Your colleague asks you for some tips to prepare the physical environment for a student with ASD. Please offer some tips that s/he can use in a general classroom.
What will be an ideal response?
Answer should ideally include:
• Design the student’s work area with his or her needs in mind.Some students need more visual cues and boundaries or structure than others.
• Organize for visual clarity.Designate areas for specific learning tasks and arrange the classroom such that activities are clearly identified in a visual manner.
• Have clear visual boundaries for each area.Visually clear boundaries can be set by using tape on the floor, rugs to clarify areas in which certain tasks take place, room dividers, clearing desks of unnecessary materials, etc.
• Separate independent work areas, and have students complete only tasks that have been mastered there, where they can work without adult supervision. Independent work areas should be visually secluded from the rest of the room, especially when working with students who are easily distracted.
• Place work areas near shelving, so that required materials are within easy reach.
• Eliminate irrelevant visual material, such as posters or letters of the alphabet, that may distract students with ASD from required tasks. If removal of this type of visual material is not feasible, consider facing the student’s desk in the direction opposite the visual “clutter.”
• Consider reorganizing independent work areas as students become more capable.You might be able to decrease some barriers such as shelving or dividers, move the student closer to peers, etc.Gradually decrease the supports you offered initially, and pay close attention to the result of the change you made.If the student has difficulty staying on task as the result of the change, you may decide to reorganize again, going back to the original arrangement for a while.
• When you notice that a student has difficulty with distractions, or with understanding barriers, consider reorganizing the environment.Sometimes doing so can be a simple solution to an off-task behavior.
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