{"id":3823,"date":"2015-08-05T09:11:56","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T16:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autism-tips.com\/?p=3823"},"modified":"2026-02-25T10:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T17:56:09","slug":"basic-tips-for-best-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/?p=3823","title":{"rendered":"Basic Tips For Best Results"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/abc.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Here are 31 tips for teachers, educators, aides, and parents to work more effectively with children on the autism spectrum.<\/p>\n<p><strong>General tips<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Always think SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY! This is the top priority when working with children, and especially special needs kids.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gree<\/strong><strong>t<\/strong> the student <strong>first <\/strong>by saying her\/his name when she\/he comes in. &#8220;Johnny! Good morning!&#8221; instead of just letting all the kids run into the classroom.<\/li>\n<li>To grab the student&#8217;s attention <strong>mention<\/strong> her <strong>name at the beginning<\/strong> of your statement when you address her.<\/li>\n<li>Body language is important in the communication process: face the student, and make sure she is <strong>attending<\/strong> to you before you start giving directions.<\/li>\n<li>Every day is a new day. Start afresh from a blank slate. Begin with greeting the student and ask her how she is doing.<\/li>\n<li>Be brief! Use five words maximum (<strong>T<\/strong><strong>he Rule of 5<\/strong>). The shorter, the better. &#8220;Johnny, put your backpack away.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Be positive and work on strengths rather than weaknesses. TRY to <strong>avoid<\/strong> the word <strong>\u201cdon\u2019t\u201d<\/strong>,  sometimes children-especially those with ADHD- process this word as  \u201cdo\u201d!!!! Use positive sentences instead of negative ones (for example:  instead of &#8220;<em>don&#8217;t shout<\/em>&#8221; say &#8220;<em>be quiet<\/em>&#8221; &#8212; you tell the kid what to do as opposed to what not to do).<\/li>\n<li>Keep a  handicap perspective at all times. Set up your expectations according to  each child\u2019s capacity to perform or achieve, it will save you and the  child a lot of frustration.<\/li>\n<li>If you choose to use time out for discipline purposes, remember that <strong>time out goes by age<\/strong> (a 5 year old gets 5 minutes) for neuro typical children; so for  special needs children it is \u00a0more or less 2 (3 or 7 minutes) depending  on the case. They do have a different notion of time.<\/li>\n<li>The tone  of your voice should match\/serve the purpose. A soft voice cannot imply  firmness. Don\u2019t expect to be listened to. Please, <strong>don\u2019t save your voice when it is needed<\/strong>, especially on the playground.<\/li>\n<li>On the  other hand if a student is too loud whisper to her. Somehow, when you  lower your voice it is very likely that the child would calm down and  would imitate you. This technique proved to be very effective with many  children I worked with (both regular ed and special ed). Model the  behavior you wish to see in your student.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Desk Work<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure that the child\u2019s <strong>posture<\/strong> is proper before you start instructing and throughout the instruction  session. I have talked about posture in more detail in the post How To  Improve<a href=\"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/?p=16\" target=\"_self\"> Handwriting<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hands<\/strong> should stay on the desk at all times and the worksheet slightly turned  for a better view\/vision. One hand is for writing the other should stay  flat on the paper to hold it down. There is no need to hold an object in  the other hand like an eraser if not needed (some kids tend to hold an  object in the hand not used for writing). However, kids who need to hold  a fidgety object for sensory reason should be allowed to do so to stay  calm.<\/li>\n<li>For <strong>less distraction<\/strong>, only strictly necessary objects should stay on the desk.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Write down the steps<\/strong> of the given assignment, it helps organize the work and keeps the student on track.<\/li>\n<li>When giving instructions, please <strong>allow some processing (thinking) time<\/strong> before you repeat. Be flexible. If a student doesn\u2019t get the directions  as given, modify, tailor or customize it to get an understandable  version. Keep adapting, tweaking according to the need.<\/li>\n<li>Give the child the assignment and <strong>wait<\/strong> to see what she can do <strong>independently<\/strong>, before you step in for help.<\/li>\n<li>Give the child the choice between <strong>two<\/strong><strong> options<\/strong> (2 different worksheets) if you feel that the child is not willing to cooperate.<\/li>\n<li>The best way to learn is by observing, <strong>model<\/strong> and have the student watch you doing the required task. Keep a small  white board handy for that purpose. If the child is still not ready to  do it be proactive and take the lead. Tell her <strong>\u201cI\u2019ll start, you finish\u201d<\/strong> for writing, cutting, coloring, copying&#8230; You&#8217;ll be surprised by the result.