Teaching Students with

Autism Spectrum Disorder

EDU 5101
Kevin Neuenswander

What is Sensory/Integration Processing?

We receive information about the world around
us through our senses. We have a constant
flow of information coming into our nervous
system every second of every day.
All this information is received in our brain &
organized & sorted in an efficient manner. The
brain then uses this information to help us form
our behaviors, emotions, & readiness to
perform learning tasks.

5 Steps of Sensory Processing/Integration

1. Registration-awareness that we have touched,
seen.
2. Orientation-Focusing on or regarding the input.
3. Interpretation-relating emotions & past
experiences.
4. Organization-determine if a response is
necessary
5. Execution of response-which may be ignoring.

What is Sensory/Integration Processing?

Most people take in sensory information & process it
without even thinking about it.
-Optimal state-all seven areas of sensory processing work
effectively.

Some people take in sensory information & recognize it

immediately & are very aware of the sensation.
-Sensory defensiveness-high alert or arousal level

Some people take in sensory information & difficulty

registering the sensation.
-Low arousal.

Sensory & ASD Students

High incidence of sensory processing
challenges
Can be hypersensitive/over reactive
Can be hyposensitive/under reactive
Result in behavioral/social/emotional &
academic difficulties

We all have Sensory Needs

There are seven

different kinds of
Sensory Needs.

Visual
Variation in light
Variation in color
Visual distractions

Olfactory
Variations in types of odors
Variations in intensity of odors

Tactile

Variations in temperature
Variations in touch pressure
Variations in amount of touch
Types of clothing

Oral/Gustatory

Variations in temperature
Variations in textures (crunchy, chewy)
Variations in taste (sweet, sour, etc)
Oral motor movement (blowing, biting,
sucking, licking, etc)

Auditory

Variations in noise level.

Variations in auditory distractions.
Variations in the types of noise.
Variations in the rhythm.

Proprioception
This is the sense that gives us awareness of body
position.
Proprioception information comes to us from our
muscles and joints.
When working effectively, this sense helps us to
use appropriate pressure on objects, guide our
movements & generally give us a sense of what
our body is doing.

Vestibular
This is the sense of movement.
Information comes to us from changes in head
position.
It is the foundation for the orientation of our body.
Under active or overactive vestibular systems
systems affective a persons ability to play,
interact with the environment & learn.


Take the SensoryMotor
Preference
Checklist (for
Adults)
Share results with the
people at your table.

Regulation of Sensory System

In order for students to be ready to learn, they need
to be at an optimal level of arousal.
Low arousal students may appear lethargic,
inattentive & sometimes be difficult to motivate.
Sometimes they can display hyperactive behaviors
in an attempt to avoid a stat of lower arousal.
High arousal students are usually considered antsy,
quick to emotional reactions & may have behavioral
outbursts. May enter a flight, fright or fight reaction
to everyday sensory stimulation.

Signs of Sensory Processing Difficulties

Sensory processing is considered a
problem if it interferes with the childs
ability to function normally within the
environment.
This may be manifested either by
behavior challenges, emotional outburst,
unwillingness to participate in activities.

What you
might see:

Visual
Stares at visual objects
Can not handle many visual
distractions
Bothered by lights or certain colors
Interested in only certain colors

Olfactory

Seeks out certain smells

Agitated by certain smells
Constantly sniffs things

Tactile

Irritability or withdrawal to touch

Avoidance of certain types of textures
May not enjoy playing with messy materials
Does not enjoy touching tactile materials
Always touching objects or other people
Oblivious to pain

Oral
Constantly putting things in their mouth
Licking objects
Avoidance of certain types of food textures,
or on the contrary, craves certain types of
food
Will only eat food at a certain temperature

Auditory
Covers ears to certain noises that do not
bother other children
Can not filter out other background noises
Tunes in to certain noises, like the ticking of
a clock
Oblivious to noises that bother
other people

Proprioception
Craves or gives bear type of hugs
Uses a great deal of pressure on objects
Constantly bumping or pushing into other
objects or people
Likes to carry around very heavy objects
Does not seem to be aware of
where their body is in space

Vestibular
Avoids playground equipment or
any movement type activity
Constantly is moving
Enjoys spinning (self or objects)

Sensory Diet
Providing activities which will help the child reach an
optimal level of arousal.
The diet is based on the needs of the child, & what activities
help the child to cope with his/her environment.
It is individual for each child, what works for one child may
not work for another child.
The diet can be provided in sensory breaks throughout the
day or given continuously in the childs day.
Sensory breaks should be given before an anticipated
problem or certain times of the day to avoid any challenging
behavior.

