Individuals with autism usually exhibit at least half of the traits listed below.

These symptoms can range from mild to severe and vary in intensity from symptom to symptom. In addition, the behavior usually occurs across many different situations and is consistently inappropriate for their age.

Difficulty in mixing with other children

Insistence on sameness;

resists changes in routine

Inappropriate laughing and giggling

No real fear of dangers

Little or no eye contact

Sustained odd play

Apparent insensitivity to pain

Echolalia (repeating words or phrases in place of normal language)

Prefers to be alone

Aloof manner

May not want cuddling or act cuddly

Spins objects

Not responsive to verbal cues;

Acts as deaf

Inappropriate attachment to objects

Difficulty in expressing needs;

Uses gestures or pointing instead of words

Noticeable physical overactivity or extreme underactivity

Tantrums - displays extreme distress for no apparent reason

Unresponsive to normal teaching methods

Uneven gross/fine motor skills. (May not want to kick ball but can stack blocks.)

Adapted from the original by Professor Rendle-Short, Brisbane Children’s Hospital, University of Queensland, Australia.

Conference Notes: by Lisa Ruble

How do you teach someone with autism? It is probably no surprise that this is usually the first question new teachers ask when they have a student with autism in their classroom. In her ASA presentation Methods to Enhance Learning in Students with Autism, Kathleen Quill addressed this issue. She said that the first thing needed is to try to understand how people with autism "think." Using this as the guide, educators can then begin to understand how to teach. Dr. Quill began her presentation with a discussion of the cognitive and social thinking in autism. Then she described methods to enhance learning through the use of routine and visual aids.

Cognitive Thinking and Socialization

An understanding of cognitive thinking of individuals with autism can be gleaned from the work of people like Temple Grandin, Donna Williams and others. We can conclude that individuals with autism are likely to:

think in pictures, not words

play a video in their mind that takes time to retrieve

have difficulty with long sequences or strings of verbal information

be unable to hold one piece of information in their mind while manipulating another

use or attend to only one sensory channel at a time

have difficulty with generalizing, experience inconsistencies in perceptions.

Information that is known about the socialization of these individuals tells us that they are likely to

have difficulty understanding the motives and perceptions of others,

experience sensory overload, and

use intellect instead of emotion to guide social interaction.

Therefore, based on the assumption that students with autism acquire information differently, a match between learning styles and the presentation of materials must be made. Teachers need to work from the strengths of the student with autism. Dr. Quill emphasized that in order to create a helpful learning environment, educators must implement structure in their teaching.

Structure

Structure is vital in teaching students with autism.

Activities are structured with

organized materials

clear instructions

a hierarchical system of prompts

Structure is enhanced by routines and visual aids which are not language oriented. Routines allow for the anticipation of events leading to self control and independence.

A sequence of tasks

provides consistency and predictability

establishes patterns

provides stability and simplicity

enables the individual to anticipate

increases independence.

There are three types of routines.

First, spatial routines associate specific locations with specific activities. These can take the form of a visual chart that can be used as a daily schedule.

Secondly, temporal routines associate time with an activity and make the beginning and ending of an activity visually evident.

Finally, instructional routines associate specific social and communicative behaviors.

Visual aids add structure to teaching because they are fixed in space and time and can represent many types of materials such as printed materials, concrete objects, and photographs. Often we assume that printed words are more difficult. Dr. Quill points out that this is an erroneous assumption.

Visual aids

assist the child to attend to information

provide organization and structure

clarify expectations and information

assist the child with making choices

decrease reliance on adults

increase independence.

Visual tasks such as puzzles, the alphabet, books, print, writing, and computers have a clear beginning and end which promotes clarity and purpose.

Principles of Interaction

When teaching social interaction, use

a predictable sequence of interactions,

a planned set of conversational scripts,

messages mixed with ongoing activity,

messages linked to what the child is doing,

a high degree of repetition,

complexity of messages which match the child’s level of comprehension,

simultaneous use of speech and visual cues,

a pause technique,

exaggeration.

In summary, Dr. Quill explained that it is necessary to match teaching methods to the cognitive and social learning styles of people with autism. Using structure in the form of routines and visual aids enhances teaching. Dr. Kathleen Quill has completed a book with a chapter written by Nancy Dalrymple to be published this year.

Reprinted from the Wabash Valley ASA Update, November 1993
Autism Society of America,
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Learning Styles of Students with Autism

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