My ASD Child

“Are there some tips that my high functioning autistic daughter’s teacher could use to help her with things link reading, handwriting, taking notes, staying organized, homework, and so on? She’s currently struggling in several of these (and other) areas. Thanks in advance!” Many students with High-Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger’s do indeed struggle in those areas you listed. Let’s look briefly at each in turn: Reading— The amount of reading the student on the autism spectrum is expected to complete should be evaluated by the teacher. These “special needs” children (who sometimes read slowly and can’t discern relevant from irrelevant information) spend a lot of time concentrating on facts that will not be tested and are considered unimportant. Highlighted texts and study guides help them maximize their reading time. Educators also should consider identifying the information the student is responsible to learn for an upcoming assignment or test. Handwriting— Handwriting is a con

“Is there a simple method I can implement to teach my son (high functioning) how to be more social in a positive way? Currently, he has problems interacting with peers in a way that does not cause conflict (and resultant rejection from those peers)?” A great technique, the Situation, Options, Consequences, Choices, Strategies, Simulation (SOCCSS) strategy, is relatively simple and is used to help kids who have High-Functioning Autism and Asperger’s with social interaction problems, as well as teach them how to put interpersonal relationships into a sequential form. SOCCSS helps these “special needs” children understand problem situations and lets them see that they have to make choices about a given situation, with each choice having a consequence. The steps of SOCCSS are as follows, and can be used by both parents and teachers: 1. Situation : When a social problem arises, the parent or teacher helps the child to understand the situation by first identifying (a)who was invol