Autistic people: What tips do you have for schools and

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teachers in teaching and providing accommodations to autistic children?

Are you a teacher? Do you work at a school?

I was always at normal ed school with excellent grades and am currently a student in a university. So I'd say I don't have much problems learning, but I am familiar with alot of autistic people who have much trouble than me. My only (probably) problem is sometimes I "miss" the point of things or in other words to differ between what's important and what not, or in other words taking things too seriously/literally.

Some autistic people have trouble concentrating, some have trouble understanding simple tasks or even cope with their peers. Some are just not fit for normal ed program. Maybe your school can offer tutor or help lessons for the kid if needs so.

Where do I begin!?!?!?! I was in a private school with no accommodations (outside of the teachers occasionally not giving tests after lunch because I took Ritalin at lunch....back in the days before Aspergers was diagnosed and you likely got lumped in with ADHD folks). The biggest problem I had was that I did not learn the way they taught!! !! I learn everything "top down"....meaning I need to be taught the big picture and not the details. I do NOT learn sequentially....at all!! ! Math was a real problem. When we got to Calculus I said "Why didn't you teach me this first?!?" because all of the lights in my brain started coming on but unfortunately we had already covered all of algebra and geometry by that point so I couldn't very easily go back and relearn it all. Another big issue I had was that school was way too anxiety producing. Every single day of junior high I came home screaming because it was just too much...until my mother realized that if I got on the computer as soon as we got home I would feel better (decompress). The days are wwaaaayyyyyy too long, filled with way too much time wasting junk (worksheets I didn't need to reinforce...I just needed to be taught the way I learned ONE time), too much over-stimulation (people, lights, noises, bells, no time to decompress), etc. I now have 2 kids on the spectrum myself. We homeschool for a variety of reasons, but we all LOVE school!! ! We use a Charlotte Mason approach (it was what came up when I googled "Autism and Homeschool" initially). I honestly feel like it is the best way to go regardless of what kind of needs/talents the child might have.

1. Try not to assume the student is not listening. Extroverts can look at you, but very introverted people listen better when they are using only their ears, while unfocusing their eyes.

2. In college I often used a camera to take notes, because the pace was a little too fast to write some things. Instead of writing all the notes, I would write captions for when I reviewed the photos, and took notes from them when I got home. That did 2 things -- it reviewed the material, and it gave me time to watch and listen during class. Note taking can be a focus hog -- too much time writing notes makes it hard to listen to the explanations.

3. Repetition with adding something new at the end is great. Once a skill is mastered, add something new to it that expands on the mastered skill, rather than moving on to something completely different and foreign. For example, if you must start with math and move on to reading --- rather than completely stop math, maybe use math word problems to ease into the reading.

4. Create video notes for your students to watch in school and at home. I watched so many YouTube videos for my computer science courses that helped me way more than the actual lectures at school did. I don't know if it was just because the teachers were not very good, or if it was because I am more relaxed at home and that helped me take in the information easier. It also helped because I could go back and play a section over again. I didn't slow the class down by stopping the professor to ask to go over it again (creating more anxiety).

5. Give your students a preview of what will occur over the week in syllabus form -- and at the end of each subject, tell them what they will work on next time, referring them to the syllabus. I always felt lost, because I didn't know what was coming. College we were given a syllabus for the whole semester. I was in my element at college, but all school before that point was a waste of time.

6. Start and end the classes the same way; start with a review of what you did last time, and what you hope to accomplish that day, and end with a preview of what will be next.

Yes on taking pictures of the notes!! I had a professor in graduate school who started handing out powerpoint printouts especially for me!! !! ! I also would have loved to be able to re-watch lectures at home (although in college you might as well have made that an online class because most people wouldn't have gone to class by that point unless attendance was counted as a grade)!