ភាសារខ្មែរ
English
Recognizing that students have different learning styles leads to the discovery that most students with autism spectrum disorders are visual learners. That means they understand what they see better than what they hear. Many other students with communication and/or behavior challenges also demonstrate strength in understanding what they see compared to what they hear.
It is important to understand why an inability to effectively take in and process information can be a significant challenge for these students
How important is communication for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders?
It is critical! Communication is one of the primary areas of difficulty for persons who experience autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, PDD, and others within that autism spectrum. The difficulty is pervasive, affecting a wide range of skills including the student’s ability to:
- understand social communication
- understand environmental cues
- follow directions
- perform self-management or organizational tasks
- develop effective expressive communication.
Improving communication is one of their most important goals.
- Many of these students talk. Do they still have a problem?
Communication is more complex than “just speech.” It involves multiple skills including establishing attention, taking in information, interpreting that information, remembering past information, and eventually formulating a response.
- How do you make communication easier for these students to understand?
Make communication more visual. Many of these students appear to understand what they see better than what they hear.
There are have Body movements, environmental cues, pictures, objects and written language can all be used to support communication.
There are too many to list! Schedules and calendars are the most common visual tools used to give students information.. Visual tools used to give information are probably the most helpful, particularly for gaining student’s positive participation and for avoiding behavior problems.
- Why do behavior problems exist?
That’s a good question! The most critical step in attempting to structure environments and solve behavior problems is to identify why the behavior difficulties exist. For students with autism spectrum disorders, communication difficulties can be a primary reason, a “root cause,” for many behavior problems. When analyzing situations where behavior problems occur it becomes obvious that many of them are the result of a student not understanding what is going on in his life.
- If students don’t understand, what can you do?
Use visual tools. Visual tools help students by supporting changes and transitions. They help students understand what they are supposed to do. They help clarify what not to do. The purpose of using these aids is to enhance the student’s understanding of what is happening in his life and what is expected of him. The result is successfully reducing or eliminating communication, social and behavior challenges.
