My ASD Child

Ronnie was a well-liked seventh-grader, despite his quirkiness. His classmates accepted him and were understanding of his Asperger’s diagnosis. One day Ronnie was talking with his classmates in the restroom before class when his friend Seth began cussing in anger about his C in Math. Ronnie picked up on the cussing and associated it with being mad. The bell rang and Ronnie went on to his next class. As he sat down, he realized that he left his social studies book in his locker. His teacher, Miss Sanders, would not let him go back to his locker, and immediately Ronnie got angry and began to swear. Miss Sanders sent Ronnie to the dean’s office, leaving Ronnie perplexed as to what he did wrong. He thought it was acceptable to cuss when he was angry about something. He didn’t understand the “hidden curriculum” – in this case, that what is acceptable around fellow classmates may not be acceptable around teachers. Children with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) have di

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A variety of strategies are available to enhance the predictability of – and benefits to be gained – from the environmental setting. The security that comes from being able to anticipate and understand activities, schedules, and expectations significantly enhances autistic kids’ capacity to appropriately respond to various home, classroom, and community demands. Establishing clear behavioral expectations and rules, following routines and schedules, and ensuring physical, environmental, cognitive, and attitudinal support are helpful in creating structure. Establishing and following clear behavioral expectations is one of the simplest and most effective means of establishing structure for children on the autism spectrum. Kids with High-Functioning Autism (HFA) clearly benefit from environments that offer clearly stated examples of desired behaviors. It is extremely important that these rules and expectations be reviewed regularly and that these children have an opportunity to