Several skills join together to ensure a refined and a constructive school experience of a child. Time management, academic skills and management skills are all called upon in order to make the school experience a rewarding one for students.
Famed author Bruce Barton details the five steps involved in teaching new skills, which include “preparation, explanation, showing, observation, and supervision.” When it comes to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, it is a challenging task to acquire basic academic and social skills through these simple steps. For an autistic child, the task of sailing through the challenges imposed by the daily schedule of attending school are more challenging. The reasons for these challenges include:
- Trouble with sensory processing
Autistic children can be hypersensitive or under-sensitive to sensory stimuli such as visual, auditory and tactile stimulations. These sensory processing issues can cause an autistic child to become agitated by certain elements. These elements may include bright lights or the presence of too much “background noise”. - Difficulty in regulating emotionsIt is hard for children with ASD to control their emotions. They may experience extreme adverse emotions in reaction to relatively minor incidents. This may result in a meltdowns involving aggressive, violent behavior or hysterical outbursts.
- Unable to relate and communicate with others
The ability to relate and communicate with their peers are often delayed or thwarted in children with ASD. Not being able to interpret other people’s perspectives or communicate productively tends to delay the process of learning for these students.
Support at autistic children’s schools
Several special education schools for autistic children offer varied forms of support in order to help them acquire skills in an enjoyable, effective manner. The various kinds of support may include:
- PrimingThis form of support allows children anticipate activities and situations in a school setting. The teacher communicates with the child in a one-on-one interaction before a lesson and presents an introductory abstract concept of the lesson. This way, the child knows what’s coming up and is less anxious about the activities ahead.
- Visual supportsIt has been observed that autistic children are excellent visual learners. The illustrations, maps, diagrams, charts and 3-D models used at autistic children’s schools support this strength. These visual tools may include pasting labels on drawers to indicate their content or putting up directions within the school premises.
- Home base
Home base support involves dedicating a separate room or area (which could be the office of a therapist or a corner of the classroom) that acts as a refuge for an autistic child who is suffering from anxiety or feeling overwhelmed with emotions. A home base support also functions as psychological support to the child during all of those times when he/she feels like taking time off the learning process.
Some autistic children’s schools, such as the acclaimed Rebecca School, acknowledge mental and physical requirements, difficulties, and preferences of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in order to help make the school experience a smooth and effective one for them.
Special Needs School NYC 