Strategies for Educating Students About Autism

If you've been working as a teacher for even just a little while, you've likely had students with autism. If not, you probably will at some point soon. Autism is a term for conditions involving the diagnosis of Autism, Asperger's, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS). It's possible you've experienced issues between students and were unsure how to approach it. When you tried to tackle the situation, you probably came across an even bigger issue: how do you actually explain autism, so they understand it?

It may be a complicated topic, but when successfully addressed, it's rewarding to see changes in everyone's understanding. An even better outcome is when students begin to teach each other important skills involving socialization and empathy. In today's blog post, we hope to teach you a few strategies for educating your students about autism.

The playful strategy involving television

This is especially helpful for students in grades 1-4. It introduces awareness of autism through normalizing it and without overwhelming them with too much information. This can be undeniably beneficial because these students will grow up with this knowledge. By introducing acceptance and education early on, it will benefit both the children with autism and also their classmates.

It's pretty common for a child to enjoy watching television, so why not use it to your advantage? Here are some specific episodes that involve autism in some form:

• Sesame Street: Julia and Grover Search for Patterns and Different Ways to Say Hello - Both highlight strengths and how to build acceptance amongst peers

• Arthur: When Carl Met George and Carl's Concerto/Too much of a Good Thing - These videos focus on developing friendships

• Mack and Moxy: A Spectrum of Possibilities - This video addresses how children with Autism benefit from inclusion and acceptance while improving everyday

• Pablo – Making Friends at School - This video focuses on different types of friendships and how to make friends

Educate via one or multiple lessons

The traditional way to educate students about autism is through a lesson, which can be incorporated into the curriculum. The lesson would benefit everyone, regardless of the grade, since it can be adapted to be age-appropriate.

One topic important to address is that autism displays itself in different forms and with different characteristics.

For example, some girls tend to receive later diagnoses due to masking. Masking is a coping mechanism, which basically means that they mimic other girls they see. This can result in autism in girls being undiagnosed for years. Boys are often diagnosed generally early on, which can make it easier for family members to adjust.

Additional topics you can teach to your students might be:

• Defining what autism is

• Teaching some of the different characteristics

• The point of view from someone with autism

• Daily challenges one with autism might encounter

• Ask the student, parent, or therapist to make a short presentation. Depending on the grade level, you can use a variety of tools for it, such as:
  

  • Video presentations (TED talks, informative videos by different autism organizations, etc.)

  • Slideshow presentation prepared by you with the help of reputable sources (see the end of the article for templates), information from parents, the students, etc.

  • Media/print outs involving self-awareness, empathy, etc.

We recommend that no matter the method or the lesson, you leave time for a class discussion. This gives the students an opportunity to ask any questions they have or to let you know what they didn't understand. If they do not have any questions, you can offer conversation prompts. Another idea to encourage a class discussion is to pair up the students (or small groups) to discuss a few outlined questions or topics.

For additional ideas and resources, you can find more information using the links at the end of this blog. These links include a lot of free PDF downloads to print out, such as lesson plans, guides, activity sheets, and handouts. This will help you prepare for the lessons and offer a variety of activities.

If you are an educator and would like to further discuss how to educate your students about autism spectrum disorders, please contact us at (973) 500-6767. We are happy to help direct you to further resources and help you understand what lessons we consider the most important in the different age groups.

FREE class plans, brochures, visualizations, print outs, more sources:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/ed_autisminc.pdf
https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/world-autism-awareness-week/schools.aspx#free
www.angelfire.com/pa5/as/talkingtokids.html

A free teacher handbook:
http://www.wateringcanpress.com/pdf/teachersguide_aab.pdf

Other resources and more information:
https://www.autism.org.uk/products/core-nas-publications/autism-in-the-primary-classroom.aspx
https://www.autism.org.uk/products/core-nas-publications/autism-in-the-secondary-classroom.aspx
https://www.autismspeaks.org/tool-kit-excerpt/teaching-peers-about-autism
www.delautism.org/kids_only.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/5852/autism.html
http://www.autism.net/cms/index.php?page=708