Support participation and confidence
Support ākonga to organise and manage themselves with a range of classroom strategies.
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Demonstrate you value diversity
Demonstrate you value diversity
Consider how you value uniqueness and diversity in your classroom.
Closed Captions
Provide a structured environment
Provide a structured environment
A predictable environment can reduce anxiety and increase access to learning for tāngata whaitakiwātanga — autistic students.
Create a predictable environment
Create a predictable environment
Use predictable routines and systems
- Use class and personalised timetables so that students can anticipate transitions and manage themselves independently.
- Support routines with visuals.
- Teach and model how to use planning and scheduling tools.
- Make visuals and resources easy to find by using clearly divided zones, for example a maths resources zone.
Signal and manage transitions and changes
- Use timers, timetables and visuals or task boards to clarify tasks and transitions.
- Talk through last minute changes that may be startling to students.
Support transitions to anything new
Support transitions to anything new
- Share information about the transition with whānau and ask their advice.
- Design changes and new environments with and for students.
- Preview changes if possible or support with layouts, images or video.
- Assess the new context or environments for potential issues, for example, sensory challenges.
- Discuss or brief students about transitions and changes of routine.
- Maintain consistent language, routines and systems that are familiar to the student.
- Make connections to the student's strengths, skills, and interests as part of the transition.
Harness strengths
Harness strengths
These may include:
- strong visual-spatial skills, which help literacy
- non-verbal problem-solving skills, which help when structuring tasks in ways that motivate students
- auditory memory, which helps when learning socially-appropriate phrases for specific situations
- strong visual memory which supports skills such as spelling.
Next steps
More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Helpful classroom strategies years 9-13 ”:
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Current page Support participation and confidence
Return to the guide “Autism and learning”
How to use this site
Guide to Index of the guide: Autism and learning
Understand:
Strategies for action:
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Identify needs and how to provide supportShow suggestions for Identify needs and how to provide support
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Key areas to supportShow suggestions for Key areas to support
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Helpful classroom strategies years 1-8Show suggestions for Helpful classroom strategies years 1-8
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Helpful classroom strategies years 9-13Show suggestions for Helpful classroom strategies years 9-13
- Support participation and confidence
- Present information in different ways
- Support processing and organisation
- Provide options for students to create, learn and share
