Simple and Effective Autism Modifications for the School Aged Child

When a child has special learning needs, it is important to make the right modifications in the classroom, at home, and during other times of learning and education. Keep in mind that learning isn't just something that happens at school with teachers and textbooks. Learning and understanding come from every part of life, and with the right autism modifications, it can be at its most effective for your child.

There are five primary autism modifications that can help your autistic child get the most out of his or her own potential. These include:

Visuals - as autistic children commonly achieve their best learning when visual aids are used, they should be among the modifications made to ensure an effective learning environment. Visuals can include:

- An individually tailored visual daily schedule that illustrates the day's activities.

- Visual highlighting of important points made throughout lessons through the use of cards of picture books etc.

- Color coding for relevant and important information i.e. Red for work time and blue for playtime.

- Directions and sequencing through visual cues such as picture cards

- Visual signs for making activity endings obvious.

Assessment and evaluation of sensory needs - Once an evaluation has been completed, suitable sensory activities should be scheduled into each day. Such sensory activities may include:

- Chair push ups

- Swing-sets and monkey Bar

- Transportation of heavy objects and light objects in various locations designated on designated routes

- Biting, smacking, sucking, chewing and blowing with food, bubbles, etc.

- Fidget Toys

- Always make the changes necessary to temperature, light, sounds and smells

- Exercise every day

environmental changes may include:

- Limiting the potential for distractions in the areas of work and home

- Based on the closeproximity to instruction area and materials

- Setting visual boundaries where necessary with screens or curtains etc

- Learning areas made obvious through seating and furniture arrangements, masking tape, carpet squares, etc.

Consistency - Make sure any modifications, techniques or teaching strategies are consistent between the classroom and home. This includes methods of scheduling the day's activities, and forms of communication. This consistent approach should be applied to as many different environments as possible, so children know what is expected of them at any given time.

Build Social and Emotional Strength - Give the autistic child activities that are specifically designed to support social and emotional skills. These skills should be a serious focus at home and at school. These are the skills that will be essential for your child's daily life and functioning throughout childhood and adulthood. It will likely be among the most challenging subjects for your child so it is important not to underestimate the impact social and emotional development and skills can have.

Beyond autism modifications in the classroom, there are many other things that you can do to help your child to function and adapt to life's demands. However, no matter what you choose for your child, you must make sure that the decision is based specifically on your child's unique symptoms of autism and their needs. Discuss any decisions with your doctor, specialist or therapist for further expert advice.

The Advantages of Autism

My husband and I are the sometimes-proud, sometimes-mortified parents of a four-and-a-half year old boy, Jonah, who has autism. Jonah is a bright, mischievous, affectionate, challenging, monkey of a kid. We love him and are managing our somewhat unusual lives pretty well. With autism, though, everything can seem like a challenge: meals, bath time, car trips, birthday parties, you name it.

Among other things, Jonah doesn't talk and he doesn't understand normal social cues. He'll walk up to a stranger at the park and rifle through her picnic basket. He'll climb up a playground slide without taking note of whether or not some kid is poised to slide down right into him. Every time he hears the song "Happy Birthday to You," he marches up to the place of honor, ready to blow out the candles and tear into cake. When prevented, distracted, or redirected away from these activities, a tantrum is the likely result. And when the tantrum is in public, there's usually the added fun of strangers' stares, glares, and disapproving glances. I could go on...but this article isn't about what autism is, or how it is difficult, or why its occurrence has risen to epidemic proportions. It's about the advantages of autism. And really, there are several.

I have to admit right off the bat: I'm only being half-facetious when I say we fully intend to cash in on any and all emergent savant skills, like in the Las Vegas scene from Rain Man -- but that doesn't seem likely since they say only 10% or so of autists have these skills. Oh, well. Winning ridiculous amounts of money counting cards isn't everything, I suppose. Good thing there are other things we can enjoy right now.

One is innocence. While other kids his age have "moved on" to superheroes and swords, our son still loves bubbles and blocks. While his peers have discarded traditional kids' songs for pop music, Jonah still happily requests "Wheels on the Bus" - and does all the hand motions too. He doesn't watch commercials then demand whatever toy or gadget or breakfast cereal was advertised. He doesn't understand the concept of Christmas or birthdays, at least not in the way other kids do, so he's perfectly happy with a few toys and something yummy to eat.

When our son is fully enjoying himself, there is no one as uninhibitedly delighted. A joyful Jonah is a beautiful sight. He is never embarrassed or self-conscious about what he is doing, and it shows. What you get is a child largely unaffected by most things that can't help but affect the consciousness of other kids: bad news on TV, anxiety about dad leaving for work, fear of the boogeyman under the bed. In a sense, autism protects him from much of the normal worry, apprehension, and insecurity of being an almost-five-year-old kid.

Also, people have told us he's especially entertaining to watch - and we can see why; the way he interacts with his environment is undeniably interesting. We consider it an advantage to have a child who sees the world through a somehow different lens. He'll hold his fingers up to his eyes to catch an interesting visual, or cock his head to the side and look at things from an angle. He adores kaleidoscopes and spinning toys and flashlights and seems to see them in a way the rest of us can't. He teaches us to stop, look, and listen to things in a manner that may never have occurred to us before.

There are advantages, even, to his silence. Though we'd love for him to learn to talk and are doing everything we can to help him learn to communicate verbally, it is nice to know he's not going to start yelling obscenities in the mall or call the cops and tell them our house is on fire. He may perseverate on the light switch by turning it on and off a thousand times, but we're never subjected to endless repetitions of movie quotes, nursery rhymes, or some random snippet of something he heard on TV.

In fact, we've come to find that for every challenge we face with Jonah, we're presented an unexpected, precious, and often humorous gift. The gifts are what keep us going - for, as with everything in life, they balance out the bad and show us our son and situation in an ever-changing, beautiful light.

And perhaps that balance is, really, the greatest gift of all.