National Professional Development Center on
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Module: Structured Work Systems
CASE STUDY EXAMPLE
Alex
Alex is a fourteen-year-old female with Asperger’s Syndrome. As a ninth grader, she
recently transitioned to high school. The basis of Alex’s individual work system is a
binder that she uses to organize her entire school day. At the start of the school year,
Alex’s resource room teacher helped her to type her schedule. Her schedule includes
the time, name of the class, room number, and teacher’s name. Alex’s teacher placed a
divider for each class inside the binder. On the front of each divider, the teacher again
wrote the class name, room number, and teacher’s name. The teacher also listed all of
the materials Alex needs for the class on the divider. Finally, at the back of the binder,
there is a homework page containing a list of all of Alex’s classes. At the end of each
class, Alex writes down the assignments and materials she will need to take home to
complete the assignments. Before leaving school each night, Alex goes to her locker,
opens her binder, and turns to the page with the list assignments and needed materials.
She places the things she needs in her backpack and heads home. In the evening, Alex
works at a desk in the living room while her mother works on the computer. She
removes the list of assignments and materials and places it on the desk. Alex checks off
each assignment as it is completed. She then reloads her backpack for the next school
day.