Teachers have an important part to play in identifying and supporting children with autism in the school environment.
A strong relationship between teachers and parents can have a very positive impact on the child.
Teachers and teaching assistants
A parent’s perspective on the importance of teachers
My son started at a nursery at age two. At that time we didn’t know he was autistic. All the conversations that the nursery staff had with us began and ended with the things he couldn’t do compared with other children his age. The conversations were full of anger. Full of blame. Full of warnings about his future. There was no empathy and no suggestions about what the nursery could do with us to start getting him more engaged in his surroundings. We shifted him to another nursery at three. What a difference. The teachers were very honest with us, but they were experienced and firmly focussed on what we could do to help my son. They very quickly put in practical things to help him in school like visual time tables and timers. In that school I could trust the teachers and we could then focus on working together to help him learn. Teachers have been such an important part of my son’s journey
A parent
Recognising signs and symptoms
Teachers can play an important role in identifying a child with autism.
- Do you have a child in your classroom who does not like to interact with children their own age?
- Do you have a child who engages in repetitive play or activities?
- Do you have a child who is not good at communicating?
- Do you have a child who is either reacts too strongly or not at all to sensory input like taste, sounds, lights, smells?
Not all children with autism show all the signs. Many children who don’t have autism show a few. That means no one sign or symptom should be as definite sign of autism. At the same time an absence of any one sign or symptom does not mean that it is not autism. To find out more on potential signs see our Parents section: early signs and symptoms.
Helping parents with the diagnosis
Teacher may need to alert parents to the signs and symptoms of autism. Parents may not be aware or the child may only be displaying symptoms outside the home environment. You can advise parents to seek professional evaluation. It is important to consult a professional, like a developmental behavioural paediatrician, child psychiatrist, child neurologist or a child psychologist. If parents know nothing about autism you can use our Experience Sheets to introduce the topic, share information from our Parents section and share links to our directory signposting them to help available in Pakistan.
Alerting other school staff
All staff working with the child should have awareness of autism; and its symptoms and be involved in any planning developed for the child. You can use any resources available on our website including our Experience Sheets to share basic information on autism. If you would like any help in organising autism awareness webinars or seminars please contact us.
Speaking about autism to other children
Helping other children understand about autism will mean they are more likely to accept their autistic peers. You can find resources such as The National Autistic Society’s age specific tools to help other children understand about autism.
Autism in the classroom
The school environment can work well for children and young people with autism when there is a good understanding of autism, good planning and the right support available to meet the needs of individual children.
There are a lot of resources available to help on autism in the classroom that depend on the age of the child. The resources signposted below are focussed on children with autism in mainstream settings. They may be useful for special schools, although such schools may also have their own approaches.
Planning
It is important to have good planning in place so the school environment can work for a child with autism. Some things that may be useful are:
- Creating a folder with information on the child, needs and strategies that can be accessed by anyone in the classroom;
- Creating an individual education plan for the child that includes any issues related specifically to the child; approaches to those issues; actions and targets;
- Scheduling regular reviews of the progress of the child against those targets including with parents; and
- A strong relationship with parents including regular and open communication through regular scheduled meetings; home/school books and an opportunity for parents to see teachers before or after the school day.
Further information
To help you with planning you may want to look at resources available from the Autism Educational Trust, including the Progression Framework. Autism Education Trust helps raise awareness of the importance of appropriate educational provision for children and young people on the autism spectrum.
First few days of school
Creating trust between teachers and the child in the first few days of school is important. You may want to find out as much about the child as possible from parents and other caregivers beforehand; including their likes, dislikes and sensory needs. You can make the first day easier by organising something related to a child’s strong interest to start building the relationship.
Further information
Autism Toolbox has a booklet with strategies for teachers including on what to do on the first few days when a child starts in an early years setting including how to respond to any behaviour challenges that surface while the child settles into a school routine.
Classroom environments and use of visual timetables
A well organised classroom can help make the school day less confusing for children with autism.
Further information
Autism Toolbox has suggestions on the use of symbols and visual timetables that can help children with autism cope with the school environment
Some symbols that may especially be useful for early years are available here.
Communication
To help children with autism communicate better you may find it useful to:
- Find out more about therapies, parents are using to help their child communicate better.
- Ensure that the child is listening to you by repeating their name and making sure you have their attention even if they don’t make eye contact.
- Using simple sentences and avoid the use of irony, sarcasm or open-ended questions. Wait for their response before repeating the sentence.
- Use the child’s strong interest to engage and reward them.
Further information
There are many websites that have strategies to help with communication for example here.
Behaviour
The behaviour of some children and young people with autism can be challenging in an educational setting especially where there is poor planning, awareness and where the support is not tailored to the child.
A child with autism may not understand unwritten social rules. This can be a source of stress and anxiety. You can use resources such as social stories to talk through rules which they have trouble understanding. See for example our thoughts and tips on personal space.
A child with autism may be especially stressed during unstructured times like breaks and lunchtimes and you can think about tools for the child during these times including identifying a buddy from the class or organising some structured lunchtime activities. The child may also want to use lunch time to take a break from social interaction and if so you can organise for them to have some quiet space to unwind and recharge for the rest of the school day.
Further information
The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), founded in 1921, is a professional organisation serving elementary and middle school principals and other education leaders throughout the United States, Canada, and overseas and offers this advice on teaching secondary school autistic students.
The National Autistic Society resource pack for school staff has other suggestions on how to manage behaviour in a classroom setting.
Secondary school
The National Autistic Society has resources specifically for children with autism at secondary school available here.
A teacher’s perspective
Not many people understand what autism really is or that it is a spectrum. Even when children are diagnosed and the teachers are informed there is very little training given to manage the child. The repetitive behaviour of the child is viewed as defiance by children and also sometimes teachers. Information and training for teachers and parents to manage the child and empathy from peers would go a long way in helping these souls slowly settle in their environment.
We are continuing to develop these pages. If you are a teacher and have specific questions that can help us develop material relevant to Pakistani communities please contact us.
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