Regional Autism Advisory Council of
Southwest Ohio (RAAC-SWO)
RAAC Training Committee 2011
The Basics of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Training Series
Training Series Modules
Module One: Autism Defined, Autism Prevalence and Primary Characteristics
Module Two: Physical Characteristics of Autism
Module Three: Cognition and Learning in Autism
Module Four: Getting the Student Ready to Learn
Module Five: Structuring the Classroom Environment
Module Six: Using Reinforcement in the Classroom
Training Series Modules
Module Seven: Autism and Sensory Differences
Module Eight: Sensory in the Classroom
Module Nine: Communication and Autism
Module Ten: Communication in the Classroom
Module Eleven: Behavior Challenges and Autism
Module Twelve: Understanding Behavior in Students with Autism
Training Series ModulesModule Thirteen: Social Skills in the School
Environment
Module Fourteen: Functional Behavior Assessment
Module Fifteen: Working Together as a Team
Module Sixteen: Autism and Leisure Skills to Teach
Module Seventeen: Special Issues of Adolescence
Module Eighteen: Safety and Autism
Module Nineteen: Special Issues: High School, Transition, and Job Readiness
Training Series ModulesModule Twenty: Asperger Syndrome: Managing
and Organizing the Environment
Module Twenty-One: Asperger Syndrome: Addressing Social Skills
When arranging a classroom environment for a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder one
must consider 3 things:
1. Physical Structure2. Visual Supports3. Work Systems
Big Idea
The way an environment is
organized and laid out is one of the most
important factors for success in the
classroom.
Physical Structure
Physical structure should be considered in any environment the student with autism is going to be in, including: classrooms, hallways, lunch room, recess, locker/cubby areas.
The furniture, desks, and carpet areas are arranged in a way that the student knows where an area begins and where it ends.
The arrangement of the room should decrease auditory and visual stimulation.
Materials should be organized and stored not in view of the students.
Physical Structure in Different Environments
Visual SupportsVisual supports are a way to take what
a student hears and put it into picture/word form.
Visual supports should be portable (able be carried or moved) so that they can travel with the student if necessary.
Visual supports should not be taken away or utilized only sometimes.
Visual supports are more than just putting labels on various items.
Reasons to UseVisual Supports
Improves predictability (student knows what is coming next)
Provides clear expectations (what work, how much work, when am I finished)
Promotes independence
Creates structure to environments that are often confusing
Reduces anxiety
Reduces behavioral difficulties
Establishes trust
Use as a contract (do this work, then you get this reward)
Examples of Visual Supports
Visual Schedules (picture, words, calendar)
Group SchedulesDirectionsLabelsFirst/Then Board
Visual SchedulesThe goal of a visual schedule is for
the student to INDEPENDENTLY move from activity to activity, or classroom to classroom within the school day.
Schedules need to be portable and easy to use.
They should not be taken away. The schedule can be made using
objects, pictures, words, whatever works best for the student
Big Idea
Students, even those with High Functioning Autism or Asperger
Syndrome, may always need some form of a visual schedule
in order to be successful.
Examples of Visual Schedules
Written Schedule. The student checks off the activity as the school day progresses.
Picture schedule. The student takes the picture and matches it to the same picture in the area the activity
will be taking place.
Group Schedules Communicates to
students what activities will occur during group time and what will happen when group is finished (wait chair icon)
Directions Decreases need for
verbal directions.
Increases independence.
First / Then BoardsConsider this familiar
scene…
The teacher wants student to complete assigned work.
The student wants to play a computer game.
Solution: Provide a first/then board that communicates to the student the ‘work’ they have to do, then the reward they get.
Visual Supports Visual supports are a way to solve
problems.
Ask yourself the following questions:
What do you hear yourself saying over and over?
What do you hear students asking you over and over?
Where is the student breaking down?
The answers to these questions lead you toward where visual supports should be implemented.
Big Idea
“If you’ve told a child a thousand times and he still does not
understand, then it is not the child who is the slow learner.”
Attributed to Walter Barbee
Work SystemsWork systems provide clear and predictable
routines.
Work systems increase engagement and on task behavior.
Work systems promote independence.
Work systems provide opportunities for students to practice skills that have already been TAUGHT to them.
Work systems can be utilized to practice academic skills, daily living skills, recreation skills, and leisure skills.
Work Systems
Work systems can be utilized in multiple environments including the classroom, lunch room, gym, office, community, and home.
Work systems contain activities the student already knows how to do on their own.
Work systems can be utilized to practice academic skills, leisure skills, daily living skills, and recreational skills.
The goal of work systems is for the student to complete the activities with no adult assistance.
Work Systems
Work systems are organized from left to right.
Work systems answer the following questions:What is the work to be done?How much work?When am I finished?What do I do when I am finished?
Big Idea
The main purpose of a work system is to develop a way that the student completes a task independent of an
adult’s assistance.
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