What Actions Manifest Within Your Child’s Autism?
Autism is well-known to be a spectrum disorder specifically meaning that each and every one of us exist to some level on the far fetching scale.
As an autism educator, I will always examine students first to determine how their autism manifests.
This simply means that I am looking to see what their greatest need is in regards to their autism.
Because autism effects individuals so differently, there is no systematic approach to working with individuals on the spectrum.
I believe this to be true with all people regardless of their disabilities or lack of defined disabilities; however, it is of the upmost importance when educating or even coexisting with autism.
Next, I have defined categories ranked in order of what I feel is most significance and prevalence that I use to navigate instruction.
Typically, students fall into more than one of these areas of manifestation but have one central manifestation that must be addressed to insure success.
I define success as an individual working to their best potential.
For some this may be contributing to the world as a productive member of society, but for others this could be simply living peacefully with those around them.
Anxiety in Autism
| Autism Manifests as Anxiety: A negative physiological state created within one’s psyche. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Many students with autism are anxious. When an individual is in a constant state of high anxiety, everything is more challenging including education and coping with life in general. |
| How to Help: First, make sure to create a comfortable environment including a predictable routine, visual support, peer buddies, and sensory support. Remove time limits, especially timed tests, if at all possible. Homework often causes large anxiety for students with autism while they are still at school as all they can think about is the work they have to do later, and the anxiety continues once they are home. Limiting work outside of school decreases nervousness and increases overall work completion. Provide built-in incentive opportunities for students to earn time to engage in a preferred activity as this will help to increase their positive feelings towards school. |
Unregulated Emotions and ASD
| Autism Manifests as Unregulated Emotions: A lack of understanding of emotions and the necessary coping skills to navigate the complete set of feelings experienced by humans |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Regulating emotions can be extremely challenging for those on the spectrum. As with anxiety, when a student is experiencing an intense emotion, a sort of tunnel vision can occur and they can be trapped within the emotion and unable to escape their own mind. This includes jubilation and thoughts of suicide. |
| How to Help: First and foremost, teach emotions. I use a visual of feeling choices for this. Acknowledging the feelings will be a gateway to taking actions to address the feelings. Deep pressure is often useful to bring students to a more relaxed emotional level, and I have provided pressure by pushing down on students’ shoulders, squeezing theirs hands while they return the squeezes, giving full body hugs, and giving them gentle hair tugs. Any time you are giving deep pressure, always squeeze for no more than 10 counts. After a count of 10, ask the student, “More or stop?” and do as directed. If the student is nonverbal, watch their body signals. If a student is verbal, written communication, especially typing back and forth on a computer, is essential to regulate emotions. Written words are often very calming as they provide time for both writers to think and process, decrease arguing, and eliminate a negative voice tone, while increasing the dialogue pertaining to feelings. |
Sensory Seeking within Autism
| Autism Manifests as Sensory Seeking: The need to have additional bodily support to maintain daily life. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: There are certain stimulating movements that are especially calming for individuals with autism. If a student has high anxiety, I usually check to see if they are receiving adequate and appropriate sensory stimulation. Next, I compare appropriate sensory stimulation to utilizing glasses for your vision or hearing aids for your ears. Without proper sensory input, learning will be extremely difficult if not impossible. Always make sure to watch the movements of your student and note the emotions present when the movements occur. If the student is verbal, see if they can express their feelings during a particular movement or sensory experience. |
| How to Help: Provide appropriate sensory experiences for a school environment. This could be pacing, using a fidget within one’s hands, or having a wiggle cushion. Try to teach how to apply a desired sensory experience whether that is how to safely push on one’s joints typically focusing on the hands or legs You can also learn how to apply pressure to pressure points, how to massage one’s earlobes, or how to gently pull on the hair follicles to release stress. If a student requires assistance from an adult to achieve the desired level of sensory, teach the student how to effectively seek out this help. Also, make sure that you provide safe sensory items and always have them available during stressful times. I do not recommend ever removing sensory items as a punishment nor do I use them as a reward. The only time I would ever restrict an individual from a sensory activity is if it borders on an obsessive compulsion disorder that could risk their safety. For instance, individuals who must walk a certain routine within a room could resist evacuating during an emergency or students who use glass windows to push against could harm their bodies if the glass breaks. |
