Supporting Your Student
With
Asperger Syndrome
by Jennifer Niese
Columbia Regional Programs
September 2004
WHAT
IS
ASPERGER SYNDROME?
Asperger Syndrome (AS) is a neurobiological disorder affecting
social interaction and communication. Other characteristics
associated with AS are engagement in repetitive activities
(routines that are not always functional) and stereotypical
movements, resistance to environmental change or change in
daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.
You may notice:
Cognitive: average to above
average
Language skills: may be
highly developed
Concrete thinking
Voice tends to lack emotion
Obsessed with complex
topics
One-sided conversations
Lack of common sense
Preseveration on a topic of
interest
Trouble with organization
Social skills: lacking in basic
social interaction skills
Unusual responses to sensory
information
Inappropriate social
interaction
Under reacts to sensory
stimulus
Lack of understanding of
humor/irony
Over reacts to sensory
stimulus
Makes socially inappropriate
comments or questions
Makes awkward physical
movements
Difficulty in picking up on
non-verbal communication
May be clumsy and/or
uncoordinated
THINGS
TO
REMEMBER
Visual processing is a strength:
•
Be conscious about presentation of information and
directions; when in doubt make it more visually
concrete
•
The student with AS may need processing time; provide
a visual cue -something on which to reflect
•
The use of one modality (visual or auditory) will assist
the student in processing; a multi-modal presentation
can produce sensory overload in processing which in
turn will frustrate the student
The hidden curriculum is not always known:
The hidden curriculum is the set of rules everyone knows
(ex: teacher expectations, teacher pleasing behaviors,
students who make good friends, students who are likely to
get you in trouble, behaviors that attract positive attention,
behaviors considered negative or inappropriate), but no one
is directly taught
•
Students with AS may not have learned some of the
hidden rules
•
Always assume that instead of being "naughty" the
student with AS does not know the social rules around
the situation
•
Try direct instruction for the situation first; teaching
why’s and how’s step-by-step
Self-esteem: students with AS are susceptible to low
self-esteem, even more so than their typical peers:
•
These students continue to do things (social things)
wrong because they don’t always understand how to fix
it. This can result in an astronomical number of “no’s”
and negative feedback in one day.
•
It is very important to catch students with AS doing
things right, and provide positive and specific feedback
(“Thank you for raising your hand”)
•
Ideas to promote self-esteem:
–
Be generous with concrete compliments and
praise
–
Provide more opportunities for positive
experiences vs. negative ones (put the student with
AS in a helping role, have him/her teach others a
skill he/she has mastered, pair him/her with peers
who are sensitive and patient, recognize strengths
and emphasize them, provide books where the
hero has overcome great difficulties)
The following chart has four areas of support listed (behavioral,
academic, social, and environmental). In each of these four areas
there are three columns of helpful information. “What” includes
lists of strategies to try for support in each area; “why” includes
the area of difficulty being addressed; “learning patterns
utilized” includes the AS learning pattern being utilized.
Learning
What
Behavioral
Supports
Why
Use social supports
Lowers anxiety
to prep a student
before a high anxiety
activity
Give specific feedback So the student
understands the
mistake made
Make consequences
Link consequence
consistent and reledirectly with cause
vant
of behavior, not
the behavioral
action
Reward a little bit,
Make reinforcers
more often rather
tangible – ask the
than a lot, less often student what he/
she will work for
Provide visual support Student may not be
for transition times
able to ask for what
they need in times
of stress
Give advanced warning for changes when
possible
Give a two-minute
warning for transitions; using a timer,
if necessary
Speak in a soft, quiet
voice
Schedule in breaks or
create a break routine
Pattern Utilized
Visual
processing
strength
More opportunity for praise
Visual
processing
strength
Allow
processing
time
Reduce sensory
stimuli
Strength of
learning
routines
Learning
Academic
Supports
What
Why
Pattern Utilized
Practice alternative
strategies in problem
solving
Provide outlines for
note taking
Encourage flexible
thinking
Ability to learn
and adhere to
routines
Understanding
of visual and
concrete
Help to pull out
relevant information
Use graphic organiTo teach strategies
zers for reports and
for organizing the
concept development details
Provide organizational To teach strategies
systems for daily
for breaking down
assignments
large tasks (Gestalt
processing)
Provide opportunities Development of
Adhere to
for cooperative
teamwork strategies routines
learning
Break directions into To teach how to
simple steps
organize the details
Allow additional time Use of time
Allow processstrategies
ing time
Shorten assignments
Don’t be overly wordy
Reduce sensory
stimuli
Social
Supports
Social stories
Make social situa- Use of routines
tions concrete and
specific, giving the Visual/concrete
student a list of
processing
appropriate
responses
Comic strip conversa- Structured social
tions
instruction
Provide cooperative
Immediate direct
learning situations
feedback per the
behavior
Redirect topic of conversation instead of
being drawn into
perseverative topic
areas
Learning
Social
Supports
(continued)
What
Why
Pattern Utilized
Allow student to write
questions/concerns in
a notebook during
times he/she is not
allowed to talk
Before giving an
instruction, make
sure you have broken
his/her full attention
with everything else
and that he/she is now
attending to you
Teach self-advocacy
and problem solving
skills regarding peer
social situations
Be aware of his/her
peer relationships at
school; give opportunities for positive peer
interaction
Provide concrete
examples paired with
social reinforcement
Teach “expected”
behaviors in each
specific situation
Allow student to
address issue so
they can move on
Visual processing
Environmental Visual cues (rules
Considerations and schedules)
Seat placement
(receiving help,
distracting factors)
Very distractible
Direct social skills
instruction for
social cognitive
skills
Foster understanding of social
dynamics and the
hidden curriculum
Concrete
thinking and
routine
learning
To address social
cognitive deficits
To provide concrete
expectations
To reduce sensory
distractibility
Visual processing
BOOKS REFERENCED
Asperger’s and Self Esteem, Insight and Hope Through Famous
Role Models by Norm Ledgin
One Small Starfish, A Mother’s Everyday Advice, Survival Tactics
and Wisdom for Raising a Special Needs Child by Anne Addison
Asperger Syndrome and Adolescence, Practical Solutions for
School Success by Brenda Smith Myles and Diane Adreon
Asperger Syndrome, A Guide For Educators And Parents by
Brenda Smith Myles and Richard L. Simpson
Understanding Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning
Autism by Gary B.Mesibov, Victoria Shea, and Lynn W. Adams
Asperger Syndrome, What Teachers Need to Know by Matt
Winter
Asperger’s Syndrome, A Guide for Parents and Professionals by
Tony Attwood
Enhancing Communication in Individuals with Autism Through
the Use of Pictures by Michelle G. Winner
Inside Out: What makes a Person with Social Cognitive Deficits
Tick? by Michelle G. Winner
WEBSITES
OF INTEREST
www.autism-society.org/
www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/
www.aspergersnetwork.org
www.angelfire.com/in/AspergerArtforms/
http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/chart/maap.html
http://www.info.med.yale.edu
TEACHER RESOURCES
Columbia Regional Autism Services
(503) 916-5570 x 8303
Provides support services to local school districts and Early
Intervention programs in meeting the educational needs of
students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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