Children & Families
The Autism Team
Difficulties with games / P.E.
 Many children with ASC (autism spectrum condition) struggle with games or P.E.
This can be for a variety of reasons.
 Many ASC children suffer from gross motor difficulties. No matter how hard they
try, co-ordination is not something that comes naturally, and therefore physical
activities can prove tiresome and frustrating. This, of course, is not true of all
children with ASC, some have excellent balance and agility.
 Other children with ASC dislike PE due to the lack of structure and difficulty in
grasping associated concepts. Children are often told to “find a space” in PE, but
what is a space? How do you find a space? The lack of structure may cause some
children to simply run wild once in the hall. They may be unsure of where to stand,
whether in fact they should stand, or sit, or maybe climb the apparatus. Some
ASC children love to run around the perimeter of open spaces, therefore as soon
as they enter a large space, this is what they do. They may then switch off to
everything else, and do not even hear the teacher when he/she speaks.
 Winning and losing may be big issues to children with ASC. Many cannot bear to
lose. If they do their behaviour may become very challenging, and problems may
arise with their peers.
 Lastly, children with ASC usually love rules. Rules give them an understanding of
the world and their place in it. Rules give them a structure of how to act and
respond. However, when others disobey those rules this can be very frustrating
for the child on the autistic spectrum. At the same time, however, the same
children may change the rules to suit themselves, or make up additional rules. As
rules are fundamental to games, this can present all sorts of problems.
Children with ASC may also struggle with getting ready for PE. This may be because
of poor fine motor skills, making buttons etc difficult to manipulate. Or it may be due
to poor organisation or concentration skills. The child may forget in what order their
clothes should be put on, or that they are supposed to be getting changed at all.
Strategies
 If the child has difficulties with fine or gross motor skills seek Occupational
Therapy or Physiotherapy.
 Ensure PE is structured with firm boundaries and expectations.
 Ensure instructions are clear and precise, try to avoid ambiguous language. Give
one instruction at a time, or write down instructions.
 Try to use simple concepts, or explain difficult concepts. Give children a way
of finding a space (eg finding a place they can swing their arms without touching
anyone).
 Use concrete boundaries if possible (eg if the child has a tendency to run
around, give them a hoop to stand in).
 If winning / losing is an issue, use a social story and / or work on reactions
to winning / losing in a smaller, quieter context (eg support the child to play a
game with another 1-2 peers, and explain how no one can win all the time, others
feelings when they win / lose etc).
 Try to find out which aspects of PE the child likes or dislikes and take these
into account in lesson planning if possible.
 Ensure rules of games are clear and understood by everyone beforehand.
Writing the rules down may also help.
 Use visual cues to help with sequence of dressing / undressing. If the child is slow
at getting changed, use a visual timer and reward to speed them up a little.