Accommodations for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Children with ASD often qualify for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a Section 504 plan. Each of these programs promotes support for students to access their learning environment. Anyone on the IEP team can suggest accommodations: Teachers, behavior analysts, Speech Language Pathologist , occupational therapists, and even parents and administrators. Each student should have accommodations in place to best support their unique needs. Common adaptations fall into the cognitive, sensory, behavioral, emotional, and communication domains. Cognitive Pre-teaching. This involves giving children a heads-up before diving into a lesson or new routine. You can use this accommodation to pre-teach an upcoming fire drill, a new teacher joining the classroom, or novel lesson concepts. Provide short, concise directions. Clear directions that are understandable to the student can give a child a successful start and reduce confusion. Visuals cues. Picture cues are essenti