( Everyday Life with Autism )

Before you ask a student to follow your directions and be compliant, you have to build a good relationship based on trust and respect between you. A child needs to know that in a case of emergency she/he can trust and rely on you to help her/him out. On a school site the child needs to have three people that she trusts and is completely comfortable talking to them in case of a crisis. These people represent the safety net for the child that takes her stress away throughout the school day.

Before you start teaching academics, build bridges between you and your students. This is an important building block for the school year achievement. The trust you will earn will make your job as an educator, mentor, teacher, caregiver, tutor much easier. If the child trusts you she can easily be more compliant and ready to co-operate.

Get to know your student. Her strengths are the key to motivate her. Use her strengths to your advantage. The more you tell a child what she is good at the more likely she’ll co-operate with you. By boosting her self-esteem and confidence you are bringing the best out of her. It is an untold message to encourage her to keep doing what she is good at. It may turn to be her career. Being a good guitarist, singer, pianist, dancer, athlete, painter, story-writer,…can make somebody happy, independent, and even a role model.

In special education the primary goal for parents and educators should be the behavior rather than the academics. Because once the behavior is not in the way anymore, academecis become a much easier goal to achieve. Pick your battles.

Parents and eductors should collaborate to create a successful behavior plan. As a second goal help the student achieve as much as her capability and capacity allows her to work on academics.

Be patient, break down the problems into smaller ones to be able to solve them. A child who frequently throws a temper tantrum needs more help with her behavior than her academics. If you reduce the frequency of her temper tantrum that would be a huge achievement. Academics will follow.

Tip

Solve one problem at a time.

nadia shanab

Tags: academics, autism, Behavior management, communication, counceling, health, independence, motivation, parenting, social interaction, strengths, tips