Top Tips for Home Schooling Children with Autism
15 January 2021 – LVS Oxford, a specialist school for children with autism, is open and providing a full curriculum for all students, but for parents of autistic children who are learning from home, it offers some top tips for productive home study:
- Consistency is key
- Reduce anxiety and support your child’s online learning with visual timetables so they can see how their whole day is mapped out
- Build-in rewards and other motivation, such as a favourite activity, to help boost their engagement
- Other visual cues like timers may be useful to show how long is left on the current activity
- Praise what gets done and don’t worry about what has not been achieved
- Communicate with the school if you have any questions or worries about what to do
- Ensure your child has opportunities to get up and jump about, play with fiddle toys, listen to some music or whatever they enjoy that helps them calm, as the more anxious they are, the less able they are to focus on the lesson/task they should be doing. You can always set a timer for these movement breaks so that your child knows when they will be expected to return to their lesson/task
- Try to do a mix of practical, workbook and online tasks
- Where possible try and incorporate learning into everyday activities within the home to promote independent skills. Blurring the lines between school and home can be challenging for SEN children, but there are ways to incorporate learning into your day to ensure that your child is developing essential skills and supplement online classes, even when they’re not at school eg:
- Maths – ask your child to work to a budget and help complete an online shopping order
- Food Technology – get your child involved in preparing lunch or dinner as a way of not only understanding how to make food but developing independent life skills
- English – Read a book together as a family or write a letter to a loved one / neighbour
- PE – Go for a walk or try geocaching. Set a target number of steps to complete and use an app to track activity. Look online for virtual classes you can try at home like Zumba
- Science – Go on a virtual tour of a museum via YouTube or try out the Natural History Museum Lego Life Forms Activity https://www.nhm.ac.uk/schools/teaching-resources/lego-life-forms-activity-support-for-schoolkids.html
- Design and Technology – Birds will soon be looking for nests, so give them a helping hand by building a bird box https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-kids/games-and-activities/activities/make-a-nestbox/
Sarah Sherwood, Director of SEN for LVS Oxford and LVS Hassocks, explains; “Many children with autism are learning online at the moment, either because their school is closed or due to illness, shielding or because they are extremely vulnerable. Whatever the reason it’s important to maintain a routine and create the right environment to study at home. We hope our top tips will make life easier for parents, guardians and students alike.”