Learning Opportunities for Children with ASD during routines and specific activities
Importance of increasing learning opportunities for children with ASD

ASD is characterized by core impairments in socialization, communication, and behavior;
while not core symptoms, cognitive, motor, academic, and self-care skill deficits are common

Young children with ASD must learn at a faster rate than their typically developing peers just
to catch up in their learning and development

Teachers and related service providers need to create an environment in which the child is
engaging and learning for as much of the school day as possible

Learning opportunities can be built into naturally-occurring routines (e.g., walking to the
bus) or contrived situations (e.g., placing child’s favorite toy on a shelf so he must ask for it)
Accommodating the child’s individual needs and abilities

Early learner: responses can involve gesturing, using alternative communication systems,
and/or saying single words; child will need a lot of high level prompting (e.g. full physical)

Intermediate learner: responses can involve pointing or saying short phrases; child may need
lower level prompting (e.g., partial verbal, model)

Advanced learner: responses will primarily consist of saying complete sentences
General strategies for creating learning opportunities throughout the school day

Reinforce the child’s verbal and nonverbal attempts to socially interact or communicate

Comment on what the child is doing, seeing, hearing, etc.

Model appropriate social interaction and communication (e.g., gestures, speech, signs)

Use expectant looking (Rappaport, 1996):
1. establish eye contact with the child
2. lips slightly apart and eyebrows raised
3. lean head and body slightly toward child

Use communication temptations (e.g., place preferred item in child’s sight, but out of reach;
start a favorite activity, then pause; provide only some materials required for an activity)

