Sharing Good Practice
SUPPORTING STUDENTS
DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM
BY DEBBIE HAMILTON BOGUES
• Behaviour
• Self-simulative: having repetitive
movements , such as flapping their
hands, spinning, head banging,
rocking back and forth, or flicking
their fingers
• Playing with toys in a repetitive and
unimaginative way, such as lining
blocks up in order of size or colour,
rather than using them to build
something
• Preferring to have a familiar routine
and getting very upset if there are
changes to this routine
• Having a strong like or dislike of
certain foods based on the texture
or colour of the food as much as the
taste
C
hildren as young as 4 years
old are being diagnosed with
Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD) and the numbers are
now increasing rapidly. Autism is a
developmental disorder which affects
the way the brain works in processing
information, communication, social,
verbal and motor skills. ASD presents
at varying levels of severity. For most
children the condition becomes worse
as they get older and it becomes a
lifelong disorder. With the diagnosis
of this disorder increasing, chances are
you will have at least one child in your
class with ASD. Arming yourself with
sufficient knowledge on how to best
help your students is very important.
The characteristics of ASD vary widely
and research states that there are
more boys than girls who have been
affected by this condition.
• Frequent repetition of set words
and phrases
• Speech
that
sounds
monotonous or flat
very
• Preferring to communicate using
single words, despite being able to
speak in sentences
• Responding to others
• Not responding to their name
being called, despite having normal
hearing
• Rejecting cuddles initiated by a
parent or carer
• Reacting unusually negatively when
asked to do something by someone
else
• Interactions
• Not being aware of other people’s
personal space, or being unusually
intolerant of people entering their
own personal space
CHARACTERISTICS
OF
STUDENTS
WITH
ASD
INCLUDING ASPERGER’S • Little interest in interacting with
other people, including children of
a similar age
Signs of ASD in pre-school
children • Not enjoying situations that most
children of their age like, such as
birthday parties
Spoken language • Preferring to play alone, rather than
asking others to play with them
• Delayed speech development or
not speaking at all • Rarely using gestures or facial
expressions when communicating
• Avoiding eye contact
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Class Time
• Unusual sensory interests – for
example, children with ASD may
sniff toys, objects or people
inappropriately
Signs and symptoms of
ASD in school-age children
Spoken language
• Preferring to avoid using spoken
language
• Speech
that
sounds
monotonous or flat
very
• Speaking in pre-learned phrases,
rather than putting together
individual words to form new
sentences
• Seeming to talk "at" people, rather
than sharing a two-way conversation
• Responding to others
• Taking people’s speech literally
and being unable to understand
sarcasm, metaphors or figures of
speech
• Reacting unusually negatively when
asked to do something by someone
else
• Not being aware of other people’s
personal space, or being unusually
intolerant of people entering their
own personal space
• Little interest in interacting with
other people, including children of
a similar age, or having few close
friends, despite attempts to form
friendships