Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Chapter Three Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
student (for further information on social stories, see the
section in this chapter on strategies for teaching social skills,
p. 42)
• teach self-control: using pictographs, which provide a cue
for behaviour expectations
• teach functional self-help skills: cooking, safety, shopping,
community access
The key question when planning an activity or giving an instruction
is, “How can this information be presented in a simple visual format?”
Choose visual aids on the basis of an understanding of the student’s
abilities and responses.
Data Collection
Data collection on student progress is a necessary component when
charting a student’s behaviour or current acquired skill(s). It is needed
to assess a) whether a child is improving; b) how programs may need
to be modified, and; c) whether instructors are following correct
procedures. To keep accurate data, a teacher records whether the
student’s response was correct, incorrect, or prompted. It is also wise
to indicate what type of prompt was used in order to fade as quickly
as possible so the child will eventually be able to perform the given
task response independently.
Precise, positive praise while the student is learning
Give students precise information about what they do right or well,
such as, “great colouring,” or “good finishing that math problem.”
Generalized praise such as “good job” may result in unintended
learning that is hard to reverse. A child may not be aware of what
s/he did that was correct. Students with ASD may learn on one trial,
so directing the praise to the very specific behaviour is important:
“Sal, you are doing very well at multiplying these numbers.”
Inappropriate learning can occur if students mistakenly connect
something they are doing with the praise. Saying “Sal, you are doing
very well” when Sal is also swinging his feet while he does the math
assignment might connect the feet swinging with the general praise.
Meaningful reinforcements
Reinforcers can be anything from praise to tangible objects that
increases the behaviour the student is to learn. Students with ASD
26 Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders