New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline - Ministry of Health

Part 3: Education for learners with ASD
Part 3
• Individualised supports and services
This element includes incorporating a focus
on the child/young person’s strengths and
weaknesses, as well as family preferences,
child and young person preferences and
interests to determine the most appropriate
intensity and level of instruction to meet the
child or young person’s individual goals.
• Systematic instruction
This involves carefully planning for instruction
by identifying valid educational goals,
carefully outlining instructional procedures
for teaching, implementing the procedures,
evaluating their effectiveness and adjusting the
instruction on the basis of the evaluations.
• Comprehensible and structured learning
environments
This includes strategies such as organising
the instructional setting, providing a
schedule of activities that is kept up to date,
carefully planning and providing choicemaking
opportunities, providing preventive
behavioural support and providing supports
to assist with transitions, flexibility and
change.
• Specific curriculum content
This component describes prioritising the
core difficulties for individuals with ASD
in the areas of communication and social
interaction, and the skills that are required
to participate.
• Functional approach to problem behaviour
This describes the process by which the
child/young person’s problem behaviour
is not merely decreased or eliminated, but
is replaced with an appropriate alternative
or replacement behaviour that results in the
same or similar consequences (this is described
in detail in section 3.2.e).
• Family involvement
Families should be provided with the
information they require to be involved
in making decisions for their child/young
person and to participate as part of the
team designing the child or young person’s
programme 218 (Recommendation 3.4.4).
These points, on the core elements of effective
teaching of children and young people with
ASD, are further expanded in Appendix 7.
Collaborative teams in education
Developing and maintaining effective
collaborative relationships are important
components in special education support 96 .
Most teams will consist of core members who
will generally include the student’s classroom
teacher, special education needs coordinator
(SENCO) and the student’s family and whänau.
Wider teams will include other staff such as
psychologists, speech-language or occupational
therapists and other teachers, paraprofessionals
and school staff.
Teams need a dual focus in delivering supports
to students by directing attention to the student
and also to the team itself. Student-centred
efforts include:
• developing the student’s schedule or
programme collaboratively
• designing accommodations and adaptations
together
• finding ways to ensure consistency and
quality among school staff
• shared problem solving about specific issues
• co-teaching and co-working
• planning for successful transitions within,
between and beyond early childhood
education settings and schools.
Team-centred efforts include:
• understanding other team members’ roles
and skills
• clarifying the team’s values
• learning to communicate effectively among
team members
• identifying and resolving concerns
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New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline