Skills and Deficits Associated with Students on the Spectrum
“I am an elementary school teacher. I have a student diagnosed with high functioning autism this year (5th grade). What are some of the positive attributes associated with this disorder that I can capitalize on? And what are some of the autism-related challenges that I will need to be aware of? Thank you in advance!” Children with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) definitely have certain skills, for example: Many have exceptional musical ability They tend to have excellent rote memories They often become “experts” in one or two subjects (e.g., prehistoric monsters, history of steam trains, geology, genealogy of royalty, characters in a television serial, bus time-tables, astronomy, etc.) They often excel at board games needing a good rote memory (e.g., chess) They usually absorb every available fact concerning their chosen interest and can talk about it at length HFA children also have a few deficits that teachers will need to consider, for example: Some