Difficulty with Transitions: How Teachers Can Assist Students on the Autism Spectrum
"As a teacher in Middle School, I need some suggestions regarding how to help my special needs student to transition from one activity to the next without having anxiety and resultant tantrums." All students must change from one activity or setting to another throughout the school day. Transitions naturally occur frequently and require children to stop an activity or move from one location to another, and begin something new. Students with Asperger’s (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA) often have greater difficulty in shifting attention from one task to another. This is due to a greater need for predictability, challenges in understanding what activity will be coming next, or difficulty when immersion in a favorite activity is disrupted. Several supports to assist students on the autism spectrum have been designed both to prepare them before the transition will occur, and to support them during the transition. When transition techniques are used, these “speci