Behavior
Manageme
nt

Vs.

Behavior
Modification

Stop thinking about

removing the child as
the REAL answer to
the problem.

If the inappropriate behavior is

occurring what has to change?
The teacher
The Task
The Setting
If what you are doing was going to
eliminate the problem behaviorit
would already have worked.

Structure, Order, Routines

Use a visual schedule before & after every activity

Review rules daily
Break large tasks/activities into 3 steps
Use timers
Activities should be no more than 20-30 min.
Provide advanced notice prior to changing
activities
Prepare for short planned transitions

Structure, Order, Routines (cont.)

Provide structured breaks
Minimize down time
Build sensory opportunities into the daily classroom
schedule
Decrease fine motor tasks
Hands on materials
Pair new activities with favorite items-sandwich
Focus on strengths & weaknesses
Data driven

Structure, Order, Routines (cont.)

Visual supports-used daily & consistently
Social-understand the rules, know what he/she is supposed
to do
Communication-Receptive, Expressive (Stranger Test),
given choices, directions are in simple language
Cognitive level-is work too difficult, do they understand
the task?
Reinforcement-4 positive to 1 negative
Ga State Project
http://education.gsu.edu/autism/

Form vs. Function

Any challenging behavior that persists over time is
working for the child.
The students is being reinforced for the inappropriate
behavior.
The student has little to no incentive to change.
The student needs to get what hes getting or he wouldnt be
doing the inappropriate behavior in the first place.
You cant punish the behavior out of existence, if you
could have it would already have eliminated the problem
behavior
Research shows that for every year a behavior has been
working 1 month of consistent intervention is needed to
change the behavior.

Functions of Behavior
Most behaviors occur for one or more of the following
reasons:
Why does
1. Escape/Avoidance
he do this?
2. Attention
3. Tangible
4. Sensory
5. Control
6. Communications
These are the main functions of behavior

Escape Strategies

Increase use of visual supports

Shorten activities
Slow down lesson/change task difficulty
Teach to request for a break/help
Use hands on activities-areas of interests
Tutor/remediate
Build in choices-give them the power-control
Increase student Preference/Interest-incorporate student
hobbies/interests into activities
Increase predictability-Provide cues for upcoming change in
activities.

Attention Strategies
Verbal vs. Physical Attention
Reinforce (R+) them for being good
Teach the child an appropriate way to get attention-switch calling
teacher
Only reinforce the method being taught not inappropriate behavior
Ignore & redirect silently-get them on task for 20 seconds then R+
Scheduled Attention-Adult or peer attention is made available on some
type of schedule.
Change location-Place student in close proximity
to staff
Provide Preferred Activities during time when you
can not provide attention.

Tangible Suggestions

Clarify rules
Build in opportunities for the item into class schedule
Develop routines
First work, then break
Teach appropriate requesting skills for the desired item.
Reinforce appropriate requesting skills for the desired item.
Use desired items to assist with instruction
Provide a warning-indicate that activity is about to end5
minutes, 3 minutes.
Schedule a transitional activity-schedule a moderately preferred
activity between highly preferred & highly non-preferred
activities

Sensory Suggestions
Fill environment with interesting & stimulating activities
that provide similar reinforcement.
- back rubs, vibrating tube, tickle game
Structured, scheduled sensory diet
Allow for breaks to move-put up items, sharpen pencil
Opportunities for instruction/work in different settings
- on the floor, sitting standing
Dont wait until they are demanding it,
do it ahead of time.

Control Suggestions
Does the behavior occur when told No or Stop?
Does the behavior occur when teacher is delivering an
instruction to the student?
- Like things the same
- Doesnt like change
- Repetitive behavior
Characteristic of ASD:
Build in choices-give them the power-control
The rule is
Routines/Advance organizers
Social Stories
Slight differences

Communication Strategies
Receptive-Input/Task demands
- Visual supports-aided language input
- Teach the skill
- Be aware of developmental level
- Clear, simple Language
- Systematic Prompting (Tell, Show, Do)
Expressive-No output system in place
- Develop a way to communicated with SLP
- Model system for the child
- Direct teaching of how to use the system

Tips
Never suggest a child to do something. (Lets put
the toys away)
Directions are positive & clear
Tell, show, Do Prompting
Close proximity when giving directions-no more
than 3 feet away
Two directions only-keep it simple
Reduce teacher talk

Tips (continued)

Visual cue card-wait card, walk, sit

Count down 5-4-3-2-1
Clear Rules Review
Video taping/tape recorder
Chip system

Tips (continued)

1, 2, 3 strikes your out

First work, then break
Develop communication
Consistency with team- same language
Parental input
Sensory diet