How To Teach Autistic Adults

Ten Ways To Build Your Childs Independence

Why are so many autistic adults undiagnosed? | Kip Chow | TEDxSFU

1. Strengthen Communication

If your child struggles with spoken language, a critical step for increasing independence is strengthening his or her ability to communicate by building skills and providing tools to help express preferences, desires and feelings. Consider introducing Alternative/Augmentative Communication and visual supports. Common types of AAC include picture exchange communication systems , speech output devices .

2. Introduce a Visual Schedule

Using a visual schedule with your child can help the transition from activity to activity with less prompting. Review each item on the schedule with your child and then remind him or her to check the schedule before every transition. Over time, he or she will be able to complete this task with increasing independence, practice decision making and pursue the activities that interest him or her.

3. Work on Self-Care Skills

Introduce self-care activities into your childs routine. Brushing teeth, combing hair and other activities of daily living are important life skills, and introducing them as early as possible can allow your child to master them down the line. Make sure to include these things on your childs schedule so he or she gets used to having them as part of the daily routine.

4. Teach Your Child to Ask for a Break

5. Work on Household Chores

6. Practice Money Skills

7. Teach Community Safety Skills

8. Build Leisure Skills

9. Teach Self-Care during Adolescence

10. Work on Vocational Skills

How To Communicate With Non

Our lives revolve around communication. Most of us first learn to speak through listening and repetition. However, some autistic adults are non-verbal, meaning that they have little or no speech. How do we successfully communicate with them? This resource is designed to help you understand more about non-verbal autistic adults and to give some practical advice on communicating with them.

Just Like Me Activity

For this activity, gather all of your students together on the floor so they can all see each other. Have each child take turns sharing something about themselves, like:

I have a pet dog.
I can play the piano.
My birthday is in September.
I love to play soccer.
My favorite color is yellow.

If a statement also applies to other students , instruct them to raise their hands. This will help remind students that they share more similarities than differences with their peers and that they can always find something to talk about.

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Ways Typing Can Help Individuals With Autism

Self-expression. Autistic people may feel trapped inside their bodies. They can have a lot they want to say but are not always able to express these thoughts and feelings so easily. When speech and handwriting difficulties impair a childs ability to communicate, it can become frustrating, demotivating and cause additional stress. Typing is thus an technique, a way for people with autism to get their thoughts out, so others can understand. This is especially important for people who are nonverbal. When instruction is provided, the process of typing itself becomes more fluent. Language is expressed on the screen and text-to-speech technology can be used to provide the child with a way of talking through the computer. Some people with autism carry tablets or smartphones with them. They might also have small laptops or other portable electronic devices that have a keyboard that can be used to type.

Writing skills. Some learners with autism struggle with writing because of a desire to create perfectly formed letters, and sentences without any errors. This perfectionist drive can cause anxiety and stress when writing by hand. This is one reason why autistic students may enjoy writing on a computer where language can be presented in a neat way, and errors are easily corrected using a delete key.

Sorting With Snacks Activity

How to Teach an Autistic Child to Read: 8 Tips

This tactile activity for children with autism can be a fun way to engage students during math time. Give everyone in your class a food that is easy to sort, like chewy snacks or small crackers. Multicolored snacks are ideal, but you can also use food that comes in different shapes, textures, or sizes.

First, ask them to sort the food by color, shape, or another characteristic. Then, use the snacks to teach students basic math skills like counting, adding, or subtraction. Once theyve grasped the concept you want to teach, reward your students by letting them eat the snack.

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Creating The Optimal Learning Environment

The optimal learning environment for a child with autism is different than that of general education students.

The typical classroom is bright and structured in a way to stimulate and excite the students. But these bright and often cluttered visuals dont work well for students with autism. Students with special needs require environments that are designed with their specific needs in mind.

When designing learning environments for students with special needs, ranging from individual classrooms to entire schools, there are program, methodological, and environmental factors that should be taken into consideration.

Colors and patterns should be subtle and used minimally, only for directional purposes.
Hallways should be wider to allow for necessary movement.
Classrooms should be staggered to reduce the potential for conflicts.
Programs should reinforce students strengths and abilities.
Classrooms should be equipped to teach basic life skills.
Settings should reinforce repetition of daily tasks.

Practical factors can reduce stimuli in the learning environment.

One of the key components for creating the optimal learning environment for children on the autism spectrum is to be flexible. It is important to be able to adapt your classroom to meet the specific needs of your students, and these needs may change throughout the school year.

