I will be a new teacher, teaching first grade and I just found out that I will have a little boy with autism in my class. Last year he was in special ed. for K, but this year I will have him full time in my classroom. I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me. I really want to make this a great year for him and any advice would really be great! Thanks so much!!
Cassie
Last edited by 1stgradenew; 08-19-2006 at 06:38 PM..
I am a first grade teacher and I also have a 24 year old moderately autistic daughter. I had a problem with inclusion because so many classroom teachers DO NOT want autistic children in their classrooms. Some were wonderful and taught with their hearts. Others were horrible to her. One of the most important things is to prepare your class for the situation. Then look for compassionate kids who can be buddies. Everything is concrete for autistic kids. I've had autistic kids in my classroom. I give them 3 colored cards to carry with them. I tell them that if they follow the behavior guidelines I set for them, they get to keep all their cards. If they don't follow the guidelines, they lose a card. If they lose all their cards, they lose a recess. It's funny that they really care more about their cards than they do recess. Concrete things like that really make a difference. I don't know how severely autistic your student is. There are so many degrees and so many manifestations. But it sounds like your heart is in the right place, and you'll do a great job with him.
I like that you were able to connect with Linda2671 through this board. She has some great things to tell you about working with autistic kids. When I clicked to respond I just wanted to ask if the student will be shadowed by a paraprofessional or special ed teacher or are you on your own. I feel like unless you have training to work with autistic students, it would only be right that your receive massive support from the special ed folks.
If I were in your place, I'd be surfing over to sites about autistic kids and talking a lot with teachers of special ed who have experience and expertise in the domain.
One of the K teachers had him for reading only last year ( like 30 min 3 or 4 days a week) and just told yesterday. I was actually on my way out the door so I'm hoping to talk to her more about it on Monday. So right now I don't know much, I just figured I would try to get a head start. Does anyone know any good websites to look at? I checked out austismspeaks.org ( I have seen commericals) but I didn't really find anything for teachers and the classroom.
I loved teaching my two little guys and there was even some discussion of me moving with them for another year or two (the other teachers said no). My key recommendation to you is get a class routine set up and stick with it....I had to have surgery at the end of April and my sub ignored my routine (all laid out in the plans) even though both myself and the boys' aide asked her to stay with the routine. I came back after two weeks of recovery to a class that was stressed and upset by all the changes (not just the boys but everyone).
My other advice is find out what your student enjoys trucks, crafts, Star Wars and use it. When my boys had finished their work they were able to choose what to do. One of them always chose to make crafts quietly at his desk. The other loved to read a book on the carpet or if I was available tell me a story he would make up with prompting. A pleasuable activity after the work gets the work done much better.
Typically, I teach third grade. The first year that I had my autistic child, he was in my third grade class. Then, last year, I had a 3rd and 4th grade split and kept my autistic child for a second year.....by MY choice! He was an absolute delight and I am going to miss him this year!
One thing that I found MOST helpful was a book entitled My Friend hasAutism that was written by Beverly Bishop. This book was written purposely to help classmates understand having a fellow student with autism. Read it to your class! It will help other children understand this child more fully.
Yes, I second My Friend Has Autism! What a wonderful book. This past year I had a student with Aspberger's Syndrome (on the autism spectrum). He challenged ME to be a better teacher because I had to break everything down that much more (directions, etc.). He relied heavily on structure, as most children do, and it was important to have a schedule on the board with times. He had a personal schedule at his desk. The main thing with him was that he needed to be taught the social skills that we learned through assimilation as children. Personal space, eye contact, etc.
Go over the book with your student's parents and ask if it would be okay to share this with the class. It is wonderfully by a parent who wrote it for her child's teacher/class. It taught me and my students a tremendous amount. Have a great year!
I know that I need to have a lot of visual cues for my lil' guy but I guess I'm a little confused on what kind of pictures. I really want to be ready on the first day, what should I do? What kind of pictures should i prepare? Thanks for all the feedback already. It's so helpful!! Thanks
Here are some ideas of pictures you'll need: you, the child, the child's desk, all areas of your classroom, the gym, the lunchroom, bathroom, recess area, library, etc. .
Hopefully your able to speak his teacher or aid from last year to help you prepare; they would be the ones to tell you if he has problems transitioning, with behavior, etc. . .
Another thing that I did for my autistic child was that I made 5 "schedule" cards, with graphics and times. For example:
Monday
8:35-8:45 Welcome to a New Day!
8:45-9:00 Morning Paper (Teacher takes attendance, lunch count, etc.)
9:00-9:15 Morning Meeting
I used graphics that related to each item. For example, I used a book for Silent Reading time, etc. (For my example above, I just used the smilies available here on PT.)
I had one card for each day and they were laminated. We kept them in a folder. Then, each day, he would pull out the daily schedule and kept it on his desk. He knew what we were doing and when we were doing it. Autistic children are very routine and schedule oriented.
Another helpful tip.......if you are going to do anything OUT of the normal routine on any given day, such as have an afternoon assembly, let your autistic child know ahead of time. My child handled these alterations in our routine much better when I talked to him and explained them. If something was spontaneous and he didn't have forewarning, it was much more difficult for him to be able to accept the change.
Check with your resource teacher to find out if your school has a program for making visuals. If not, one option is to join this site http://www.dotolearn.com/
I found it last year and my SNTA loves it she joined because we had nothing at the school to make schedules and stuff. I also found the site useful in figuring out what I wanted to do in my classroom. The info is free, membership (which gives you access to customize pic symbols) is not.
Don't be too alarmed. I am the parent of an austistic son and he is wonderful. The greatest adjustment you will have to make is that they like being along. They will interact with coaching. They are very considerate of others and are offended (very sensitive) easily. Once they find an interest they are very determined and will exert all of their energies toward it. Multi-tasking could be a problem initially but with work and encouragement they will do well. Please feel free to contact me at any time. I am also a teacher but I teach English in Korea as a second language to 220 wonderful middle school students.
08-19-2006, 03:38 PM
aol.com she is an autism consultant. She gives lots of great ideas for working with autistic children.
He was an absolute delight and I am going to miss him this year!
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