Educational Strategies for Children with Autism

Some types of ASD involve a certain degree of intellectual deficiency. On the other hand, it's usual for those affected by the Asperger's syndrome to have an IQ higher than the average.

Autism is a disorder of a biological origin and a genetic component that qualitatively affects various psychological functions such as social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, symbolization and imagination, rigid, inflexible and stereotyped modes of behavior, and restricted and obsessive interests.

Some types of ASD involve a certain level of intellectual deficiency; meanwhile, on the other hand, it’s usual for those affected by the type of autism known as Asperger's syndrome to have an IQ higher than the average.

Autism and education

Establishing an educational strategy for students diagnosed with ASD is difficult because of the existence of differences in the level of intelligence, capacity, and potential of the children. The most advisable one, said by experts, is that the children carry out their education in an ordinary classroom.

Boys and girls with autism are part of the group of students with special educational needs and will always present problems in some specific areas, whether it's in a greater or lesser level.

Problems of social interaction

• Isolation and lack of social and affective contact with people.
• Category of empathy and inability to express their own feelings.
• Alterations of behavior, repetitive or disruptive behavior.
• Cognitive disorders.
• Deficit in communication and language (verbal and non-verbal).
• Motor problems, with great variations between one case and another. Movement and coordination issues are observed.

These problems require specific educational needs in which the main objective is to alleviate, strengthen, and improve as far as possible the alterations in the cognitive, intellectual, and social level of these students.

The general objectives of educational strategies in autistic children should have the following goals:

• Power the autonomy and personal independence of the child.
• Develop self-control of their behavior and their adaptation to the environment.
• Improve the social skills of students, promoting their ability to develop in the environment and understanding and monitoring of norms, keys, and social and emotional conventions.
• Develop functional, spontaneous, and generalized communication strategies.
• To promote communicative intention and reciprocity in communication.
• Develop basic cognitive processes.

The activities focused on autistic children in each of the strategies must be very functional, organized, and structured. Clear and simple.

For the activities, visual supports like drawings, photos, and posters are very useful in autistic children as not only a reminder but also a motivational reinforcement of daily actions and tasks.

The experts consider that the most beneficial thing for these children, except for the most severe cases, is that they carry out their education in the ordinary classroom.

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Peer Pressure: How to Teach your Children to be Themselves

Children often feel pressured by classmates or peers in general to do things they don't want to do.

Teaching children how to face the challenges in their lives is not an easy feat. In fact, one of the concerns for parents, when their kids are in school-age, is how to teach their small children to deal with the pressure that other’s can put on them to do certain things. Although it’s less than obvious, kids mostly look for ways to contact and feel a sense of belonging in their classrooms. Doing the same thing as the others can lead to friendship, but in some cases, the complying nature of children can make them prone to be victims of peer pressure.

This can happen for a variety of reasons when it comes to what we know as bad behavior: it can go from simply skipping a classroom activity, to bullying other children as a result of being pressured by others kids with the promise to be accepted in a group. As you can see, there is a wide range of situations in which a child might feel compelled to bend to the will of a group, whether by fear or simply to feel like he belongs to something. What can you do to help him avoid these situations? The reality is that you are not with your child 24/7, and there’s no realistic way of pulling him out of these situations if it's not by dropping the child out from the normal school system and homeschooling him. For some parents, this might sound like a viable, however radical way of helping your child cope with peer pressure, but there are some other ways in which you can help him stand out by himself and avoid being pressured into doing things he doesn’t want to do.

For example, the group of children that play with your child wants to do something bad, like bullying another child. What will your kid do in this situation? This is when the education you give him will kicks in. Some will jump right into the action without thinking twice about it, guided by the mentality of bending to peer pressure. However, an assertive child will recognize the mistake in the behavior, and will more likely react against it, whether by looking for ways to deter the others from doing harm, or getting an adult involved in the situation to prevent it from escalating from that.

Here are a few simple ways to avoid peer pressure that you can teach your child:

• Let him be assertive.
• Show him the importance of saying “NO”.
• Make him walk away from situations they don’t feel comfortable.
• Instill the feeling of responsibility and liability in their actions.
• Ask him to contact other adults if he sees something strange.
• Let him know that it’s ok to be selective with friendships.

Teach your child to stand out and defend himself, as this is going to help him understand the situation in other people’s shoes and he’ll be more than willing to defend and stand up against peer pressure. One way to make him connect with other children in different environments is Autism Soccer. The fact that this organization reunites children with different special needs, makes it the perfect place to share and relate with others outside of school, helping your child form a strong and assertive personality with the help of sports.

Letting children know how important it is for them to be unique and true to themselves.

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How to Handle Bullying to Prevent Children's Harassment

Bullying often happens in public settings, like schools. 

Children tend to play rough by giving each other monikers, or playing handheld games which are, sometimes, part of their normal behavior. But what happens when those names and ‘friendly jokes’ are more mean-spirited? In those situations, when a joke stops being equal and it turns into a humiliation, it’s called “bullying”.

While this is a mild concern for most parents, for the ones with children with special needs, this is one of the most constant worries. What if their child’s life drastically change because of that targeted attack? It is known that one of the most frequent causes for kid’s psychological problems and bad behavior are bullying or harassment they might be receiving from other children.   

What’s defined as “bullying”?

It’s defined as a targeted attack towards another person with an intention to harm, whether it is physical or psychological. In fact, ignoring a particular person is also recognized as a form of bullying. These behaviors can be shown by one or a group of kids and, most of the time, this happens without adults seeing it directly. Sometimes, children lead bullying to high levels and this might turn into targeted violence, which often leads to a long-lasting trauma for the ones who receive the attacks.  

How to handle bullying or harassment?

As parents and caretakers, your obligation is to teach your children that they can ask you for help if they are being attacked. While teachers and other students see what happens in real time, it’s your job to identify the signs of your child is being bullied. Some of those are:

• Personal items lost without explanation.
• Sleeping problems.
• Changes in personal habits.
• Decreased appetite.
• Loss of interest in personally enjoyable activities.
• Faking illness.
• Lesions (bruises and such).
• Diminished self-esteem.

How to help them face bullying?

Once you’ve been able to identify the problem, it’s time to take action. Parents need to give alternatives to their children that will help them feel safer and more trusting of each of their companions at school or other activities. For that reason, it’s important to get to the root of the problem by identifying the bully and knowing why they are acting that way. That’s why it’s vital to get the help from professors and psychologists. In fact, most of the time, when this happens, children that are expressing aggression towards others were harmed that way in the past, or they are reflecting behaviors from home.

What can you do to help them?

• Teach them they can count on you.
• Let them know it’s ok to seek help.
• Help them overcome the fear and show confidence.
• Teach them to stand up to bullies the right way.
• Involve bullies' parents.
• Get assistance from professionals (professors and psychopedagogy).

You, as a parent, need to prepare yourself to deal with children when it comes to their personal safety. Make sure to have the right skills to help them deal with bullying, and help them overcome those situations. One of the things that might help your children overcome that frustration and bad emotions is playing a sport. That’s why you need to contact Autism Soccer. They have a team of people who help children reach their full potential regardless of their condition and, also, they help them gain trust and confidence to face the world after that stressful period.

You, as a parent, need to be aware of the signs that indicate children's harassment to make it stop. 

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