Noise Sensitivity in Autistics
| Autism Manifests as Noise Sensitivity: A sensitivity to sound with a desire for noise to be decreased or increased. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: While noise sensitivity is within the sensory realm, I examine it separately. Whether your student loves or despises loud noises is important for you to know. This will influence the student’s seating in class, participation in large group activities, and willingness to engage in noise related activities. |
| How to Help: Provide headphones or earbuds for audio players (these often look more typical in an inclusion setting for self-conscious individuals) for those with a sensitivity to noise. Make sure you utilize a noise control visual that both the teacher and student can manipulate so you are both aware of each other’s current opinions of the noise level. If the student is unable to participate in an activity due to noise, allow them to sit in the doorway or provide an alternative setting. On the counter, if the student is a noise seeker, allow for a time in their schedule to visit a room that echoes or where loud sounds/music can be played or created. |
Argumentative Autism
| Autism Manifests as Argumentative: An increased level of verbal agitation where the individual aggressively maintains their opinions. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: When first examining a student, you might determine that their primary manifestation is arguing; however, I find that this is usually secondary to a hidden or not so hidden level of anxiety. Students who appear rude or have a know-it-all attitude are often unaware of social expectations. They are arguing with you because they want to control the situation and stick with the status quo. Change brings newness and disrupts their harmony. |
| How to Help: Discuss and practice arguing offenses and arguing advice. Teach your students how to properly advocate for themselves. Then, assist them in accepting help and regulating their emotions. Also, provide them with scripted language that they can utilize when working with others. Use visual cue cards such as good job, stop, all done, try again, yes, no, and think about it to quickly signal them to use conducive communication. |
Autism and a Major Life Obsession
| Autism Manifests as Major Life Obsession: Constant desire to be engaged in a particular activity or constantly seeking a particular item. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Some people with autism are extremely interested in a specific activity or item. Any deviation from their interest will revert in them leaving the conversation or redirecting the focus back to their interest. While these individuals are often thought of as self-centered, they are unable to view others’ interests and genuinely believe that others are as interested in their obsession as they are. |
| How to Help: Always build and expand a student’s obsession whenever safe. If a student has an obsession with planes, expand their knowledge to include maps of flight patterns and weather maps. Then, build on that by including maps of roadways. Next, further their knowledge by introducing the mechanics of plane engines and, possibly most importantly, advance their knowledge of the people associated with the planes. Use their obsession to motivate and build time within their schedule to learn about or talk about their obsession. Their interests can definitely be used as a reward for engaging in and completing other tasks. |
Technology Addiction in Autism
| Autism Manifests as Technology Addiction: The desire to relentlessly engage in technology related activities including heavily basing their verbal communications around technology or quoting what has been heard. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Technology is the most common major life obsession I observe in my students. You might see a student with autism staring straight ahead as though they are not seeing what is in front of them but exhibiting happy facial expressions. They are most likely viewing their “inner technology feed.” Because of this, they are not in a state of learning. |
| How to Help: Teach individuals with autism how to “pause” their inner ongoing feed of videos. Have them push a pretend button on a remote or game console, or on their head to turn off the technology. Build in a time for them to use technology as a reward for completing tasks. This works with individuals across the spectrum and even works for adults with autism who can make their own schedules. Encourage a reduction of screen time of video games, YouTube, and movies in an effort to reduce this addiction. |
Food Issues and ASD
| Autism Manifests as Food Issues: An aversion to certain foods typically “health” foods and an inclination towards processed, carbohydrate based foods. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Many students need a built-in snack time with their preferred foods to stabilize hunger and blood sugar. A high carbohydrate diet often causes issues with bowel movements including constipation and diarrhea. |
