The classroom should be well planned and structured properly for teaching autistic children. There should be a structured teaching schedule posted for the different classroom activities that autistic children will engage in during the school day. Activities should be designed to keep students on task and engaged in the learning objectives. Parents should be given the classroom schedule for their autistic student in order to provide structured learning activities beyond the school day.
Autistic children may not welcome change in their routine schedule during the school day. For example, they may want to sit in a particular seat, work with a particular pen or engage in a specific activity, etc. Teachers should be careful in adapting classroom changes for students with autism according to the student's IEP (Individualized Education Plan) which defines their academic and behavioral needs in the classroom. Teachers and parents can help autistic students adapt to a structured learning environment by introducing new changes slowly within the instructional learning objectives that differentiate the learning for autistic students.
A special resource room for autistic children should be developed as a pull-out experience in a special education classroom or other designated classroom. Special education teachers or the student's instructional assistant are generally hired by the school district to provide one on one instruction for students with autism.on a full or part-time basis.Teachers and instructional assistants may also use special teaching-learning aids and other designated learning equipments in presenting the learning objectives to autistic children.
Some autistic children may be sensitive to high-pitch sounds; some may face problems in bright light, whereas others may be sensitive to a particular smell or fragrance. Therefore teachers should be well aware in dealing with problems of sound, light and fragrance in the classroom by keeping lights low, sounds at a minimum and creating a fragrance free learning environment.
Teachers should try to identify the interest of each autistic child by incorporating the information provided in the student's IEP transition plan in their individualized learning designs. Their interest may vary so teachers should provide specific information on student interest in the learning objectives. Some autistic students may be interested in drawing, some in writing, some in reading etc. Therefore, the teacher should try to encourage the child to actively participate in the activity of his/her interest. Teachers should plan his/her instructional plans according to the autistic student's needs and interests as part of the differentiated individualized instruction provided for them.
Thus, appropriate measures taken to structure the learning environment for autistic children will help them to become productive learners and experience independence in developing their own effective learning environment and educational outcomes.