Intense early intervention has been proven to increase
success in school for children with ASD. When asked what advice she would give
to a parent of a young child with ASD, Temple Grandin, a successful adult with
ASD who is both a professor, as well as a spokesperson for autism, said, “…doing
nothing, is the worst thing you can do. [The] worst thing you could do with an
autistic three-year-old is to just let them sit, and rock, and stim all day.
They gotta get a lot of hours every week, of one-to-one instruction with a
great teacher” (2010). One-to-one instruction should be in speech as well as
learning tasks and behaviors that would typically be a natural part of development
at that age for a child without ASD (Grandin, 2010).
One study followed a group of 19 children with ASD who had
one-to-one therapies for 40 hours per week for 2 years before reaching 4 years
of age. When observed at age 11, it was found that these children had continued
to perform well in school. Eight of the children performed as well as their
peers without disabilities on intelligence tests and in behavior (Heward et al., 2017). The Child Find mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Act requires states
and school districts to provide interventions for children starting at birth. The Center for Parent Information and Resources website has information about Child Find and how parents can find resources for early intervention (2017).
As children with ASD become school aged, there are many
methods that classroom teachers can use to help them that can also
be of benefit to the entire class. Strategies that incorporate visuals can make
a huge difference in the success of a student with ASD in the regular classroom. Use of visual schedules is one example of a
strategy that can help them feel comfortable in transitions and
gain independence. Teachers can create visual schedules of how to complete
specific tasks, not just of daily routines. Depending on the age and stage of
training in school, this type of visual could help all students in the
classroom to focus and be efficient with their completion of a task (Heward et al.,
2017). This YouTube video shows how to make one style of visual schedule. Visual
schedules can be customized to use at school and at home to help ease
transition from one activity to another or to assist in completing a task with
multiple steps.
Social stories are another visual support for students with
ASD. They can help teach new routines, remind the child of expected
behaviors, or inform the child of a process or procedure (Heward et al., 2017, p.241). The image below from
the Autism Canada website shows a couple of pages of a social story about going
to the grocery store (2020). By reading the social story before leaving the
house and allowing the child to look over the social story in the car, he or she will have a better expectation of what the process
will be and what expected behaviors are during a grocery shopping trip.
When considering any teaching strategy, therapy, or
intervention, make sure that it is a sound one. Trying new things does not
always produce positive results and could even cause a regression in your
child. Here are some tips to follow to make sure you are trying something based
on scientific evidence that it will have the results you are looking for. First, do your research. Who, exactly, is
promoting the treatment, therapy, or method of instruction? What do they stand
to gain from your using their therapy or strategy? Has research been published
about it in a reputable, peer-reviewed journal? Do your homework and know that
if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Second, commit to implementing a strategy fully, consistently and in the way it was intended in order to see benefit (Heward et al., 2017). It is important to use a tried
and true method to teach children with ASD, but even more important, is using
it well.
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