Teaching Strategies for Students with ASD: 3 ways to leverage intense interests into learning opportunities
As a mother of two sons on the autism spectrum, I’ve witnessed first-hand the intense focus that often comes with children with ASD. This characteristic can evoke a range of emotions, from admiration to a touch of exasperation (“Another hour spent discussing penguins? Really? I’m practically an honorary penguin at this point!”). Yet, it’s precisely this deep concentration that opens the door to unique educational opportunities. So, let’s dive in (watch out for the penguins!) and discuss teaching strategies for students with ASD that can transform their intense interests into practical educational tools.
1. Customized Learning Materials: Adapting to Each Child’s Unique Fascinations
Creating customised learning materials is a key strategy in engaging students with ASD.
- For example, take a child fascinated by planes. Designing math worksheets that involve calculating flight durations or distances between destinations can transform a simple interest in aviation into a practical skill-building exercise.
- For a student with a keen interest in trucks, it’s easy to integrate this theme into their learning materials. We can create a worksheet where a child adds up images of trucks, effectively turning a math lesson into a fun and interactive activity. This approach turns the math exercise into an engaging activity by incorporating their favorite vehicles, and it helps them understand basic counting in a fun and relatable way.
2. Deep Dives into Specific Topics: Encouraging Exploration
Deep dives into specific topics can significantly enhance a child’s knowledge.
- For a student interested in dinosaurs, a project could involve researching different species, creating a timeline of the Mesozoic era, and even exploring concepts of palaeontology.
- With a child captivated by trains, lessons could explore the history of rail transport, the physics of how trains operate, or even the environmental impact of different transport methods.
3. Expanding Beyond Immediate Interests: Building Connections
Adapting our teaching strategies for Students with ASD to gently expand their interests, particularly those who are lower functioning, can be incredibly rewarding. This approach involves introducing new concepts closely related to their existing passions. Keeping these expansions simple and directly relevant is crucial. For instance, consider a student deeply fascinated with penguins (again? Am I the one obsessed with them?) This interest can be the perfect springboard to introduce the vocabulary of penguin body parts. Such a lesson plan isn’t just about penguins; it’s a subtle foray into biology, tailored to be accessible and engaging for the child.
Maintaining Connection to Original Interests
Observing my son’s strong interest in maps and globes, I decided to experiment with broadening the subject, seeing a chance to extend his vocabulary to include Landforms and Bodies of Water.
The key to this teaching strategy for students with ASD is to ensure we don’t stray too far from the original interest, maintaining a connection that the child can easily recognise and relate to. If we return to our penguins, a child might enjoy learning about their habitats, but learning about complex ecological systems might be too abstract. The focus should be finding tangible, straightforward topics related to their primary interest.
This approach is particularly effective as it aligns with the learning style of many lower-functioning students with ASD, who often benefit from concrete, clear, and relatable educational content. It’s a delicate balance to strike, but when done right, it can lead to new learning opportunities within a comfortable and familiar context for the child.
I encourage you to embrace the unique interests of your students with ASD, whether it’s trucks, dinosaurs, or… penguins. Keep having fun, expand your student’s knowledge, and save your sanity!