<\/li>\n<li><strong>For kids who have difficulty drawing<\/strong>,  I use a little white board to show the student how to draw one step at  time. Allow the student enough time to copy on her own paper. If help is  needed keep repeating the steps until the drawing is successfully done.  This technique has never failed with me.<\/li>\n<li>Praising and encouraging have a magical positive effect on the kids. Be generous.<\/li>\n<li>For kids who space out or have difficulty focusing on their work,  use a desk type separator or create a mini cubical to eliminate or  minimize distraction. A cost-effective way to do it is to use a  cardboard box to make it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>If the student<\/strong> <strong>cannot focus<\/strong> on a specific part of the  worksheet she is working on, use a blank paper to cover everything  except the part she is working on. I personally like to use a card board  for this purpose.\u00a0Another way to do it is to <strong>fold the paper<\/strong> in a way to show <strong>only<\/strong> the part she needs to work on and hide all the rest. For severe cases use a\u00a0<strong>floor type separator\/dividers<\/strong>, that provides more privacy and blocks out the distracting environment. You can still make them from card boards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/cardboard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Using cardboard divider\" src=\"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/cardboard.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"415\" height=\"624\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Outdoor<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No need to be on the <strong>\u201csave energy mode&#8221;<\/strong>.  You cannot just stand still and watch. Be present! Recess, lunch, field  trip, etc., are golden opportunities to teach. It is a valuable  learning time for the kids. Do your best to keep their bodies moving  even if that requires some extra physical effort on your part. Verbal  prompts are not enough. Remember it is a break for the kids and not for  the adults. Again, modeling is ideal.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communicate<\/strong> with the kids and answer their questions to the best of your ability,  or ask somebody for an answer. Watching the kids is essential but not  enough.<\/li>\n<li>Remind the kids that school is <strong>fun<\/strong> and help them look forward to come back the following day with some  enthusiasm. At the end of the day ask them how their day went, and what  they&#8217;ve enjoyed most.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Team work<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aides and  educators: keep scanning the kids for proper posture, attention and  performance, and prompt the kids in a way that doesn\u2019t interfere with  the instructor&#8217;s or therapist\u2019s instructions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Teachers and aides need to constantly synchronize<\/strong> together to provide the best possible help to the kids.<\/li>\n<li>There is  nothing wrong with asking for help from another team member if you don\u2019t  know the answer to a question. Use the key (answers) books, usually  kept in the classroom, if you choose not to interrupt anybody.<\/li>\n<li>It is  important to choose the right moment to ask for help. The  teacher\/instructor may be monitoring the whole class. It can be  overwhelming to interrupt her\/him. <strong>Don\u2019t delay to report to the teacher any suspicious behavior, incident or accident. She\/ he is supposed to take actions swiftly.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Aides: be transparent about mainstream<\/strong>,  or any other setting where the teacher is not present. Keep in mind  she\/he is the main communicator: teacher-parents, teacher-staff,  teacher-child.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>nadia shanab<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are 31 tips for teachers, educators, aides, and parents to work more effectively with children on the autism spectrum. General tips Always think SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY! This is the top priority when working with children, and especially special needs kids. Greet the student first by saying her\/his name when she\/he comes in. &#8220;Johnny! Good &#8230; <a title=\"Basic Tips For Best Results\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/?p=3823\" aria-label=\"Read more about Basic Tips For Best Results\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,5,4],"tags":[23,381,10,20,30,50,29,383,43,26,149,31,382,9],"class_list":["post-3823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autism","category-general-advice","category-parenting","category-tips","tag-aspergers-syndrome","tag-autism","tag-communication","tag-discipline","tag-flexibility","tag-independence","tag-occupational-therapy","tag-parenting","tag-rewards","tag-senses","tag-sensory-integration-issues","tag-social-interaction","tag-tips","tag-visual-aids"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3823"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3832,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823\/revisions\/3832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autism-tips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}