Teaching a student with autism this year has helped me focus on what works and doesn't work with students with low-incidence disabilities. I've enjoyed the opportunity to work with students with disabilties over the past few years and work with their teachers to discuss strategies to use to help these children succeed in the regular education classroom. First, I realize that no two students are alike, so each lesson and strategy must be individualized. I make sure to keep a routine and structure in my classroom. I've found that students with autism do not like for their daily routine to be altered. I also use several forms of communication for my students to share their work. Just last week, the student with autism was able to make a powerpoint presentation for a project and share with the class because that helped him with his speech. Finally, I make sure to have lots of peer interaction. I feel that students with autism learn so much from their peers. When they feel included and important, they will perform better in the classroom.
Some things I would like to change in my classroom to help these students would be to use more hands-on materials and give these students more of a "role" in the classroom. Hands-on materials often provide more participation and helps engage the learner. I also believe that students feel a part of the lesson if they have a role to fulfill. I also need to assign roles when working in small groups so each person can do their job but still work as a group.
In the future, I would like to use more small group work in my classroom. I would like to give students more time to interact with each other and have more opportunities for communication. I would like to find some visual cues or prompts to help my students with autism to help them communicate their thoughts with the class. Finally, I would like to continue to use technology in my classroom. Students with autism often love to use technology and share it with the class. I want to do whatever I can do to make sure all students are succeeding in my classroom.
I have not had a child with autism in my class yet, but having observed some of these students I know they definitely do not like a change in the routine. That must be incredibly challenging with all the changes that come almost weekly. Between testing and assemblies, fire drills, pictures being made etc. it seems we never have a regular schedule.
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