These five best practices can be applied with all your students. They support the inclusion of autistic students, without excluding any learners.
Best practice 1: Give clear, simple directions
Many autistic students require instructions to be delivered clearly and simply. Make sure the action you want them to take is understandable. And where necessary, break your instructions down into individual tasks.
- Make sure students are paying attention.
- Using a clear, calm voice, tell students what to do and how to do it. Do this with the whole class and use visuals.
- Pause for a few seconds and assess their understanding.
- Acknowledge those who followed or tried to follow the direction.
- I will consistently say, Is everyone listening? to gain their attention and make sure that everyone has stopped what they are doing (no need for eye contact).
- I will deliver my instruction and wait for understanding.
- If the students don’t respond, I will assess if extra visual supports are needed.
Best practice 2: Be clear about each day’s schedule
Autistic students often struggle with transitions. Planning the day and being clear about the order of activities alleviates anxiety.
- Place a schedule in a visible place in the classroom and refer to it throughout the day.
- Make the schedule interactive. Ask students to remove the completed activity and move a visible indicator (clothespins work) to the next activity.
- I will make a vertical visual schedule and post it beside the board.
- Each image will be connected with Velcro.
- Once the activity is done, the image will be removed and put in an envelope.
Best practice 3: Provide both a calm space and an active space in the classroom
Students with autism often have sensory challenges related to sound, touch, visuals and smells. They may get overwhelmed by stimuli or seek out additional stimuli. Offering support helps them focus on tasks.
- Create a quiet corner with limited visual and auditory stimuli. Make it accessible to all students.
- If that’s not possible, make noise-cancelling headphones and table dividers available.
- Encourage walking breaks, create a move-to-learn area and allow fidget items at students’ desks.
- Promote self-regulation by allowing students to decide when they need access to the calm space.
- I will organize a corner of my classroom to be a quiet space.
- I will have a comfortable chair, headphones, fidget items and books available for students who feel they need a break.
- I will allow this space to be used freely during a group activity time.
Best practice 4: Support peer interactions
Autistic students sometimes find it difficult to communicate with classmates and other people. Peer group work is a good way to learn age-appropriate social skills and develop a sense of belonging in a structured setting.
- Create opportunities for peer interactions by assigning pre-selected groups or buddies. Have them share common interests and build familiarity.
- Ensure the student’s responsibilities are outlined clearly.
- Limit the duration of these interactions so that autistic students don’t become overwhelmed.
- Outside the classroom, create school-wide volunteer opportunities and special interest clubs.
- I will assign group work and pair up the students myself.
- I will provide a visual checklist to make sure each student’s responsibilities are clear and limit the group time to 10 minutes.
Best practice 5: Create structure with visual work systems
An effective way to promote independence is to use visual aids that create a sense of structure around activities. Many autistic students will respond positively if they have a good understanding of what tasks need to be completed, how much time they have to do so and when they’ll be finished. Also be clear about what they’re expected to do next. These visuals can be customized for an individual, or work for the whole class. You can find examples online.
- Set up a folder for each student with activities and worksheets inside. Add a checklist of work they’re expected to complete.
- Introduce and model the use of the work system.
- Fade out your support as students get comfortable with the system.
- Appoint and support a student buddy to help the autistic student if needed.
- I will set up a folder-based activity schedule for small groups of two to three students.
- There will be identical independent worksheets or tasks in each folder.
- All students must finish before moving on to the next folder.