Question by JoyousFaith:
I am moving into a new classroom and new task description next calendar year. I will be instructing four pupils with autism spectrum problem in a cell unit. I am aware that the classroom wants to be structured with defined room for each and every exercise, but haven’t noticed any concrete examples. Can anybody give me some excellent ideas or examples? Thank you!
Wow! I’ve gotten these kinds of wonderful responses already. 
I really should include that this classroom will have two assistants (a total of a few workers members). Students are ages 14 to twenty.
Finest solution:
Reply by Melissa
From my experience with my two autistic young children, and their placements in several classrooms, what has been most advantageous is getting rid of extraneous objects. Most classrooms are full of visual clutter, which can make it tough for youngsters with autism to target, and permits them to stim and not shell out attention. Limit posters and decorations on the wall, keep them down to significant blocks of colours and visual schedules.
Each child (or center, based mostly on how you are operating) ought to have their personal area that is divided either by partitions or medium peak shelving. Some classrooms have every child an assigned region in which they work, and the shelves have bins with that childs work. Other classrooms will have areas in which a certain talent is taught, and the shelves will hold the bins for every single kid’s certain abilities/worksheets, and so on. Portion of that is dependent on the ability of the youngsters to move around, their pressure ranges, and their talent differentiation.
Possessing 4 young children will make it really good, our final classroom had 10 and it was insanity. Do they every single have aides to help with 1-on-one? Oh, and what age, due to the fact it would be diverse depending on if they are elementary, substantial university, what have you.
Personally with 4 children, I would have assigned areas that the kids keep at, ideally 1 in every single corner with shelves that kind of isolate. In the middle I would have a group region, which is quite essential for children to apply with, so calendar time, story time, turn taking, etc. snack time would be great for them to have jointly also. At each individual spot I would have visual schedules on the wall in front of them, reward charts as nicely. The shelves would have their bins, with the purpose staying that they would sooner or later be able to access their own operate (my daughter has folders red for math, blue for science, green for english, etc) and the visual timetable has velcro dots that I could change to have her operate at diverse instances.
I would also certainly have an region in which the kids can self regulate, they need the chance to destress, so I’d have one place with a bean bag, boxes of stims, and a timer so that you can set it and redirect back to work. Working towards independently accessing and leaving stim location of class.
There’s so significantly, it really is certainly a enthusiasm of mine. kid with autism discover so significantly much better when they have supports in place, and the argument that the supports turn out to be a crutch is so not true! My little ones have been capable to transfer absent from these. Sorry for the prolonged publish!!
What do you assume? Response underneath!
She put her nose by means of the gate and permit him pet her.
Defined space is not as important as some other issues. Each child will need to have a clearly defined, personal workspace. Many of the most successful setups I have seen have a desk with a set of three or four plastic drawers next to them. The top drawer holds things like the daily picture schedule and work folders. The next drawer holds the childs supplies..pencils, crayons, etc. (While you can have kids share at times, in the beginning it is usually helpful if they each have their own). The third drawer is the personal spot. Students can put in things like stim items, rewards, or personal items like books or magazines they may want to read. The fourth drawer (when it is there) has held things like math manipulatives and any special items that particular student may need. Desks should be far enough apart that students can not eaily reach one another and to allow room for the teacher or aide to sit beside them to assist as needed. The room should also have a clearly defined “group” area…a large table that allows you to sit in the center is perfect. This is the place to work with all the kids or to have the kids work with you one on one. They will know that being at this table means work time. Finally, you need a clearly defined quiet area. This could be tucked in a corner, with pillows and objects like books or small stuffed toys. This is a spot for the kids to go to when they need to defuse a bit. The one cautionary I give in designing this spot is to be sure any bookcases you may use as “walls” are firmly secured to the wall, with nothing on top that can cause problems. This is simply because you may have some upset kids in there and for many autistic kids this can mean throwing or attempting to overturn furniture.