Effective Teaching Strategies For Children With Autism

In some cases, the learning characteristics of students with autism may differ from the rest of your class. But luckily, the right teaching strategies and methods can keep children with autism on track to finish the school year strong. Try these tips, educational accommodations, and resources for students with autism to help them learn concepts that might otherwise be difficult for them to grasp.

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How To Work With Autistic Adults

Some individuals with autism spectrum disorder live with their family or other loved ones, some live in group homes for individuals with special needs, while others live quite well independently with little to no outside assistance.

Many adults on the autism spectrum have specific qualities which can make life especially challenging. Some individuals may not be as verbal as others or have the best social skills, which makes functional communication and socializing a struggle. Others may need a lot of prompting, training, and reinforcing to learn how to do daily life skills independently. Not all adults with ASD have a job or career path, but many do. Those who help these individuals can prepare them for job responsibilities and instill a great work ethic.

Those working with adults with autism are usually:

empathetic
compassionate
caring

Even staff with experience can still continue to learn more about the world of autism. Learning how to deal with autism in adults helps to ensure they:

get the best treatment possible
utilize their abilities
get the most out of life

Continue reading for five tips for working with autistic adults.

Teach Your Child How To Monitor Credit

A Higher Functioning Form Of Autism | Cuan Weijer | TEDxDunLaoghaire

Once you start establishing it, teach your child to monitor their credit. There are several ways to do this for free, and it is the first step in protecting the literal investing your child has done and the figurative investing you have done in teaching them so many great money skills.

Money skills are essential for independence and well-being. The sooner you take advantage of teaching your child these skills, the better off they will be. You are the number one influence in your childs financial behaviors, and thus, financial future! Use that to your advantage!

Andrew Komarow is an autistic Certified Financial Planner professional and founder of Planning Across the Spectrum, which offers advisory services through Private Advisory Group, a registered investment advisor. Andrew specializes in helping individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities, achieve financial security. He can be reached at or 1-855-AUTISM-2.

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Tools For Staying Organized

Once at Vassar, Zoe Gross devised some practical tools to help her stay on track, including visual timers, planners and multiple alarm clocks. Because there are so many small steps between waking up and walking out the door , she drew a flow chart that starts with the question: Do you need a shower?

Those tricks only go so far, she says.

Autistic students need a way to spend more time in school without it being prohibitively expensive to our families, as college already is for so many, she says. We need a way to work at a different pace and have that be all right. Ideally, many of us would benefit from having personal care aides at college, as a quadriplegic student might have. However, its going to be hard to get supports like these put into place because they cost institutions money.

The Levels Of Reading Comprehension

1. The literal

Just as the name suggests, literal comprehension is simply understanding what is said and happens. It is basically the foundation of understanding before we can begin to understand with more complexity. The literal meaning consists of aspects such as the main idea, the facts, sequence of events, and the characters in the story

2. The inferential

Inferential refers to the deeper meaning or message of the text or story. This leads the reader to draw a conclusion. To be able to make inferences of the text, you need to understand the facts of the story, look at the overall picture, and decode what the writer is trying to convey

3. The evaluative

This level of comprehension is usually subjective because by evaluating, you analyze it, and then draw an opinion about the information

The takeaway message here is that reading comprehension involves the ability to recognize words from the text and to decode the information. Decoding in this sense means to take the text and make meaning from it. If the reader finds difficulty in decoding the message, comprehension becomes more challenging.

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Flexibility Should Be Your Middle Name

You know that stereotype that says autistic people cant stand change? Well to an extent it is true things are calmer and less anxiety-inducing when theyre predictable but dont make the mistake of thinking youll be repeating the same school day all year, Groundhog Day style.

Your students will be in different moods depending on the day . Sometimes theyll walk in wanting to geek out with you about their biggest interest. Sometimes theyll walk in wanting to be left alone.

Sometimes your best-planned lessons will fail, despite your teaching being excellent, because the students will find it too difficult to engage that day. Sometimes the opposite will happen. So be prepared to be flexible with your teaching approach.

Obviously, special education is so much better at doing this than mainstream. In my experience, mainstream schools are often pressured into doing things in one set way in order to comply with inflexible standards, while the prevailing attitude in special schools is if it works for the student, then it works for the student.

Offer Accommodations For Students With Limited Motor Skills

Some students with autism may have more trouble with activities that require fine motor skills than others. In an article with the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, renowned scientist and advocate Dr. Temple Grandin suggests offering accommodationslike typing on a computer instead of writingto mitigate these challenges.

When it comes to specific accommodations, it may depend on the individual. Its always a good idea to reach out to a students family to determine the best resources for their child.

