Re: Autistic Students

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Art Teachers Chatboard

Autistic Students

by Artme

Mar 28, 2015

Within the last 2 years our elementary school has taken on 15 autistic children who used to be in alternative placements. We created a program within our school for these children which has been very successful and has saved our school system a lot of $ in out-of-district tuition. Our school has 450 kids, pre K- 5th. SO, 15 out of 21 art classes have an autistic student and tech support for that student. Needless to say, this has had a huge impact on me, my classes, and music and PE classes as well. The kids are at all levels, from verbal to non-verbal. Of the 15 kids, I give art assessments to 12 of them. Three are so low that I do not feel comfortable grading them. Apparently, they are in my room for socialization, tho that does not really happen. They are still at the scribble stage and frequently interrupt with outbursts. Their attention spans are limited, so they often stay for a short time. I would like to come up with a different way for these 3 children to have art: I feel they...See More

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Dana Hi. It seems that I have more autistic students each year. Are these students integrated in with the other classes or do you see them at a special time? Most of my students are integrated into the regular classes and a few come with an aide. This year the more severe students with autism are also integrated in with an aide or two because of schedul...See MoreHi. It seems that I have more autistic students each year. Are these students integrated in with the other classes or do you see them at a special time? Most of my students are integrated into the regular classes and a few come with an aide. This year the more severe students with autism are also integrated in with an aide or two because of scheduling. I see the need to integrate in certain situations but it does make it difficult to start a lesson when there is screaming or outbursts. It is difficult to grade when they are not at grade level so after discussing with the other special area teachers, I started giving a below average grade with a nice comment on their strengths. Sometimes the aides will take them out early because 45 minutes is very long. They used to come see me halfway through a special to integrate and stay an extra 15 minutes so I could spend time getting to know their needs and strengths and work more one on one. Unfortunately it doesn't work this year. When I saw my students on their own we could do lessons that work on their fine motor skills and tactile experiences. I used shaving cream and dropped some paint on to top (they can touch and use fingers to mix in) have a marble paint look when they press paper on top and pull a print. We have done apple prints. I've also used play-doh and real clay when I am doing a long discussion with the rest of my class to let them have a tactile experience. We also use a lot of paints- finger paint and bingo dabbers are a favorite. One of my autistic students loves to place the colored bingo dabbers in rainbow order. She would have to say the color (using what little speech she had) to say which color she wanted to use next while one student that was non-verbal would point to the red, or yellow, or blue. Did you ever try using ping pong balls? Roll them in the primary colors, place them in a lid or top of a box, place a piece of paper down and roll the balls around the lid. It makes fun abstract painting and also the rolling sound can be soothing. This year we are doing a lot of cutting and glueing. Hope this helps. Try a Matisse collage with lots of fun shapes. Good Luck! Dana

On 3/28/15, Artme wrote: > Within the last 2 years our elementary school has taken on > 15 autistic children who used to be in alternative > placements. We created a program within our school for these > children which has been very successful and has saved our > school system a lot of $ in out-of-district tuition. Our > school has 450 kids, pre K- 5th. SO, 15 out of 21 art > classes have an autistic student and tech support for that > student. Needless to say, this has had a huge impact on me, > my classes, and music and PE classes as well. The kids are > at all levels, from verbal to non-verbal. Of the 15 kids, I > give art assessments to 12 of them. Three are so low that I > do not feel comfortable grading them. Apparently, they are > in my room for socialization, tho that does not really > happen. They are still at the scribble stage and frequently > interrupt with outbursts. Their attention spans are limited, > so they often stay for a short time. I would like to come up > with a different way for these 3 children to have art: I > feel they should be exploring art materials instead of > learning about artists and higher level concepts. The music > teacher is going to try an "unified" approach, pairing the > neediest of those kiddos with "normal" kids for a small, > short class. The SPED director is supportive of that idea. I > am not sure what I could offer as an alternative that would > better meet the needs of the autistic students. Has anyone > out there tried something different? Our SPED director > champions inclusion, but this isn't working for anyone.

Mar 29, 2015

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Dana On 3/29/15, Dana wrote: > Hi. It seems that I have more autistic students each year. > Are these students integrated in with the other classes or do > you see them at a special time? Most of my students are > integrated into the regular classes and a few come with an > aide. This year the more severe students with autism are also >...See MoreOn 3/29/15, Dana wrote: > Hi. It seems that I have more autistic students each year. > Are these students integrated in with the other classes or do > you see them at a special time? Most of my students are > integrated into the regular classes and a few come with an > aide. This year the more severe students with autism are also > integrated in with an aide or two because of scheduling. I > see the need to integrate in certain situations but it does > make it difficult to start a lesson when there is screaming or > outbursts. It is difficult to grade when they are not at grade > level so after discussing with the other special area > teachers, I started giving a below average grade with a nice > comment on their strengths. Sometimes the aides will take > them out early because 45 minutes is very long. They used to > come see me halfway through a special to integrate and stay an > extra 15 minutes so I could spend time getting to know their > needs and strengths and work more one on one. Unfortunately it > doesn't work this year. When I saw my students on their own > we could do lessons that work on their fine motor skills and > tactile experiences. I used shaving cream and dropped some > paint on to top (they can touch and use fingers to mix in) > have a marble paint look when they press paper on top and pull > a print. We have done apple prints. I've also used play-doh > and real clay when I am doing a long discussion with the rest > of my class to let them have a tactile experience. We also > use a lot of paints- finger paint and bingo dabbers are a > favorite. One of my autistic students loves to place the > colored bingo dabbers in rainbow order. She would have to say > the color (using what little speech she had) to say which > color she wanted to use next while one student that was > non-verbal would point to the red, or yellow, or blue. Did you > ever try using ping pong balls? Roll them in the primary > colors, place them in a lid or top of a box, place a piece of > paper down and roll the balls around the lid. It makes fun > abstract painting and also the rolling sound can be soothing. > This year we are doing a lot of cutting and glueing. > Hope this helps. Try a Matisse collage with lots of fun > shapes. Good Luck! Dana > > Also, I do seat them with students that love to help and assist. > > > > On 3/28/15, Artme wrote: >> Within the last 2 years our elementary school has taken on >> 15 autistic children who used to be in alternative >> placements. We created a program within our school for these >> children which has been very successful and has saved our >> school system a lot of $ in out-of-district tuition. Our >> school has 450 kids, pre K- 5th. SO, 15 out of 21 art >> classes have an autistic student and tech support for that >> student. Needless to say, this has had a huge impact on me, >> my classes, and music and PE classes as well. The kids are >> at all levels, from verbal to non-verbal. Of the 15 kids, I >> give art assessments to 12 of them. Three are so low that I >> do not feel comfortable grading them. Apparently, they are >> in my room for socialization, tho that does not really >> happen. They are still at the scribble stage and frequently >> interrupt with outbursts. Their attention spans are limited, >> so they often stay for a short time. I would like to come up >> with a different way for these 3 children to have art: I >> feel they should be exploring art materials instead of >> learning about artists and higher level concepts. The music >> teacher is going to try an "unified" approach, pairing the >> neediest of those kiddos with "normal" kids for a small, >> short class. The SPED director is supportive of that idea. I >> am not sure what I could offer as an alternative that would >> better meet the needs of the autistic students. Has anyone >> out there tried something different? Our SPED director >> champions inclusion, but this isn't working for anyone.

Mar 29, 2015

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