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Ten Things Your Student with Autism
Wishes You Knew
This year I have added a
new book to my range of resources: “Ten
Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew” by Ellen Notbohm. Below is Ellen’s 2005 article, Ten Things Your Student
with Autism Wishes You Knew, which became the basis for her 2006 book by the
same title
1.
Behavior is communication. All behavior occurs for a
reason. It tells you, even when my words can’t, how I perceive what is
happening around me. Negative behavior interferes with my learning process. But
merely interrupting these behaviors is not enough; teach me to exchange these
behaviors with proper alternatives so that real learning can flow. Negative behavior usually means I am overwhelmed by
disordered sensory systems, cannot communicate my wants or needs or
don’t understand what is expected of me. Look beyond the behavior to find the
source of my resistance.
2. Never assume anything. Without factual backup, an assumption
is only a guess. I may not know or understand the rules. I may have heard the
instructions but not understood them. Maybe I knew it yesterday but can’t
retrieve it today.
3. Look for sensory issues first. A lot of my resistant behaviors come
from sensory discomfort. One example is fluorescent lighting, which has been shown
over and over again to be a major problem for children like me. The hum it
produces is very disturbing to my hypersensitive hearing, and the pulsing
nature of the light can distort my visual perception, making objects in the
room appear to be in constant movement.
4. Provide me a break to allow for self-regulation before
I need it.
A quiet, carpeted corner of the room with some pillows, books and headphones
allows me a place to go to re-group when I feel overwhelmed, but isn’t so far
physically removed that I won’t be able to rejoin the activity flow of the
classroom smoothly.
5. Tell me what you want me to do in the positive rather than
the imperative. “You left a mess by the sink!” is merely a statement of fact to me.
I’m not able to infer that what you really mean is “Please rinse out your paint
cup and put the paper towels in the trash.” Don’t make me guess or have to
figure out what I should do.
6. Keep your expectations reasonable. That all-school assembly
with hundreds of kids packed into bleachers and some guy droning on about the
candy sale is uncomfortable and meaningless to me. Maybe I’d be better off
helping the school secretary put together the newsletter.
7. Help me transition between activities. It takes me a little
longer to motor plan moving from one activity to the next. Give me a
five-minute warning and a two-minute warning before an activity changes – and
build a few extra minutes in on your end to compensate. A simple clock face or
timer on my desk gives me a visual cue as to the time of the next transition
and helps me handle it more independently.
8. Don’t make a bad situation worse. I know that even though
you are a mature adult, you can sometimes make bad decisions in the heat of the
moment. I truly don’t mean to melt down, show anger or otherwise disrupt your
classroom. You can help me get over it more quickly by not responding with
inflammatory behavior of your own. Beware of these
responses that prolong rather than resolve a crisis, for example: Raising pitch
or volume of your voice. I hear the yelling and shrieking, but not the words.
9. Criticize gently. Be honest – how good are you at
accepting “constructive” criticism? The maturity and self-confidence to be able
to do that may be far beyond my abilities right now.
10.
Offer real choices – and
only real choices. Don’t offer me a choice or ask a “Do you want…?” question
unless are willing to accept no for an answer. “No” may be my honest answer to “Do you want to read out loud now?”
The last word: believe. Believe that you can make a difference for
me. It requires accommodation and adaptation, but
autism is an open-ended learning difference. There are no inherent upper limits
on achievement. I can sense far more than I can communicate, and the number one
thing I can sense is whether you think I “can do it.” Encourage me to be
everything I can be, so that I can continue to grow and succeed long after I’ve
left your classroom.
Reproduced with permission from Ellen Notbohm.
To Download an easy to read and print version click >> Ten Things Your Student With Autism Wishes You Knew
I think this is a book every parent,
extended families and teacher of a child with an ASD should read.
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