Teaching Autistic Children - Using a Schedule Chart to Improve Skill Achievement

Autistic children have a variety of abilities that can be used to their benefit to overcome the lack of certain skills in life. One of the simplest approaches to autistic teaching of children is to make simple step-by-step schedules for them to follow.

From early morning to bedtime, there are many tasks in a day that must be managed by a parent to help autistic teaching of a child with compromised life skills abilities. These tasks are things as simple as getting dressed, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, preparing for appointments, daily chores, school, homework, preparing for bed, and sleep routines.

Having a charted schedule for your child can take the confusion out of the picture. Many autistic children thrive on structure. With structure clearly mapped out they know what to expect and what will occur tomorrow. It removes a bit of the social fear factor that so many autistic children struggle with. Especially for teaching autistic children, schedules can be the key to a successful day.

Once you have mapped out the daily schedule for your child, present it in the form of an attractive chart, using images and simple words. You can do this on the computer quite easily with clip art and a simple font for text. For example, for reading time you would place "Reading Time" and also place a picture of an open book or a stack of books. This helps your child's reading and comprehension skills. For an appointment you can use an actual picture of the child's practitioner. Hanging the chart in your child's personal area helps him or her feel the personal control that a charted schedule can deliver.

Teaching autistic children is so much more successful when a schedule is adhered to as strictly as possible. Changes or disruptions can be very discomforting for the child so any change should be clearly planned and explained. Sleep times and wake-up times should be as consistent as possible. It is very important to remember that autistic children are extremely resistant to change and they function so much better when things are reliably the same for them. Because of this, you should try to keep their days and evenings as uniform as possible. Introduce new things with a lot of discussion and gradual introduction. Any new learning methods or new task teaching would be presented when your child is feeling good. Follow the daily routine and work the new task into something already on the schedule so that the addition is as minimally disruptive as possible. When your child understands what is coming and what is expected of him, you will provide the most positive and effective environment for teaching and learning.

Teaching children with autism can seem overwhelming and sometimes downright impossible. Using a schedule chart can be one of the most effective methods for teaching autistic children and turn difficulty into a pleasurable experience for both of you.