Present the child with choices

Use exaggerated gestures, facial expressions, speech intonation, etc.
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
Make it fun – be playful and creative, use an excited tone of voice, smile a lot, etc.
Building Learning Opportunities into Classroom Routines and Activities
Walking To/From the Bus
1. Have the child count his steps up to ten (on his fingers or aloud) as he is walks from the bus
to the classroom or vice versa
2. Have the child name safety rules for riding the bus
3. Point out an object (e.g., while walking to or from the bus) that the child would not know the
name for and ask “What’s that?”, the child should say “I don’t know”
4. Ask questions about the bus, such as “What color is the bus?” or “What’s your bus driver’s
name?”
5. Ask if the child rides an airplane or boat to school (smile and make this into a joke), he can
shake his head no or respond vocally (e.g., “No, I ride the bus to school”)
6. Sing the Wheels on the Bus, pause and let the child fill in the blanks
7. Use fill-ins to help the child comment about the bus, such as “The word bus starts with the
letter ___” or “A bus is a _____ (vehicle)”
8. Use visual cues to help the child take care of his jacket, backpack, lunchbox, folder, etc. as
independently as possible
Snack and Lunch
1. Set a juice container and cup in front of the child, have him request for the adult to open the
container and pour the juice
2. Offer a non-preferred food, have the child shake his head or say “No”
3. “Forget” to give the child a necessary item (e.g., yogurt without a spoon, juice box without a
straw) and have the child request for the missing item
4. Ask the child “What did you bring for lunch?” or “Where do we eat lunch?”
5. Place a clear container of a favorite food (with the lid securely on) in front of the child, let
him try to open it, then he can sign or say “Help”, “Open”, etc.
6. Have a child ask his peer “What are you eating/having?”
7. Offer a variety of foods and drinks during snack, child can request for specific items by
saying “Crackers”, “More juice please”, etc.
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8. Ask the child how many crackers, chips, etc. he wants for snack, then have him count the
food items
Toileting and Self-Help
1. Let the child attempt to complete the steps involved with hand washing and toileting before
providing physical or verbal assistance
2. Provide visual cues (pictures and text) that help the child toilet himself and wash his hands as
independently as possible
3. Have the child sing the ABCs or count to 20 while he is washing his hands
4. Provide extra practice with zipping, snapping, and buttoning by teaching these skills during
structured instruction and other classroom activities
5. Ask questions during self-help activities, such as hand washing (e.g., “Are your hands wet or
dry?”, “Is the water on or off?”)
6. Have the child put on his shoes then wait for him to ask an adult to tie the laces
7. Talk and/or read books about dangerous situations (e.g., hot stove, busy roads) and how he
can stay safe
8. Have the child list steps for hand washing (e.g., ask “What do you do first?”); use fill-ins if
the child does not fully know the steps (e.g., “Wash hands with soap and _____ (water)”)
Social-Play Time
1. Place the child’s favorite toy in sight, but out of reach, wait for him to gesture towards, points
at, or verbally request the toy
2. Have a child ask his peer “Do you want to play?”, then help the children play an interactive
game
3. Provide tracks and one train, the child can say “More trains” or “Where are the trains?”
4. Give the child Mr. Potato Head with the nose and eye pieces reversed and ask “What’s
wrong?”, then have him fix it
5. Hold a balloon up to your mouth and wait for the child to sign or say “Blow”, “Blow up the
balloon please”, etc., pause after every breath and have him request again
6. Tickle or spin the child, then stop and wait until he makes eye contact before starting again
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7. Go up to the child with a toy or candy hidden in a bag and say “I have something for you”
with an excited tone of voice, have the child ask “What do you have?” or “What is it?”
8. Have the child bring something he made up to a peer and say “[Peer’s name], look!” or tap
the peer’s arm and show him
Centers
1. “Accidentally” color on the table with a washable marker, say “Uh-oh”, have the child ask
“What happened?”
2. Offer choices during activities, such as red or blue scissors, with a peer or by yourself, etc.
3. Ask the child to go get an item related to the activity (e.g., crayons, scissors, paper), another
instructor can ask “What are you doing?”
4. Provide paper and paint brushes, but no paint (or play doh tools, but no play doh) and wait
for the child to request for paint
5. Teach the children to share and wait patiently by offering fewer materials (e.g., glue sticks)
then there are children
6. Have the children write (or trace) their name on every worksheet and art project
7. Use one activity (e.g., doing a pegboard) to practice a variety of skills (following directions,
patterning, counting, sorting, fine motor, etc.)
8. Have the children help each other (e.g., by buttoning a peer’s paint shirt, cleaning up toys
together)
Circle Time
1. Incorporate each child’s individual goals (e.g., color identification, turn-taking) into circle
time activities
2. Sing familiar songs, pause, and let the children fill in the blank (for early learners, use songs
in which the blank can be an action “Head, shoulders, knees, and ____ (toes)”)
3. Get out the class’s favorite book to read, but hold the book upside down
4. Have the children greet each other (handshake, wave, and/or verbally) at the beginning of the
morning circle time
5. Choose songs and games that are both fun and skill-oriented (e.g., play Simon Say to practice
listening skills and following directions)
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6. Sing songs with motions, this way early learners with limited speech can actively participate
7. Ask questions while reading a story (e.g., “Is the girl happy or sad?”, “What do you think
will happen next?”)
8. Give the children materials, such as puppets or musical instruments, so they can follow along
with the story or song and stay more engaged
Playground
1. Hide one of the child’s boots or mittens and ask “Are you missing something?” or “What are
looking for?” when he looks for the missing item as he gets ready to go outside
2. Play Stop and Go, this can be a fun way to teach the safety skill of stopping on command
3. Push the child a few times on the swing, then stop the swing, and wait until he requests by
giving eye contact, gesturing or signing, or by saying “Swing”, “Push me”, etc.
4. Get two or more children involved in a game of chase on the playground, help them use
social language to initiate the game (e.g., “Get me” or “Let’s play tag”)
5. Ask the child what he did outside (make sure you know the answer) while walking back in;
for early learners with limited speech, ask yes/no questions and have him nod/shake his head
6. Have children introduce themselves (wave and/or verbally) to peers they do not know
7. Provide items (e.g., sidewalk chalk, basketballs, jump ropes, scooters) that practice motor,
independent play, and other functional skills
8. Encourage the child to try a variety of playground activities, as opposed to just engaging in
one preferred activity
Transitions and Other Times
1. Give conditional directions when having the children line up (e.g., “Line up if you’re a boy”,
“Get in line if you have brown hair”)
2. Tell the child to line up then stand in front of the door, he should say or sign “Open”, “Open
the door please”, etc.
3. Ask questions on the way to the activity (e.g., gym), such as “Where are we going?”
4. Play Follow the Leader while walking down the hallway or outside, the children can take
turns being the leader
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5. Hide puzzle pieces around the classroom and give instructions that tell the children where to
find them (e.g., “Check under the table”, “Look on the bookshelf”)
6. Sing a song or tell a story if there is an unexpected time gap between activities
7. Play I Spy during walks (make it educational by incorporating prepositions, colors, shapes,
etc., such as “I spy something red” or “I spy something under the swings”)
8. Look in the same direction as the child and make comments about what you see (e.g., if the
child is staring out the window, you can talk about the blue sky or green leaves)
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