Friday, 23 August 2019
Dialled Up to Eleven - autistic sensory issues in school.
Hello. Here follows a list of potential sensory hazards for children in schools. Share if you can, as it's usually a pretty straightforward thing to make environments more autistic-friendly. #Autism #ukedchat /1
1. The school bell. If it's not needed, lose it. If it is needed, make sure *all* autistic students (and staff!) are made aware of any changes to the routine. Allow students to wear ear defenders if they need to. /2
2. Glaring strip lighting. Classrooms are dreadful for this. Where affordable and possible, get diffusers over them all! Alternatively, use natural light as much as possible. If you have a malfunctioning light, flickering away, prioritise getting it fixed and leave it off. /3
3. Scratchy school uniforms. Cheap shirts and blazers can irritate terribly, and obviously most families have to go the cheap option. Clothes irritation for #autistic students can be awful and be really distracting. If you can be at all flexible with uniform, be so here. /4
4. Noisy classrooms. Easy one this! Only joking. But a calm quiet classroom is heaven for a lot of autistic children as otherwise they're liable to be overwhelmed by the different voices that they can't ignore. I hear every conversation in class, which is why I'm so strict!
5. Smells. The pungency of the DT corridor or a Science room with odd experiments underway could tip an #autistic student over the edge on a bad day. God, MDF stinks. I used to *hate* the Design Technology dept as a kid for this reason.
6. Dirty hands. Activities that involve getting mucky hands, like painting, glueing, cooking etc can be bad for #autistic students who hate getting their hands dirty. This is just something to be aware of, really. be gentle and understanding. /7
7. Busy slides - too much on the board! If you use PowerPoint, please keep slides sensible and minimalist with a clear 'structure' for the eye to follow. Don't be surprised if your #autistic student gets frustrated if you'd board looks like a teenager's bedroom wall! /8
8. Assembly. Being compelled to sit very closely with peers can be distressing for some #autistic students. The proximity and feeling of claustrophobia can be too much to bear. Encourage, where possible, autistic students to sit where there's more space. /9
9. Smells in the classroom. This is sensitive, but I've seen #autistic children *really* struggle with kids who have begun to get a bit of an odour. Be mindful. Also, diffusers and scents in a classroom? Best not to use them, unless you had terribly stinky feet or summat. /10
10. Temperature. #autistic people are often sensitive to temperature and have a much narrower range of tolerable temp than neurotypical peeps. Don't whack the heating right up until everyone is sweating and have some windows open! /11
11. Classroom displays. Avoid things dangling from the ceiling, and keep things simple and clearly delineated on the walls (clear areas for decoration, other empty
zones). /12
12. Lunchtime. It's noisy, unstructured, smelly and messy. Some #autistic children struggle, plus there are potential serious considerations about food - not knowing what's on the menu, getting something unexpected in their lunchbox. Be kind and
accommodating. /13
13. Shouting. Sometimes teachers shout at students. It's probably not the most effective management technique but it happens. But it's never going to be effective with an #autistic student. I remember being close to tears when any teacher ever shouted at school. It might alienate or permanently damage relationships with the student. The loudness and suddenness of shouting can be terrifying for #autistic
students and this has to be considered if behaviour is an issue. /15
15. Movie lessons. They happen, either in support of a topic or at the very end of term
(controversial!) but they can be nightmarish for #autistic students. Change of routine, loud noise and music, kids not as monitored as usual - potential massive problems. Be aware. /16
16. Toilets. Yes. The loo at school, especially for girls it seems, can be a horrifying space of cramped, cliquey bullying so it's often the case that #autistic students will ask to use the loo during lessons, when it's quieter. May double as a retreat to prevent meltdown. /17
17. School bus, especially on trips. They can get very noisy indeed, so be prepared to allow for noise cancelling headphones to be used by #autistic children; actively encouraged it, in fact. /18
18. On the trip itself, make sure you always have at least one, ideally two teachers at a
predetermined 'base camp' if you're letting kids roam. #autistic children will appreciate the security of knowing you're there and will probably make use of it to wind down. /19
19. Parents Evenings. These days these seem to be huge collective affairs with everyone in a huge room shouting over the general din. Needless to say, autistic
students (and parents! Never forget us old autistics) are likely to *hate* this and may avoid. Offer an alternative! /20
20. Drama and PE. This isn't a blanket thing, but some #autistic students will find
these subjects challenging due to lack of structure at times and noise.
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Hi Pete - I am responsible for developing my schools' curriculum. We've got a number of children and young adults with communication and interaction difficulties - some with an autism diagnosis.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding your blog really helpful in understanding some of the challenges our pupils face, but I've been unable to find specific subject advice.
What I really want is specific advice on how to support autistic students in science, history, DT etc. What do autistic students typically find particularly interesting and particularly challenging?
Do you know anywhere i can find out about this?
Thanks,
Ben
All nicely sums up a lot of the (mental) torture I found attending school as a child during the 11-year period between 1982 and 1993.
ReplyDeleteApart from the ubiquity of computers, the Internet and 'tech' in general, it seems that very little has changed fundamentally in schools since my final departure in July 1993 at the age of 16, especially certain teachers with an extremely shouty, arsy attitude, who seem to revel in yelling and screaming at pupils and dishing out punishments willy-nilly, especially for seemingly trivial 'misdemeanours' that hardly constitute 'crime of the century'!
I also find it unbelievable that many 'newer' school buildings still continue to be shoddily designed and laid out at the planning stage, with (shorter-term) cost savings usually being the main motive, which can certainly turn out to be both a false economy and a recipe for disaster in the long run, though it does seem that many schools and likewise buildings that were designed and built in the 60s and 70s in particular were (ironically) designed to humiliate and intimidate. Ditto for the premises of many hospitals, and respite units and day centres for adults with LDs, though all my own personal opinions of course.
Sadly it seems many in the education system (for all children, LDs or not) still persist in the same old same old mistakes to this very day and refuse point blank to move with the times and the ever-changing needs of youngsters in the 21st Century.
And thank god corporal punishment was outlawed in 1986, plus shame on those sadcases who still yearn for it to be brought back!
Regards, RC.
I forgot to mention yesterday about this one teacher at the final school I attended between 1988 and 1993 who used to get funny with me because I didn't look him straight in the eyes while he was talking to me (one topic that's been significantly covered in other articles on here), and the reason being, his breath absolutely reeked to high heaven, and one day when he demanded to know why I was always backing away from him, I told him the exact reason and he had a hissy fit at me, yelling 'How dare you be so personal'!
ReplyDeleteSorry, but perhaps him brushing his teeth more often may have helped more, and if not enough, he should have got in touch with his GP or dentist about his halitosis problem, as I found it unbearable to the point of feeling extremely nauseated by it and sometimes not even wanting to attend school period on some days because of it.
Even my own parents thought I was overreacting and also being personal towards that particular teacher at the time, though my dad (dare I say it, older and wiser now), can empathise with my sensory issues far more nowadays, probably due to far greater awareness and understanding of us Auties in general nowadays, which was much less the case some 30 years ago, where we still more often than not had to 'put up and shut up', whether we liked it or not.
Regards, RC.
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