Teaching plan for someone with autism

Sample Answer

The following structure outlines the key components and evidence-based strategies used to create an effective teaching plan for an autistic person.

1. 🎯 Foundational Assessment and Goal Setting

Every successful plan begins with a thorough understanding of the individual.

Individualized Education Program (IEP) / Person-Centered Plan: This is the legal or philosophical foundation. It identifies specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.

Focus Areas: Goals often fall into categories like:

Communication: Expressive and receptive language, use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).

Social Skills: Turn-taking, initiating/maintaining conversation, understanding social cues, perspective-taking.

Emotional/Self-Regulation: Identifying emotions, using coping strategies (e.g., deep breathing, requesting a break), managing sensory input.

Academics/Vocational: Reading comprehension, executive functioning, job skills.

Independent Living: Hygiene, cooking, money management, community navigation.

Identify Strengths and Interests: Leverage the person's passions (e.g., trains, coding, music) to increase motivation and engagement in learning tasks.

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA): When challenging behaviors interfere with learning, an FBA is used to determine the function of the behavior (what the person is trying to communicate or gain), which then informs a positive behavior support plan.

2. 🧩 Core Principles of Structured Teaching (TEACCH Model)

Many effective plans for autistic individuals utilize the principles of Structured Teaching (developed by the TEACCH Program), which plays to the strengths of visual processing and a need for predictability.