Autism Spectrum Disorder Accommodating Students with ASD on

Autism Spectrum Disorder: Accommodating Students with ASD on Campus Sarah Parsons, Hannah Davidson, & Lindsay Page

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION What do you know? • What do you already know about Autism Spectrum Disorder?

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION PSU’s Population • Currently, Campus Accessibility Services accommodates 444 students. • Of those students, 17 students (or 4%) have a diagnosis of ASD. • For every student that identifies with our office, there are 2 more students on campus with ASD that have not disclosed their diagnosis with our office. • According to Shattuck Pediatrics (2012), about 35% of people with ASD go to college after high school, and that number is increasing.

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION Living on the Spectrum: Wendy Lampen

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION Strengths • Exceptional visual skills • Memories • Flashbulb Memory • Think in pictures and in motion • Strong spatial capacity • Exceptional capacity to notice patterns • Exceptional capacity to notice small deviations in patterns or sequences • Exceptional capacity to focus on a single problem for extended periods of time • Exceptional overall intelligence

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION Difficulties • Language-based thinking is difficult • Language-based organization is difficult • Writing is difficult • Social Communication • Difficulty understanding implied meaning in communication • Difficulty “reading” people or situations • Difficulty distinguishing between people -- Theory of Mind • Difficulty demonstrating insight about themselves

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION Difficulties • Cognitive Inflexibility • Executive Functioning Disability • Difficulty staying focused in a shifting environment • Processing sensory information appropriately • Understanding the concept of time

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION Teaching Strategies • Don’t talk for long periods of time, and then ask a person living with ASD to reply in a single word or sentence • Ask short questions with unambiguous answers to assess understanding • Link pictures with words. Provide meaningful pictures to accompany words and concepts that students need to remember • Provide samples of specific organizational expectations • Use visual prompts for time/date information

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION Personal Strategies • Allow students not to look at you when you are speaking to them or they are speaking to you • Be as clear as you can be about the schedule for your class including assignments, time within the classroom, tests or quizzes • Give students as much warning as possible of changes to the routine • Consider your personal communication style • Communicate directly about things that are important

HEADLINE SAMPLE WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION Questions?