching must be whenever possible within real life situations, using real objects or at the very least some visual representation.

Time and distance: this is a difficult abstract subject and the child needs clear explanations of “start” and “finish”.

Agenda: provide the child with a personal and clear agenda/timetable for the day.
A written/pictorial list of tasks to be competed will help him. Reduce these to a level at which you know the child will be successful and slowly increase the quantity.

Break times: make careful arrangements for unstructured times, such as break and dinnertime. These children are very vulnerable to bullying and teasing. They may need
extra supervision and somewhere quiet to go, such as a library.

Distractibility: allow the child to work in a self contained area. Reduce distractions
- do not sit them near a window or noticeboard for instance.

Instructions: always address the child using their name as they may not understand that general instructions to the whole group include them.

Written rules: establish rules making them as visual as possible and stick to them.
Be firm without being aggressive as clear guidelines and routines will help the child.

Transfer of skills: never assume that the child will be able to transfer a learnt skill into another situation. They will need reminding and may need to be taught the skill again.

Remain calm: seemingly head on aggressive behaviour will almost certainly not be understood and is likely to exacerbate the situation.

Flexibility: is a vital skill and different approaches should be tried to help the child understand instructions and follow them through to the end.

Self esteem: this is usually low in these children. Find ways to use their positive skills. Ensure that they are allowed to sometimes display their strengths (e.g. quizzes that need good rote memory)

Co-operation: will be more successful if you are able to work with the child’s special interest or obsession and link it with the curriculum e.g. use animal figures to help with counting, or let the child paint a picture or make a model of a dinosaur to encourage creativity.

Listen: to the child and the parents - they are the experts! Good communications are the key to understanding how to help the child. Use a home/school book for messages.