Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Planning Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Chapter Eight
Questions which may be helpful to ask are:
• What does this strength say about the student?
• What skills must he have mastered to get to this point?
• What does this say about his level of functioning, and where
is he headed next?
• Which new skills does he need to acquire in order to get
there?
In this way, it becomes easier to search for attainable goals. It is
unrealistic, for example, for a student with an ASD to achieve reciprocal
social interactions if he hasn’t mastered basic expressive language.
• The student must be seen as an individual and the team must
remember the difficulties experienced by the student because
of his/her specific disorder:
• What are some of the specific social skills and techniques
which can be learned by the student to allow him/her to
function appropriately in social situations?
• What are the communication skills which can be learned?
• How can stereotypical behaviours be addressed?
• Goals should ultimately lead to as much independence as
possible. Programming goals must shift as the student
advances and needs change (independent living skills must
be addressed, vocational planning carried out, sexuality
and interpersonal relationships discussed, etc). Regardless
of the student’s plans upon leaving high school, self-help
skills are central to personal development and to being
viewed as a person separate from the care givers.
Roles of Individuals Who Support the Student
Who Has ASD
Various individuals provide support to the student with ASD. Some
of them are members of the Student Services team, but all may
contribute to identification of the student’s strengths and needs.
The following are descriptions of specific roles:
Student
The student’s strengths and needs form the basis of the SEP. S/he
should attend and contribute at the SEP meeting and be involved in
Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders 87