Teachers, Therapists
& School Staff

Advice for the teachers, therapists and school staff serving autistic children.

Tips for Teachers, Therapists & School Staff

• Meeting a student for the first time? Suggest that parents prepare by writing a social story and provide them with photos of school or your office to help.
• Teach social thinking before teaching social performance.
• Use comic strips and social stories to teach understanding social and language inferences.
• Teach verbal and nonverbal comments such as head nods, “mmmhmmm” and “Okay.”
• Use social target phrases such as: “Listen with your whole body,” “Focus on friendly things to do” and “Keep your brain in the group.”
• Role play, role play, role play!
• Integrate catching a ball into teaching conversation, turn taking and body language.
• Teach assertiveness such as claiming your turn if passed over or holding your place in a line. Making choices, asserting preferences. Teach to ask before touching, ask before you clean up everyone’s place or things. Teach politeness/good manners.
• Role play how to recognize and deal with inappropriate teasing or testing from peers.
• Focus on “listening” to reduce interrupting.
• Include neurotypical peers in social lessons.
• The Organization for Autism Research has useful resources for teachers such as this Educator’s Guide.