Going to school offers children with a plethora of opportunities for learning and developing into wiser, smarter individuals. But for children with developmental disorders such as autism, school can become a tough place to navigate if their special needs and challenges aren’t incorporated into the school curriculum.
Autism is a developmental disorder with a neurobiological origin that is characterized by difficulties in relating to and communicating with others. Individuals with autism process environments differently than others and may have difficulties making sense of the hustle and bustle of a busy school environment.
Viewing the world through the eyes of an autistic child can help the school community gain a better understanding of the obstacles the kids encounter at school. Proceeding from a thorough understanding of how the mind of an autistic child functions can help the school accommodate these children’s needs and make learning an enjoyable and fruitful experience for them.
The following are the characteristics typical of children with autism and how they can interfere with learning at school.
- Sensory modulation difficulties
Children with autism may be easily distracted by environmental stimuli that others don’t seem to notice. For example purposes, autistic children may have sensitive hearing. This could make it difficult for them to concentrate on the teacher’s voice if they can hear noises from outside the classroom while in a lesson. They could also be sensitive to classroom light or a certain odor.
Adjusting the sensory stimuli that the children receive and tailoring it to their sensitivities can help deter the potential discomfort and lack of attention that follows such sensory modulation difficulties, helping them refocus on their teachers and caretakers.
- Compromised language comprehension
Children with autism tend to take what’s said to them quite literally. They may find it hard to understand implicit meanings in a dialogue or to make sense of sarcasm or humor.
Stating clear instructions and talking using easily comprehensible language can help alleviate these obstructions in intelligible communication.
- Lack of understanding of the unwritten rules of social conduct
There are several social nuances and rules of conduct that most people understand intuitively or through experience. For example, knowing how to take turns in a conversation, knowing how to interpret other people’s facial expressions and gestures, behavioral differences in behaving with someone you are close to as opposed to an acquaintance and other such elements of interpersonal interaction are things we understand intuitively as well as through observing and participating in interactions.
It becomes imperative, then, to teach children with autism things that you would not explicitly teach other students such as how to maintain eye contact in a conversation and the appropriate physical distance one should maintain while talking to someone.
- Difficulty understanding what needs to be done
One of the most common concerns regarding an autistic child’s abilities to participate in classroom activities is the overwhelming nature of the environment and the expectations made of them pertaining to schoolwork and assignments.
These children may find it hard to understand what needs to be done, the sequence of steps needed to carry out the task and the amount of time that needs to be devoted to each task.
It is essential for teachers to establish an ordered and predictable structure in the classroom so that the students have enough clarity on what to expect of the class as well as on what’s expected of them.
Children with autism can be accommodated in a school environment if their learning challenges are understood and pertinent parameters are put into place for dealing with them.
An autistic child may also benefit extensively from attending a special education school that caters exclusively to children with similar challenges in a thoughtfully planned school environment and curriculum. One such school in New York City is the Rebecca School. To learn more about Rebecca School, you can visit: www.rebeccaschool.org
Special Needs School NYC 