Far more important than the physical layout willl be how you structure and schedule the day. One of the first things to go over every day is the schedule. This should be large, with three colums “TO DO” “DOING NOW” and “COMPLETE”. Each item should be listed with a word and photo/icture symbol for the activity. At the beginning of the day go over the whole schedule. As you begin the next task, move the picture card to the center colum. When you have completed the task, move it to the third colum. Each child should have a similar, smaller version of the schedule at his desk. As you move cards, so should they. As time progresses, you may find you have students who do well and don’t need this complex a system. At that point, you can give them a daily paper schedule and have them check off tasks as they finish. A large clock is also important. Autistic kids need warning to transition from one thing to the next, especially in new settings. Check each child’s IEP and behavioral plan to see what they are required to have and go from there.
I hope this helps. There are many books and websites out there that can provide even more information. Also, check with the schools behavioral specialist or psychologist for suggestions for each child. Good luck and have fun..these kids can be a challange but lots of fun and joy as well.
If you Google: ‘Autism classroom modifications’, there are a number of very helpful sites and tons of recommendations. Much more efficient than my trying to list them Good luck!
Wow… only 4 kids and 3 adults. Should be a breeze… as you know, Students with autism are on a spectrum, so there disabilities are very different. I would first go to the teacher who had them last year and ask what worked or didn’t work.
Additionally, in reading about this diffusing area that people are describing in their responses– that sounds rediculous to me. So, you will put them in a spot with pillows and beanbags when they start acting bad. Doesn’t that seem like it may, potentially, reinforce their problem behavior? Behaviorally, stickers and candy and little comfortable time out areas are awful ideas… You need to curtail your treatment to the individual. Your behavioral interventions should be based on the function of your students behavior. First off, if you put kids in this time out area, they are escaping work, getting access to potential tangible reinforcers and attention. If you know the function of their behavior, you can intervene prior to the occurance of problem behavior.
Example–Instead of putting them in this area contingent on problem behavior, put them in this area either based on good behavior or noncontingently throughout the day (e.g., every hour). Doing this may decrease problem behaviors because they won’t have to engage in problem behaviors to get access to this— it will just be in their schedule.
The function of their behavior is either tangible, attention, escape from task, or sensory/automatic. Read Toward a functional anaylysis of self-injury, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Iwata, et. al, 1994 for in-depth study on the functional analysis.
Yes, i mean, in general it is good to have structure and decrease distractions, but putting in a blanket plan for autistic kids is not the way to go… Get to know your kids and design instruction and behavioral interventions accordingly.
If they are not mentally retarded, don’t treat them like little kids. Being on the autistic spectrum does not make one stupid. I absolutely hate it when I get treated like I’m five simply because I’m special needs. The best way to organize the class room would be to let the students have the option of being in a somewhat confined space like with seperaters between the desks. I know that I prefer smaller spaces and all of the autistic spectrum people I know do as well. However, some autistics probably don’t like them so you should give them the option of not having a confined space. Try to minimize noise and smells. Even white noise (that stuff drives me and many of the ASD people I know insane, how can anyone find that comforting?) Please don’t play classical music in the classroom. You may think it’s soothing and stuff but most ASD people hate noise when working. Don’t use a vacuum cleaner when the students are in the room. The noise of a vacuum cleaner is agonizing, it feels like someones drilling into your skull. Avoid stuff that has a scent. Talk to the students to find out what textures they can and cannot tolerate, and respect that. They can’t help not being able to deal with certain textures. Again, we are not little kids, so don’t treat us that way.
Picture schedules for what to expect during the day
Label every thing
An area that has no distraction i.e. busy pictures on the wall, bright colors can really distract.
Autistic learners really like visuals and music typically. Books on tape with headphones are a huge help, as well as a learning lab with a computer/headphones.
He/She definately will need the assitance of your ‘aids’. They may need the freedom to take him her to a ‘safe’ place where he/she can learn without distractions.
Also, chewing gum and wearing hats, which typically aren’t exceptable in schools, help them to focus. Deep pressure on the head can calm (the hats help), and chewing gum keeps something moving on their body when they have to sit down. Not good for recess and gym obviously, but was a huge help for my son.