Strive to be this!....

for your Autistic students/NT students :)
My book available here:
http://stores.lulu.com/autismbook1
http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/resources/books.php

To stop the music, just press the button to pause it.

*Bullying* -- needs to be stopped, too many times teachers and other at the school, "Need to work it out".....Working it out is not bad, but they need YOUR help and intervention! Watch this video excerpt below "this is school for most people with an autistic disorder and pdd, etc.... http://www.cbc.ca/thelens/video_player.html?boyinside_excerpt

My 2 quotes:

1. With our individual intelligences, we can be of assistance to others, not only to have them benefit from our abilities but also for us to devote our energy to our own eye-catching skills. I trust that if I work with others who have a skill that is not one I electrify, our specialized skills can merge together to create something or make a change! It is never too late to start using our skills, and usually these skills can become desirable to you yourself.

2. To me,"teaching is sharing parts of the world YOU know about to OTHERS who have not yet had your opportunity."


Things to help teachers understand, work with, and use to help the child with autism learn and have fun as a child should have when learning....

1. Seating changes can be terrible for the child with autism...do NOT move the child with autism if possible. Also, use priorty seating.

2. People with an autism spectrum disorder sometimes get confused with words, speech...auditory processing disorder, and if the child is not understanding, although you may question whether or not they could be confused by something like that, most likely they really are confused.







2 1/2. Along with the auditory processing comes asking questions 5 times and over and over the same question.... it is not because they are not listening, but because the first few times their brain was either not processing it correctly or had been overstimulated by other things going on....don't get angry. They can't help it... Also, you might say their name 4 or 5 times or even more and they don't respond...same thing, ears didn't process the sounds correctly.

3. People on the autism spectrum can have trouble with reading out loud because they can easily lose their place. Have reading strips available to the students in your classroom. The picture shown just after this sentence is similar to the reading strips...however the others also can have 'smaller print' lines with a border. Also, can have whole page color sheets to put over white papers with black writing, as some people on the spectrum it is hard on their eyes and worsens the comprehension, the black and white, but the color sheets can help!

4. Try to keep down the rowdiness in the classroom, but not through frustration or loud voice.

5. Use lots and lots of visuals, especially ones that seem very fun and interesting.

6. Set up a network for the child with autism; if going into a group setting have a group set up of kids that like and have fun working with the child with autism so that the child doesn't site there or stand there alone while everyone is in groups & so that the child with autism does not unfortunately get stuck with someone who would make fun of them or not encourage him, otherwise ignore them.

7. Children with autism take criticism harshly; just act is if everything is cool and use markers or pretty colors to put in the right answer and explain...don't use X's to mark wrong answers either

8. Use the CONFIDENT READER program, and recommend it to the parents; computer program used for kids w/ dyslexia, autism, reading comprehension difficulties, blindness, hearing problems, slow processing, etc. for a small of only $90.00 that makes a world of difference and increases enjoyability of reading and learning for kids who start to hate it because of these difficulties. Really turns them around! :) That's a picture of a child who really benefited from using this program. I have this program for myself; it is really truly wonderful... http://www.confidentreader.com/ The $90.00 program is more suitable for teachers, but the $69.00 program is wonderful just for the home, etc. just with a few less "computer guru" features and also does not include the 100 e-books that come with the $90.00 program. Other programs similar to this cost $800-$2,500 and really do practically the same thing. Can't go wrong with this program!

9. Children w/ ASD usually take about double the time for quizzes, tests, etc. than other children do, also work; they will have done 6 problems when others have done 25 problems...it can't be helped so punishing by missing out on class activities or recess is both upsetting and doesn't do any good.

10. If an Autistic person needs their space, let them have their space...don't make the situation worse...there should be a room in your school with a swing in it or an autism room to cool down in.

11. Allow bathroom breaks and as getting older, not need to ask to go or sign a signature book as autistic people have lots of yeast and bowel issues...once they have to go, they have to go...also for eating/drinking in class, if needed, hence tactile and blood sugar issues autistics have (Some bloodsugar issues for some Autistic people)

12. Clarify directions

13. Note-taking is good especially since hand writing is literally difficult and can be painful for a person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder or PDD-NOS... They should not get into trouble for their handwriting that is hard to read or takes a long time to copy stuff down.

14. Also, private test room if wanted/needed.

15. And, a lot of people on the spectrum can remember whole movies, but they forget things like 'permission slips' or even work, etc. and can forget their pencils or literally lose these things along the way. You can help by definitely talking with the parents and not getting angry because it only makes the situation worse... Our brains get flusttered so and medications keep in mind can alter attention and remembering.