As an education recruitment agency, we work with SEN and mainstream schools across London. It’s believed that around 71% of children with autism attend mainstream schools with 60% of teachers stating that they don’t feel like they’ve had adequate training to support children with autism.

With April being Autism awareness month we wanted to highlight some tips on how to support children with autism in your classroom so we asked Sidney for some tips he has found helpful whilst working in SEN schools.

Work with parents/carers

Building relationships with parents or carers can be beneficial for both you and the child, after all, parents/carers are the true experts on their autistic children. By frequently communicating, both of you can suggest interventions that have worked at school or home that can be implemented into the child’s routines. 

Being more involved with parents and carers also gives them peace of mind as they can see your dedication to their child’s education and well-being. 

Establish a routine

For children with autism having a routine can be extremely comforting, luckily the structured nature of the school day can provide the predictability they need. A popular way to make their schedule clear to them is a visual planner, using images and simple words to describe the child’s day. The visual planner can act as a sense of security whilst also acting as a reminder for those that support them

Communicate clearly

Depending on the child they may struggle with communication so you may have to approach conversations differently to how you would with the other children in the class. Try to avoid using metaphors or rhetorical questions and make your points as simple and direct as possible. Some children may even respond better if you use gestures.

Use their interests

One unique trait of autistic children is that they tend to have highly-focused interests. To help keep your student engaged integrate their interests into their learning, for example, if they’re interested in cars you can use pictures or related words in their spelling exercises or maths problems. Be creative!

Build your resilience

Supporting a child with autism can be challenging, especially if it’s a new experience. However, with a positive mentality and more experience, it does get easier. Try to remember that if they are causing disruption in class or are displaying poor behaviour it is most likely due to their needs not being met. Once you know their needs providing them with the support they need is a lot less complicated.

Supporting a child with autism is not easy but it is an extremely rewarding and fulfilling role. If you’re interested in helping a child with autism with their education have a look at our latest roles.