Love every child without condition, listen with an open heart, get to know who they are, what they love, and follow more often than you lead.
Teachers should not fear going off plan if a better learning opportunity presents itself. Plans are plans, but children are living, breathing, creative people, who deserve to have their questions answered and original ideas explored.
Children with autism are colourful – they are often very beautiful and, like the rainbow, they stand out.
My aim is to sort the jumble of information we throw at these children and present it in such a way that they will have a greater chance of achieving independence and fulfilment.
Our visuals must represent the truth and decode the verbal jumble so these children can find the right direction.
Teachers should be made aware of visual stress symptoms and the potential difference coloured lights, overlays and lenses could make to a learners perception.
Adapting our own perception, following rather than leading and building bridges are all keys to helping the child with autism learn.
Are we allowing individuals to develop their talents with our current teaching methods? Is there more or maybe less we should be doing?
When teaching children with autism we must be quick to adapt, follow our instinct and go off plan.
The closer we come to understanding the challenges of autism, the better we are placed to accommodate and educate without risking removing that individuality we all love.
Could some of the challenging behaviours that often partner autism begin as experiements on measuring human reactions? Are these children exploring boundaries – seeing what makes the toy squeak or the adult shriek?