| How to Help: Provide a time in the schedule for the student to have a snack. Work with the family or cafeteria to have a collection of food the student to eat. This can greatly increase work productivity and has even solved unexplained behavior problems. Be sensitive to individuals with autism who have bowel troubles as they may need additional time in the restroom and the opportunity to make up work missed due to toileting. Also, if possible, also establish a set bathroom schedule in an attempt to regulate the bowels. |
Perfectionism within Autism
| Autism Manifests as Perfectionism: The need to do an action or activity without erring at all. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Perfectionism is often a secondary manifestation to anxiety, though one could argue that perfectionism causes anxiety. For students with autism who are perfectionists, they may choose to not participate in an activity if they believe they cannot master it. They may become “sick” and ask to go home often to avoid failing. Work refusals or destruction of materials is also commonly seen. Remember that individuals who are attempting to be perfect deem failing as anything less than 100 percent. Also, watch for students who are unable or unwilling to ask for help. |
| How to Help: Usually perfectionism manifests in high functioning individuals. Take time to study the great scholars of the world and note the failures related to them. Discuss in detail how our fails create avenues to grow and learn. Provide safe opportunities for the student to “fail” and make sure that the first trials of this are not related to academics or paperwork. When the individual with autism is ready to move onto being imperfect in academics, do these learning lessons with no grade attached. If at all possible, remove any timed tests or tests that are impossible to finish completely in the allotted time. Perfectionism has even been accidentally created by the use of timed math facts tests. Teach perfectionists to ask for help and to rely on others. This is best done in one-to-one instruction with scripted language. |
Sleep Difficulties in Autism
| Autism Manifests as Sleep Troubles: Difficulty resting or sleeping. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Individuals with autism and their families widely report significant trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. |
| How to Help: Consider the schedule of your student. Core subjects or the subjects most challenging for the student should occur when the student is most awake, usually mid to late morning. Also, make sure to discuss with the family what to do for a tired individual with autism. Let them rest, provide them with a snack, stimulate their brains with a preferred activity, or introduce physical exercise. Teach relaxation strategies and use white noise or soft music to help the individual fall asleep. |
Intellectual Differences and Autistics
| Autism Manifests as Cognitive Differences: An individual’s overall intelligence level and effect on society. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: While it might be obvious, individuals across the spectrum can range from gifted intelligence to those with severe cognitive deficits. |
| How to Help: Always draw on a student’s strengths and help them cope and address their weaknesses. Remember that behavior problems often occur when individuals with autism are forced to perform beyond their abilities. Next, celebrate all successes and build on the skills each student possesses. Be on the lookout for an area or areas of extreme giftedness such as perfect pitch, artistically included, or master puzzle completer. |
Fine Motor Skill Struggles and Autism
| Autism Manifests as Fine Motor Struggles: Challenges using small muscles, typically the fingers, to complete common daily tasks. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Students with autism often find activities that require the use of their fingers quite challenging. Handwriting is often poor and individuals with autism will sometimes avoid writing as much as possible. |
| How to Help: Provide individuals on the spectrum with fine motor support to ensure that their motor challenges don’t limit their ability to be productive. Provide keyed lockers over combination locks. Use pencil grips and provide the opportunity to type instead of using a pencil or pen. Also, utilize talk to text technology. |
Gross Motor Skill Struggles and Autism
| Autism Manifests as Gross Motor Struggles: Challenges using large muscles for physical activity including exercise. |
| Why Educators and Parents Should Be Aware: Many individuals with autism often avoid physical activity including gym class and interacting on the playground. Sitting up on the floor in challenging due to weak core muscles. |
| How to Help: Many schools are creating an adaptive physical education class for individuals with special needs. If this isn’t an option, schedule exercise through the student’s day by utilizing walking, swinging, and obstacle courses. When group sports are introduced, use the buddy method for teaching and playing. Also, daily music and movement with scripted dance moves are ideal. Encourage strengthening of the body’s core muscles by elevating activities to eye level while the body is seated on the floor. |
What other ways have you seen autism manifest in individuals with autism? Post below your thoughts!
