How can I cope with an autistic 5-year-old in my preschool VBS class?

Question

I offered to help at my church's VBS. I was assigned to work with the preschoolers, and they are a wild bunch! One child is autistic. He is one or two years older than the others, but his mother put him in my class because of his developmental disability. He loves to do things his way. He doesn't do what the teacher says, he protests when the poor teacher says something, he wanders from the group and even out of class, I don't know who his mother is so I can't say anything (plus I'm not the teacher), and it takes up to 2 adults to get him back to the activity! Once, he even turned on all the sinks in the boy's bathroom and flooded it! I have no idea what to do. My mother regularly teaches his class outside of VBS, and she tells me to get in his face and punish him, but I don't want to frighten the other children or him. What can I do to keep him on track, especially with something that he can understand and have fun doing?

Answer 1

Your mother is his teacher?  Then she probably knows what works!!!   Get in his face and tell him if  he doesn't come back to his group, he will need to have time out.    If this works for your mother, it should work for you.  I would definitely take her advice.

Answer 2

Working with a child with autism can be a challenge. Depending on the level of autism he may benefit by being in a small group 6 or 8 children, or attend for only a portion of the session. Can one person be assigned to be his aide and work with him one on one. One of the characteristics of autism is the lack of social abilities. They do not work well in groups, but rather with one  other child at a time. Setting up a system of rewards and reminding him what he is 'earning' by being compliant will help. Please do not discipline the child because he is not participating at the same level as his classmates, he is autistic and his condition causes his behavior. If he is school age he may be in a special education class. Ask his mom what methods the school uses with him.

Answer 3

Well since he is 5 and diagnosed with autism that means he has an IEP (individualized education plan).  I suggest having the teacher talk to his mother and find out what the school does to help him learn and stay attentive during the school day.  Do not get in his face and punish him- it will not work!  Autism must be approached differently and must be systematic.  Best bet- talk to mom and find out what she and the schools do with him.  BTW most students with autism esp that young probably do have one aid assigned to them to help them stay on task.

Answer 4

You don't want to get in his face and punish him.  That's the worst solution.  One thing with autism is that people that have it often have a hard time communicating with others.  When a child does something, they are often trying to communicate whether we understand what they're communicating or not. Punishing him sends a message - stop communicating with me.  You especially want to avoid forced eye contact and getting in his face.  One of the first signs of autism parents notice is the inability to make eye contact.  This is very uncomfortable and demeaning to a person with autism and should be avoided.  After trust has been built up, the person might make eye contact with you, but that is not always the case.

There's no easy answer for this.  I have attended every workshop I could on working with children that have autism, I have had some students with autism, and the fact is most of them are very different from each other.  What needs to happen is a meeting with the parent to discuss what works and what does not work with this child.  If that's not possible, you'll have to take a lot of notes at the end of the day and do a lot of assessment.

Generally speaking, there are some things that help with several children on the autism spectrum.  You can probably get a large list if you use google, but let me try to help with just a few things to start.

--If the child becomes overly excited, whispering to him is important.  Talk about things very literally and directly, but calmly.  Children with autism do not necessarily recognize jokes or analogies, so think about your words carefully before you say something and make sure it is EXACTLY what you mean to say.

--Consider that our language is based so much on verbs, which is not how the child thinks.  The child thinks in pictures and there's a focus of nouns.  We think "draw slowly," two words that have no nouns in it.  Your student might not be able to picture it if it is phrased that way.  Focus on nouns instead.  Say "crayon slow" and you might get better results.

--Consider sensorial needs.  Does the child need a quiet area of the classroom to be in alone?  Does the child need to dip his hands into a big vase full of beans and just feel around in them?  A sandbox is also great for many children (if not possible, sand in a tray that's deep enough for him to dig through may be a good choice).  Many students with autism find these activities very calming.

--Use pictures of your schedule.  Written, or even verbal, schedules may not help at all.  You may need pictures to show what your daily routine is.   Use real pictures, not line drawings.  Line drawings require a certain amount of interpretation which is not possible for many children with autism.

--Look for specific sounds that irritate the child and see if that is sparking a lot of behavior problems.  Sounds of chairs against the floor are a common one, as are bells, buzzers, PA Systems, etc.  You may have to do something as simple as pad the bottom of chairs with duct tape to reduce the noise.  A child with autism can develop a full blown fear of going into a room if there was a noise that upset him or her.  

--Many children cannot process more than one sensory direction at a time.  So if you are pointing to something and saying something, they will not take it in.  Be sure to do only one or the other with this particular child and see if that improves things.

--Do you have florescent lights?  If so, is there a way to get lamps and leave those lights off?  Those things drive many children with ASD crazy because of the flickering.

Answer 5

i'd speak with the head of the vbs as this seems it might be a bit of a safety situation.  also, the teacher needs to speak to his mom and find out what methods work for her.  i'd hate to see anyone get in any kid's face and yell and punish.  doesn't seem to be a very christian thing to do either.  get some guidence from the director and mom and go from there.