Autism in the Classroom

Listening to Mrs. Cahoon speak about her son and the other children who have autism, I realized how little I actually knew about autism, especially in relation to the educational field. I then decided to search the internet for different tips, and came across a blog written by a principal entitled 12 Tips for Setting Up an Autism Classroom.

While some of these may be more applicable for an elementary school where the teacher has control of her classroom throughout the entire day, a few of these tips really stuck out for me. One that particularly caught my interest was the concept of rewards before consequences. In this section, Principal Kendrick addresses the idea of positive reinforcement, where students receive a prize for doing well on a task. However, he warns educators that if the child does not perform at a high enough level to earn the reward, it is in their best interest to not receive anything rather than negative feedback. After reading Kendrick's analysis of the situation, I've been considering a type of rewards system I can use within my own classroom. What merits will I be providing my students with autism when they are working towards their full potential? I've come to the conclusion that the reward will have to be determined on an individual basis with consideration given to what works best for each individual. However, I feel it is important for all future educators to be thinking about these sorts of situations ahead of time, and am grateful to Mrs. Cahoon for bringing this topic to our attention today.