Access4Success Disability Service

What is Autism?

Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a term to characterize a range of conditions that encompass challenges to an individual's social skills, behaviours, speech, and nonverbal communication. Autistic people are often very rational and logical thinkers with focused interests. They can be emotionally empathetic and highly sensitive to environments. ASD is a spectrum condition in that there is no "specific type" of Autism but a wide variety of conditions.

How can I support learners with Autism?

Because Autism is a spectrum condition, there are many different ways that an individual requires support. Some may be high functioning and require little to no input from staff or support services. Others may require more hands-on support. Here are just some of the things you can implement to support these learners:

• Be clear and consistent with your directives, events or activities. Stick to set dates/times.
• Build rapport with the learner and listen to what they need. This will help them feel more comfortable in both the class environment and with their peers.
• Provide lecture slides in advance
• Be aware of sensory issues in the environment that could cause distress to the learner (such as loud or repetitive noises, too bright, smell and so on).
• Avoid large crowded spaces and discuss the learner's boundaries and their preferred amount of personal space to ensure they are comfortable.
• Provide regular, timely feedback, so the student knows they are successfully completing tasks.

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I have further questions...

Please get in touch with our Access4Success team. We would be happy to support you. Contact Access4Success