Aspergers: Implications
for the Classroom
Children with Aspergers Syndrome (or Aspergers) present a real challenge for schools and classroom teachers. Not only are children with Aspergers often regarded as odd or weird by their peers, teachers are faced with inappropriate social and emotional behaviour. An Aspergers child’s obsessive interests and need for routine also provide both learning opportunities and hurdles. The implications for both the classroom and for the student with Aspergers can be identified in two key areas: behavioural and academic.
Key Implications for the Classroom
Behavioural
The student with Aspergers has a neurological disorder that causes him to behave and respond in a different way to ‘normal’ students. In the classroom an Aspergers child can appear naïve and may not understand jokes, irony or metaphors. (1995, Williams) For these reasons the child may easily be taken advantage of and be ridiculed by other students. Teasing and dismissal by other students is one of the key triggers of anxiety for children with Aspergers.
Teachers should protect students with Aspergers from teasing and ridicule in and out of the classroom and efforts should be made to make other students in the class understand the traits and triggers for the child with Aspergers. This should be in a way that will promote tolerance and acceptance. (Apect, 2004)
Teachers should steer away from using metaphors and colloquialisms that could confuse the child with Aspergers.
Children with Aspergers often do not like physical contact and can display mood problems ranging from anxiety and depression to frustration and anger. At the peak of a behavioural episode a child with Aspergers may resort to tantrums which can involve violence against other students and property. An Aspergers child may not understand forceful displays of authority and may respond with stubbornness and anger. (Aspect, 2004) Aspergers children may also respond poorly to a noisy classroom and may not work well beside students prone to chatter.
It is paramount teachers establish a predictable and safe environment to learn.
Teachers should be sensitive to the needs of the child with Aspergers. A teacher’s emotional attitude will influence the mood and behaviour of the student with Aspergers. The child will respond well to a teacher with a calm disposition, predictable reactions and a sense of humour. (Ashman and Elkins, 2005)
Teachers should be discriminative in where the student with Aspergers sits in the classroom. The student should sit near others who are not prone to chatter and physical contact.
Change is a critical issue for many Aspergers students. They are easily “overwhelmed by minimal change, are highly sensitive to environmental stressors and sometimes engage in rituals”. (Williams, 1995) Research has shown that rules and routine are very important to the child with Aspergers – it provides them with a predictability about their world. (Silverman and Weinfeld, 2007) To avoid anxiety and to pave the way for fluid learning they will need routine, consistency in teaching and established classroom rules.
Teachers should attempt to have consistent daily routines. When a change is necessary to the routine the student with Aspergers should be given warning and guided through the change.
The classroom rules should be clearly defined and the child should be made aware of the consequences of not adhering to the rules. These rules are better written down for the child.
Academic
Children with Aspergers may have preoccupations or intense fixations on topics or things. Attwood’s research has shown that their ‘encyclopedic’ knowledge can be astonishing and that the child could be referred to as the ‘little professor’ by teachers. (Attwood, 2003) They will tend to ask their teachers about their special interest, teach their friends about the topic and could give the impression that they are a genius. However this attention to detail and enthusiasm may not transfer to other classroom material and activities that are normally of interest to other children. Their endless conversations about their special interests can make the child appear eccentric and thus prone to teasing and isolation by other students. It can also inhibit the learning of new content and skills. It is vital the teacher guides the student to find a balance between their interest and other classroom topics and tasks.
A teacher can take advantage of a student’s areas of special interest when developing learning experiences for the student with Aspergers. As a student with Aspergers will learn best when an area of personal interest is on the agenda, teachers can design lessons to use these interests as a hook into other subjects.
Teachers can also use access to their special interests as a reward for the completion of other work or for good behaviour.
Access to a student’s special interest could also be used to manage an emotional episode. Attwood suggests that after other methods of resolution have been unsuccessful during an emotional upset, engagement in a student’s special interest may help to restore emotions and temperament. (2003)
According to Autism Spectrum Australia (2004) many Aspergers children will respond well to visuals in the classroom as their visual memory tends to work more efficiently than their auditory memory.
Teachers should try to incorporate visuals in their learning experiences to engage the Aspergers student. Eg. Schedules, charts, lists, pictures etc.
Teachers should always clarify the meaning of a verbal instruction with the child.
Tasks with several stages should also be written down and an example of a finished piece of work may be required for the student to comprehend what is expected.
Many Aspergers children will have problems with verbal and non-verbal communication however some will have good verbal skills but may not understand everything they are vocalizing. (Behaviour Intervention Service, 2003) Some children may have trouble understanding what the teacher is saying and may require extra support to understand.
Teachers should use simple language during lessons.
Give Aspergers children plenty of time to respond to questions as they will need extra time to process the verbal communication.
Clarify meanings if a student does not understand.
