6th November 2018

It is a difficult task to aid the autistic learners if you being an educator don’t follow some creative approaches. Long, boring practices are no good for the kids and you must refer to your knowledge seeked through the autism teacher training courses. The reason is simple it gives you effective teaching and building of rapport becomes easy.

When selecting or creating practice games the following points should be considered that first the game should be fun or at least interesting. This can be best judged by observing the children’s reaction to it and asking their opinion.

Second is the game should have a clear purpose such as teaching addition facts or multiplication combinations.

Third is the form of the game which should not obscure the main purpose. For instance a particular game that entails much running around the room and little arithmetic is primarily a running game and not a way of providing number practice.

Fourth is if skill rather than skill is involved, children of varied ability can play together.

Fifth is if skill rather than chance is the primary factor in success then children of similar ability should play together. Sixth luck does not require skill to grade.

The idea of addition –

Children realise the idea of adding when they see it before them in so many practical ways and experiences. For instance, the child sees that a group of three books are combined with a group of four books, and that is calculated to make it in a big group of seven books. At first, children will be inclined to add by putting out the two numbers required and then counting out the combination. But the aim is to help children add quickly and accurately so this long process should not be continued indefinitely.

The Language of Addition –

Words and phrases that mean to add. These are introduced by oral problems discussed by the whole class. The children make up their own little sums. For instance, there are three fruits in this basket and four in second baskets – now the question is how many will the child put together in one basket?

Another point is the addition sign which can be introduced once the autistic children understand that there are times when adding is required. The sign is the ‘short form’ of the word. Number cards with a special plus sign can be used for work and that can be done as class activity or in groups.

Teachers who are pursuing the autism teacher training courses need to focus on the points which should be used to refer the addition. The equals sign is the one introduced in the same way as the plus sign with a flash card once the children understood the meaning of equals.

Recording of addition –

All addition work is done with number cards whether individually or in groups. Once the class has plenty of practice in addition in this manner, the teacher can introduce the method of writing sums in exercise books. At the start both the objects and numbers are done as in the cards but later only the numbers are required.