Pam's story

Identifying strategies for supporting communication learning for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

This story will be particularly useful for teachers with little experience in working with students who are non-verbal communicators—students who have little spoken language.

Background

Pam’s philosophy as teacher-researcher in this project was based on the  premise that it is her role to support the communication learning of the students in her class. She believes that each child has a unique means of communication, which the teacher needs to nurture.

‘…the role of the teacher is not to teach communication but to find it, listen to it, and build sharing and understanding between the person with autism and others…’ (Kluth, 2003, p.109).

‘Educators can support students by seeking to understand all of the ways in which students communicate and helping them to build on and enhance the strategies and approaches they already employ successfully.’ (Kluth, 2003, p.110)

• Context
• Communication learning
• The link between communication and behaviour
• Getting to know the students well
• The classroom learning environment
• The classroom resources
• Ongoing assessment
• Communicating about students
• References

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