Benn asked to do training on working with ASD kids. Input?

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Two of my four kids are high-functioning autistics. We go to a huge church and on Sunday mornings volunteers teach Sunday school. I recently contacted the head of children's ministries to see if I might be allowed to do some kind of a workshop about working with ASD kids for the Sunday morning volunteers since I've noticed that my own children's needs aren't being met like they could and I know we have a somewhat large population of ASD kids in our congregation.

I know that I want to share some basic strategies for dealing with sensory and social needs, but more than anything I would like to share some ideas from the autistic perspective. If anyone here can remember something specific someone has done that was very helpful (or maybe very UNhelpful?) to you in a large group learning situation (school or otherwise) and would be willing for me to use a direct quote, I would be grateful to have some to use!

Thanks!

I dont know that I have any advice off the top of my head, but I wanted to tell you that I do the same thing (not at a church) and it has proven to be very beneficial and I have gotten so much postive feedback from parents. I think its a really good idea seeing as how most the people working with ASD children are NT and cannot relate to us any better then we can relate to them. If I think of anything specific that I do/use/say I will tell you. Good luck!

I actually quit attending a church servies becasue the other teens and even little kids years younger than me this one litttle boy was so well behaved when everyone was looking but when no one wasn't he would pull my hair, take things from me and play keep away, make fun of my special intrests and he was at least ten years younger than me. Another boy, would harass me about my special intrests and get the others to do the same. I told the pastor what was going on and hinted to him to use his authority as a role model to everyone to nip it in the bud. He said I needed to ignore it and that is was no excuse to stop coming to church. I did eventualy anyway because I felt so unwelcome there. Becasue of my expirences, I no longer attend church services of anykind and am extremly warry of people who call themselves "Christians". So basicly what I'm trying to say is if you want to educate ASD kids about God, don't teach them to be distrustful of Christians like what was done to me. Do not allow any sort of bullying or teasing. If someone reports it, don't dismiss it. Sometimes the bully can be YEARS younger but are downright sneaky about picking on others. One way to describe ASD is like having a perpetual "kick me" sign. Some kids (and even some adults) just can't resist the urge.

Well, if I were to give some brief tips.

1. If you see a kid rocking back and forth in the corner alone, then leave him alone. Don't go and try to talk to him. Don't go and try to find out what is wrong. Don't try to console him, and for goodness sakes don't hug him! If he is in the corner trying to avoid people then going over there and interacting with him isn't helping.

2. Just remember, from their perspective, your the weird ones. O so very weird... However strange they seem to you, you seem more strange to them. And keep in mind that from the adult's perspective, he is just the one crazy kid. From the kid's perspective, he is surrounded by a world of crazy people.

ImNotOk: Thanks for the encouragement. I think this will be very helpful in our church, which is a pretty progressive and accepting place.

PunkyKat: I'm sorry about what happened at your church. I hear story after story of that kind of stuff and sadly it happens in a lot of churches. One thing I love about the teachings and actions of Jesus is that he was all about reaching out to people who were treated differently because they were different. It's just that, unfortunately, too much of Christianity has become about man-made tradition rather than actually following the teachings of the person after whom the entire religion was named after. So sad, isn't it? I've often thought about how people like to think they are so advanced but really they are often about as base as chickens: picking out the one who is different and pecking away.

Tracker: Very well said...one of the things I wanted to talk about was NOT to "comfort" an autistic kid by picking him/her up, hugging, etc. I wish there was some way that I could create an overwhelming sensory experience for them so they could understand what it was like...I've actually been thinking about doing just that somehow but am not sure what I could stage.

Compare it to being thrown into cold water when you're not expecting it. That's an overwhelming sensation many people have experienced.

You may consider bean-bag chairs in the classroom instead of regular chairs.

Talk to people about how to handle meltdowns.

Every ASD child is different, so it might make sense for parents to fill out a quick form about exactly which things are most likely to cause trouble for their child, and which things make it easiest for them to cope. Some of the things that are really important for some people can be really difficult to predict; for example, how would you know a child had a really strong aversion to bumpy surfaces unless you asked?

Another thing they need to know is to speak precisely and NOT abruptly change what is happening. AS kids need time to make transitions, and get frustrated/confused if told the class is about to do A, and then the teacher remembers they actually need to do B.