Supervising students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism

Denise Olivers from Learn4Life gave our student teachers educational and enthusiastic training about autism. Indeed, students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism often need guidance with their schoolwork. But, how can you best support these students?

Autism in the classroom.

Many students we supervise at Studied find it difficult to keep an overview of their schoolwork. They are easily overstimulated, perfectionist or in great need of structure. Some of these students are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or autism. At Studied, we strive for guidance that best meets the needs of the student. So far, this has also worked well for students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism, but things can always be better. After all, we are never done learning! That is why we wanted to provide our employees with additional training about the needs of students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism during tutoring or homework guidance. The training was provided last Wednesday by our regular educator/educational expert Denise Olivers from Learn4Life.

Effective learning.

An interesting part of the training was Bales' learning pyramid. Although high school and university pay attention to the topic of effective learning, I can imagine that few students and students stop to ask the question: am I learning in the most effective way? According to Bales' learning pyramid, study methods such as lectures, knowledge clips and studying from a book/laptop are not effective. I have to say that this confirms my experience of these study methods. I often stare at a text for hours only to realize that the content still hasn't come to me. On the other hand, study methods such as discussing the material together and carrying out practical assignments are highly effective. For students with behavioral traits or a diagnosis of autism, these learning methods are a must-have. After all, they (often) pay more attention to details and less to the big picture. As a result, they find it difficult to summarize a text themselves or extract the key ideas from a text. During a tutoring session, it is therefore important to actively learn, for example by explaining material to each other and having the student write down questions and answers. After all, by using active learning methods, you ultimately learn the most.

Active tutoring.

During the training, we discovered that many effective methods are already being consciously used in the lessons of our student teachers. For example, many student teachers challenge their students with statements and questions about the material. You might expect the student lecturer to speak more than the student in a tutoring session, but that is not the case in our lessons. The student teacher often asks questions and answers the student with the knowledge he or she needs. This involves a lot of creativity, from both the student lecturer and the student, which makes the guidance fun and challenging! In addition to explaining the material to each other, we also carry out assignments together in the lesson. This includes doing homework assignments, practicing diagnostic tests and reviewing old exams. It is great to see that our student teachers are already using the right methods to guide students, even if they have a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism.

The importance of structure.

The most important part of the training was the importance of structure. This means that when counseling students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism, it is important that there are as few (unexpected) changes as possible. For example, a lesson cannot simply be moved. This is because this causes a lot of stress for the student. That is why we take extra care to prevent unexpected changes and communicate clearly to the student.

Qualities.

Autism isn't just a disability. During the training, for example, Denise said that students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism are often sincere, perform extremely well in a specific subject and can think logically. With the right tools, such as effective and structured learning methods, students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism can go a long way. With our lessons, we can contribute to this by paying attention to the student's strengths and weaknesses and providing support where necessary. Of course, this applies to every student, but for students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism, we will focus even more on that.

All in all, it was an inspiring training. I have learned a lot from it and feel prepared to support students with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism. When evaluating at the end of the training, other student teachers said the same thing. So a successful training: worth repeating!

Interested in counseling a student with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of autism? Check www.studied.nl and contact us.