Three Tips On How To Help Out Those With Autism In The Classroom
by Kadin McElwain:
Picture this: You are an English teacher, and you teach the first-grade class at a local elementary school in Illinois. You just found out you have a new transfer student from New York City and you are informed that they may need a little extra help, as they’re on the autism spectrum. They are high-functioning, so they only need help in the sense of social skills and the like. The only problem is that you don’t know how to help out students on the spectrum. In fact, this is your first day, and they didn’t go through any proper training with you on the topic. But luckily, these three tips will help you learn how to not only help individuals on the spectrum do well in school but also foster an environment of respect that students will take with them beyond the classroom.
Tip One: Do You Research:
This is an easy first step in your journey of understanding autism. One in thirty-six children in the United States is diagnosed with autism every year. That’s 2.8 percent of children. Yet somehow, even after decades of research, schools and teachers alike are still not doing their research on the topic. As a result, everyone, student and teacher alike, suffers. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Doing your research on autism can make a huge impact on ensuring that autistic students feel included in the classroom. Whether that be attending a webinar on the topic or talking with adults on the spectrum, there are many ways to better understand autism. Other options include seeing if the school district has a workshop on autism that’s open to teachers or even arranging a homework assignment on autism in order to help yourself and your students understand the topic. As long as you’re working to better understand autism, you’ll know exactly what to do to help autistic students out. But there’s another way to ensure classrooms are inclusive for all, not just those on the spectrum.
Tip Two: Encourage Kindness:
This next tip doesn’t just apply to autistic individuals. Bullying is one of the most prevalent problems in the public school system, with the statistics being one in four students, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. With such an absurd statistic, you would think that schools would take the initiative to encourage kindness and respect in the classroom. However, schools usually don’t take this concern as seriously as they should, which results in severe mental health issues in students. This problem is even more prevalent for those on the autism spectrum. So that’s why encouraging kindness is important in a classroom setting.
Some activities you can do with your students to encourage kindness include a trust fall exercise, a writing exercise where you discuss differences, or having students do an exercise where they see bullying and immediately stand up for the victim. These are small activities, mind you. However, encouraging kindness and emphasizing the importance of treating people how they would want to be treated can make a huge impact on the bullying epidemic in schools. Additionally, these exercises can teach students to empathize with others, no matter their differences.
Tip Three: Make The Student As Comfortable As Possible:
Schools have a major responsibility to make all students as comfortable as possible in their learning journey. Whether offering tutoring services to help with the academic side of that journey or offering extracurriculars to help with the social aspect, schools have a track record of assisting students that’s mostly perfect. But this mission can become more complicated when trying to make an autistic student or a student with special needs comfortable, mainly due to social stigmas surrounding autism and overall ignorance on the school’s end. The autistic individual might not feel comfortable with doing a club or sport and they may not like the idea of tutoring much, and the state of special education currently also can result in uncomfortability. So what can a teacher do to ensure an academic setting is comfortable for the student?
The most important first step to take for the student is to offer a schedule of tasks for the day and stick with it throughout the academic year if you can. Most individuals on the spectrum tend to thrive in a predictable setting with a routine in place, especially if it’s things they already do. Another way to make the student comfortable is to offer academic tutoring and cater to them in a way that helps them thrive. Most importantly, in the sense of the social side of school, teachers can offer clubs exclusively for those on the spectrum or those who are neurodivergent, to help these individuals, as they say, “connect with their tribe”. A student’s comfort is the most important aspect of an academic setting, and autistic students are no exception to this rule.
Now more than ever, it is important to make autistic students feel welcome and comfortable in an academic setting. But in today’s divided society, this is even more complicated than ever. But if you as a teacher emphasize the importance of making all students feel welcome in schools, you’ll be doing yourself and your students an amazing service. The district may fight long and hard about the matter to save their pocketbook. But the most important thing you can do for your students is stand your ground and choose kindness over greed.
