Teachers can be great allies in keeping your child with autism safe and successful in school, but you'll need to make sure they have all the knowledge they need to help. Use these suggestions to create a information packet to bring educators up to speed.
Five Things Teachers Need to Know
1. My child needs structure and routine in order to function. Please try to keep his world as predictable as possible.
2. If there will be any sort of change in my child's classroom or routine, please notify me as far in advance as possible so that we can all work together in preparing her for it.
3. Teaching strategies intended for children with autism will help my child learn better and make him easier for you to deal with.
4. My child is an individual, not a diagnosis. Please be alert and receptive to the things that make her unique and special.
5. Please keep the lines of communication open between our home and the school. My child needs all the adults in her life working together.
Educational Implications
[The following is excerpted from Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a publication of the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. Fact Sheet 1, January 2004.]
Early diagnosis and appropriate educational programs are very important to children with autism or PDD. Public Law 105-17, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), includes autism as a disability category. From the age of three, children with autism and PDD are eligible for an educational program appropriate to their individual needs. Educational programs for students with autism or PDD focus on improving communication, social, academic, behavioral, and daily living skills. Behavior and communication problems that interfere with learning sometimes require the assistance of a knowledgeable professional in the autism field who develops and helps to implement a plan which can be carried out at home and school.
The classroom environment should be structured so that the program is consistent and predictable. Students with autism or PDD learn better and are less confused when information is presented visually as well as verbally. Interaction with nondisabled peers is also important, for these students provide models of appropriate language, social, and behavior skills. To overcome frequent problems in generalizing skills learned at school, it is very important to develop programs with parents, so that learning activities, experiences, and approaches can be carried over into the home and community.
With educational programs designed to meet a student's individual needs and specialized adult support services in employment and living arrangements, children and adults with autism or PDD can live and work in the community.
Printouts to Share with Teachers
FEAT Handbook for Teachers (pdf)
Source: Families for Early Autism Treatment
Need-to-Know Guide: Autism
Source: Teacher's Magazine
Autism and Related Disorders Handbook
Source: University of South Dakota
Teaching Tips for Children and Adults with Autism by Temple Grandin
Source: Center for the Study of Autism
Teacher's Autism Awareness Pack (pdf)
Source: The National Autistic Society