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Teach The Circle Of Friends To Deal With Inappropriate Touching

To address the inappropriate touching of others, teach the Circle of Friends. Categorize who gets hugs and kisses and who gets a hi-5. Make others around that individual aware of what youve taught regarding Circle of Friends. Dont assume that all touching is sexual in nature it can be a need for sensory input. This is also true of nudity. Disrobing may be a need to get out of restrictive clothing or bothersome fabrics or clothing tags.

Special thanks to Treena Gower of the Society for Treatment of Autism the information I outlined here was given in one of her helpful and informative talks.

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Children With Autism Will Never Achieve As Much As Their Peers

Students with autism have so much potential, and some of the brightest minds in the world have been people with autism spectrum disorder, including:

Charles Darwin
Temple Grandin
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Beloved poets, talented musicians and artists, and scientists who shaped how we see the world today have been included on lists of famous people with autism. Our communities would not be the same without people on the autism spectrum. While students with autism may have different weaknesses than their classmates, they often have plenty of strengths, too.

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Treatments For People With Autism

There is no known cure for autism. For young children with autism, it is best to get help early. Ask about local early intervention and preschool programs. Adolescents and adults with autism also benefit from treatment to help them communicate better in school, at work, and in the community.

A variety of specialists might work with a person with autism throughout their lifetime. These can include SLPs, audiologists, psychologists, special educators, vocational counselors, and job coaches.

SLPs play an important role in autism treatment. They can help the person with autism build communication and social skills in various settings like home, school, and work. SLPs can also help the person learn to use AAC if they need help communicating. SLPs may work with the person alone or in small groups. Groups can help the person practice their skills with others.

Depending on the persons needs, SLPs may work on some of the following skills:

Getting along with others in a variety of settings
Using appropriate communication behaviors
Transitioning from one task or setting to another
Accepting change and expanding interests, including trying new foods
Improving reading and writing skills

For people with autism who are transitioning to work, SLPs can also

help them write cover letters
practice interview skills and
learn strategies to communicate better at work.

How To Teach An Autistic Student

Teaching Social Skills to Children with Autism

This article was co-authored by Laura Reber, SSP and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD. Laura Reber is a school psychologist and founder of Progress Parade, an organization that provides 1:1 online tutoring with hand-picked specialists to students with academic needs, ADHD, learning disabilities, autism, and social-emotional challenges. Laura works with a team of school psychologists and specialized teachers to create personalized approaches for homework support, academic intervention, homeschooling, unschooling, and more. Laura holds a BS in Psychology from Truman State University and a Specialist in School Psychology degree from Illinois State University. This article has been viewed 20,758 times.

If you teach at any level, you may have autistic students in your classroom at some point. These students are just as capable of learning as any other students you’ve had in your class. However, they may need additional help or require lessons to be presented in a different way so they can understand them. If you’re not familiar with the autism spectrum, learn as much as you can from trusted and reputable sources. Focus on autism organizations in which autistic people play active roles. To teach an autistic student, you must focus primarily on your methods of communication and creating an appropriate learning environment.XResearch sourceXResearch source

Health Care For Adults With Autism

First Look: Data on Adults on the Autism SpectrumGet a preview of the initial data provided by adults, or their legal representatives, who responded to the IAN Adult with ASD Questionnaire. These data are preliminary, gathered from a small sample of respondents thus far, but perhaps you have some ideas on how to reach more of these adults, who can provide valuable information to advocates, policymakers, and researchers.

The âCâ Word: Common Cause in Spite of Conflicting PerspectivesConnie Anderson, PhD, explores cure as hope, as answer, and as healingâ¦and cure as hurtful condemnation of a different way of being and thinking. However, what may be most useful is not to let the c-word get in the way of what everyone wants: a greatly improved situation for individuals with ASD.

Earn Your Teaching Credential Ms In Aba Or Graduate Certificate In Autism At National University

Whether your goal is to become a special education teacher, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, a school counselor for children with ASD, or to explore a related career path, youll hone the skills you need in National Universitys challenging, fast-paced degree programs.

Our accredited programs in school psychology, teacher education, and special education offer a wide range of academic options for undergraduate, graduate, and transfer students. NU students can pursue their passion through programs like the Master of Science in Educational Counseling, the Graduate Certificate in Autism, the MS in ABA, or other academic majors, combining theory and analysis with hands-on fieldwork to build the foundations for a rewarding and dynamic career.

Earn the degree, credential, or certificate you need to take your teaching career to the next level. Ask our admissions office about our accredited ABA and educational counseling programs, or start your application today.

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