Reaching and Teaching the Autistic Student

No one knows what causes autism or why it is four to six times more common in boys than girls. But the spectrum of symptoms and effective techniques to teach autistic children are becoming better understood, explains Pat Shedden, who teaches a class of six autistic children at Queensville Public School in Queensville, Ontario.

Autistic children can be extremely sensitive to stimuli. Many have sensory integration problems, meaning that they have difficulty processing and organizing the information they gain through sensory input. Combined with Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder or attention deficit disorder, or both, these difficulties make simply surviving, let alone learning, in the busy, noisy, unpredictable and fast-paced world very difficult, Shedden says.

In response, autistic children withdraw from social contact and develop what are called "self-calming measures" to help screen out disturbing stimuli and reduce anxiety. They may compulsively rock, jump, scream or ask a question repeatedly to make sense of their world.

To reduce their anxiety and help them feel comfortable at school, Shedden has created what she calls a "home-base classroom." It is a structured, predictable, interesting and welcoming place where the children feel safe. "When they feel safe, when they know what's going to happen next, they can relax enough to begin learning," she explains. For example, one child who initially spent hours a day screaming with fear and anxiety is now following the provincial math curriculum independently with his Grade 4 integrated class and is one of the top math students.

Shedden has also developed special activities for her students for every day of the week. These hook the children's interest into school and learning. They also provide structure, so the children can anticipate and predict what will happen each day. Most importantly, the activities teach social skills in a variety of settings (autistic children have difficulty transferring social skills from one venue to another). They also teach practical life skills, such as swimming, money handling and library etiquette.

• Movie Monday. The children bring in their favourite movie to watch at lunchtime while they eat popcorn.
• Tuesday Outings. The children take figure skating lessons, visit the library and have lunch at community restaurants.
• Welcome Wednesdays. Other classes visit Shedden's classroom to play, a reverse integration opportunity.
• Thursday Outings. The children take swimming lessons at the community pool.
• Friendship Friday. Community members, parents and others join the class for various activities, including cooking and Friendship Groups.

Shedden's autistic children are extremely bright. They follow individualized education plans that cover as much of the regular academic curriculum as possible. The children are integrated into the regular classroom as much as possible, but "communication, social and life skills come first, because without them there is no meaningful learning," Shedden emphasizes.

To illustrate, she tells of a parent speaker at a conference for autism educators. When asked, "What do you want for your child?" he carefully and deliberately answered as follows. "You're not going to like this answer because you're all teachers, but it's not the curriculum - that's a bonus. I want my child to feel good about himself and to have friends to interact with in the world around him as he grows."