My ASD Child

Do you, the teacher, have a clear understanding of what your Aspergers (high functioning autistic) student’s needs will be prior to the start of school (perhaps as dictated by the IEP), and does your student know what to do and say if he gets “stuck”? If you know your Aspergers student to be a strong visual thinker and learner, ensure that any verbally communicated curriculum is reinforced with visuals. Some Aspergers kids cannot process visual and auditory input simultaneously without distraction – they are “mono-channel” so to speak (i.e., they can’t absorb what they are seeing and hearing at the same time and can attend to only one or the other). As many kids with Aspergers are so visual, this means there is potential for them to be distracted by everything in the room, so that they absorb only bits and pieces of the instruction. In one instance, a young "Aspie’s" school team members were frustrated because they thought they were supporting her fully by assign

It's common for Aspergers (high functioning autistic) children of all ages to experience school anxiety and school-related stress. This is often most apparent at the end of summer when school is about to start again, but it can occur year-round. Social, academic and scheduling factors play a major role, as do hidden environmental stressors. CLICK HERE for the full article...

==> Living With Aspergers: Help for Couples

Negative reinforcement requires the student to work for the removal of an in-place, unpleasant consequence. The student's goal is to get rid of something that is unpleasant rather than to earn something that is desirable. In a negative reinforcement model, instead of working to earn a positive consequence, the student works to distance himself from an aversive consequence. Negative reinforcement is often used in the classroom to manage problem behaviors in Aspergers (high-functioning autistic) children. Educators inadvertently pay attention to a student who may not be complying and withdraw their attention contingent on the student's compliance. Surprisingly, this strengthens rather than weakens the noncompliant behavior. The next time a similar situation occurs, the student again will not comply until confronted with the aversive consequence (i.e. the teacher's attention). Negative reinforcement is often seductive and coercive for educators. It works in the short run