To continue our spotlight on Autism, for Autism Awareness Week, today’s focus is centered around the idea of safety and connections. Often we have many different strategies in place to support all children in their learning environment, not just the neurodiverse students. However as educators we need to put priority on ensuring our students, especially autistic children, feel safe and connected to their learning environment. So what does this look like? 

When we think of safety for autistic children, it goes beyond their physical safety. Safety can also mean:

• not being asked to mask. Autistic children should feel safe to stim (a repetitive and unusually body movement) to self regulate. An example of stimming could be hand flapping. If it’s not hurting others, this stimming method is highly beneficial for their nervous system

• Not being forced to conform to neurotypical ways of communicating. For example, if an autistic child doesn’t like using eye contact, they should not be forced. 

• Having a sense of control and autonomy. This is particularly pertinent for PDA children, who use this sense of control to regulate their nervous system. This can mean offering choice, using I statements (eg- I’m going to play outside) and allowing the children to make the decision to join, and limiting the task demands on visual schedules. 

Connection to their environment may look like:

• Incorporating their interests into the room set up, and understanding that autistic children may play with their items of interest differently to how neurotypical children may play. 

• Getting to know the students, and respecting their unique personalities. 

• Allowing autistic students to use and showcase their strengths in tasks, rather than having them complete tasks in the same manner as everyone else. 

• Rather than reacting to observable behavior, try to understand the behavior from the child’s perspective to uncover it’s true meaning. This will help to develop supports for future events. 

Drawing on your professional experience, can you add to these lists of what helps to build safety and connections with our autistic children? Please comment below! 

Cover images sourced by CYA 2020