New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline - Ministry of Health

Part 5: Living in the community
possible) if this is a source of anxiety for the
student
• being specific about the topics and modules
being tested
• giving the student the opportunity to arrive
at the exam early, so they can become
comfortable with the environment
• recognising that the student may need the
adjudicator to instruct him/her personally
• considering allowing the student to take
the examination in a separate room (with
supervision), away from the distraction that
test taking with others provides and to ensure
that others are not distracted by the student
with ASD
• permitting the student to have an object of
comfort in the examination room
• granting extra time in advance of the
examination day, as many people with ASD
find it extremely hard to work within a time
limit, or experience such stress at having a
time limit that they cannot perform at their
optimum level
• ensuring the student knows they are free to
leave the room when they have finished their
examination paper
• presenting examination papers in a manner
that is not distracting (eg, certain colours can
be very distracting for some people, who may
work better when examination papers are
plain or uncoloured)
• ensuring that instructions and questions are
clear and unambiguous, and avoid abstract
ideas, except when understanding such ideas
is part of the assessment
• prompting obsessional students when it is
time to move on to the next question, to avoid
unnecessary and obsessional rewriting of
answers
• allowing use of a word processor if
handwriting is extremely slow
• arranging for scrutinisation of answer papers
by an educational professional with expertise
in ASD if there are concerns that the student’s
performance may not reflect their ability (the
scrutineer could comment on the general
appearance of the paper, including diagrams
and labelling, language used, obsessional
content of the answers and possible use of
inappropriate language) 39 360 (Recommendation
5.1.7).
Oral examinations can be particularly difficult
for the person with ASD, and for examiners if
they are unaware that the student has ASD 360 .
The National Autistic Society 39 360 suggests that
oral assessment over a period of days rather
than hours should be considered, and that
examiners should be briefed that the candidate
may display some of the following behaviours:
• poor understanding of body language
• standing/sitting too close – invasion of
‘personal space’
• inappropriate or poor eye contact (ie,
avoiding or over-intense)
• unusual physical movements or walking
around
• making inappropriate remarks, that are either
over-familiar or too formal
• repeating questions, including copying the
voice and accent
• hesitant or disjointed speech, unless the topic
is of obsessional interest to the student
• failure to understand abstract ideas
• literal understanding of jokes, exaggerations
and metaphors
• poor understanding of questions about
relationships and social situations
(Recommendation 5.1.7).
5.1.c Work (paid and unpaid)
Work is one of the primary activities of adults in
our society, and with work comes status, success
and other related benefits. Adults with ASD often
experience difficulty securing and maintaining
work. Long periods of unemployment are
Part 5
New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline 169