Autism Spectrum Disorders Interviews
File Name: Angela_teacher_workingASD MP4
Duration: 05.39
Video Transcript
Video: Angela talking to interviewer
Graphic on screen:
Angela, Teacher
Working with children with autism
Audio:
Start:
00.01
What I needed to know?
Initially when I tried to understand a child with autism and what I needed to do to teach them
successfully and support them, I really looked within my own school in terms of who were the key
players there that could help and support me, the Student Welfare Coordinator, the Integration
Teacher, and perhaps the Principal Class were really fundamental in that. And also then I went
beyond that and tried to seek out professional development programs and then looking to other
professionals. So you sit in the Support Group meetings with your Paediatrician, your Speech
Pathologists, the OTs and the reports around that child and what can they tell you that will support
you in understanding and engaging them and getting them to learn.
Where did you find information?
I got the information about students and specifically about autism from, I did some PD at the time,
whenever I could I read some things, I went and asked the key some people in my school, so the
Student Welfare Coordinator, Integration Teacher and started gathering information that way and of
course I spoke with his patents to help to understand.
Accessing specific information about the student?
To get specific information about that student I went straight to his reports, so his mother provided
me with those reports, so the report from the Psychologist, a report from the Speech Pathologist. I
was teaching English and I found that invaluable to understand how he understood and how he
communicated.
Key people who have been helpful in teaching a child with autism?
So the key people who have helped me to teach a child with autism are look, number one, parents.
I’ll probably get a vote from parents for saying that but they do have a wealth of information that
can really, really help you and you really need to listen to their story. Other professionals including
the Student Welfare Coordinator, Year Level Coordinator or however the school is structured. The
Principal of the school who understands the whole child too, that’s really, really helpful. Other
teachers have helped also, the Paediatrician, the Speech Pathologist, all those other professionals,
their input is invaluable in understanding and getting it right and getting good engagement, good
outcomes.
Key strategies for helping a child with autism?
Key strategies for helping a child with autism really is knowing the child, so you’ve got to know the
child, you know the theory, you know what the key deficits and core impairments are for a child with
autism in terms of language, communication and social stuff, how they organise, how they process
information. I use all that in terms of developing strategies, so it’s dependent on the child’s age, a lot
of official information and I will cater that for a child in Prep or Kinder right up to a Year 12 student.
Often I say with the Year 12 student, they need a secretary more than anything else because it’s that
organisational stuff, so what can we put in place that will really help them, when is that piece of
work due, what is it supposed to look like, how can we scaffold it so you can get that information out
of your head and tell us what you really know, how do we differentiate the curriculum to make your
learning happen - those are the sorts of things that I think are really, really important. That’s why I
go keep going back to knowing the profile of that child because it’s different for every single child.
Helpful resources for teaching children with autism?
So some of the key resources that helped me teaching children with autism would include doing a
lot of professional learning, understanding the research base, including understanding what the key
researchers and the psychologists are saying. I use a lot of work by Professor Tony Attwood and
Richard Eisenmier, which I find extremely useful resources.
Also at a more local level I would link in with the student speech pathologist, the occupational
therapist to understand that child more fully, having Student Support Group meetings, our SSGs,
with the paediatrician has been really, really beneficial to understand and really support, especially
when you are getting quite challenging behaviour in the child.
Biggest challenge as a result of teaching children with autism?
One of the biggest challenges in teaching children with autism is getting a team approach and
getting the whole school on side in supporting that child. I would say that is the biggest challenge
because I know we can teach one teacher and support one teacher and you can get it right in one
classroom, but unless it’s getting right across the board, that inclusive structure is just falling apart. I
think it’s that’s probably the most important thing and one of the biggest challenges.
What does a teacher need to know about teaching a child with autism?
What does a teacher need to know about teaching a child with autism? Number one, what they
need to know is that a child that is exhibiting challenging behaviour is not a naughty child and when
we’ve broken that down and we can show teachers exactly what that means and bringing it out from
the core deficit and showing them that this is the behaviour that comes out of that deficit that that
child has, and this is the behaviour that comes out of that. And the understanding, the ‘light bulb’
moment for so many teachers and then they start working on intercepting with correct teaching
strategies to support that child rather than punishing them. So we need to go to positive behaviour
support and not a punitive approach and that’s when we get success.
Finish 05.39