Help Teaching my Autistic Student

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Does anyone have any tips for me in this arena?

I teach English to Japanese kids and one of my boys is autistic. The class is total English immersion so it can be difficult to communicate.

I know this boy really likes me and he has actually become a lot more social this past year- making lots of eye contact and saying goodbye- but only to me. These things are good, I guess, but he also likes to ask me lots of questions during class and this really disrupts the class. What he's asking me are personal questions like "What's your bloodtype?" "Do you have a TV?" "What brand TV?" "What's your favorite color?" These questions are in English so I take them cuz I guess I feel it's helpful for his communication skills. But they definitely don't fit in the lesson.

Sometimes he asks me stuff in Japanese too and I often don't understand what he's saying cuz it's random. So some of the other kids try to translate. Again, this is an interruption. If I don't understand his line of questioning or I tell him we have to get back to the lesson he gets really upset and starts stimming. Some of that stimming involves him touching himself.

I don't know what to do to discipline him cuz I don't wanna draw any more attention to him being different from the other kids. And I don't wanna hurt him either.

The staff know about him and his parents sometimes watch outside so they can see what he is doing too. I guess they talk to him at home and try to teach him how to behave in the classroom, but maybe he just can't.

Sorry for the long post. If anyone has any help they can offer that'd be great!

just tell him that he can ask these questions and other random stuff after class or make a new time in your class schedule that has time for him to ask these questions

that's all I can really suggest although i have aspergers i don't know if this will work good or not :/

maybe he's trying to let you know without just telling you he wants to know you and be friends but is to shy to say

ask him why and if he asks/answers stuff in japanese tell him to type it in google translate so you understand

hope i'm helping :/

well get a translate thingy and tell him in english to translate stuff you don't understand thus your not breaking any rules
loopholes are fun

ya but it would interrupt less time or give him a translate book or something in class so he can raise his hand and say what he wants to in english

and maybe the reason he keeps repeating the same questions is that he doesn't know any other in english

who knows maybe you should tell him about this site then ask him what his username is and see if he ever posts about what he does in your class

sorry it took a while to reply i had to do a couple of stuff
i'm in school at the moment since i have a laptop for school work i have wrong planet up to look at when i'm done but right now i'm a TA so I have nothing to do

If he's asking questions to which he already knows the answers, there's probably a reason. Perhaps he's uninterested in the subject you're trying to teach, and he's trying to steer the conversation towards something he finds more interesting? For example, he might ask if you have a television because he wants to tell you about his favorite cartoon. Aspies of all ages have a hard time concentrating on stuff outside our range of interests. Which is most stuff....lol.

Lots of autistic kids ask questions where they already know the answers.

Sometimes it's for reassurance that the answers are still true one moment to the next.

Sometimes it's because it's an interaction form that they understand and are familiar with.

Sometimes it's for the sheer predictability factor.

Sometimes it's because they know no other way to do things.

Can be a lot of things.

I know what a stigma autism can be in Japan - I feel bad for the boy.

Let him know he can ask his questions after class.

Encourage him to write his questions for you in English - let him know he can use a translation program at home to do this if need be but not in class.

Do you know his special interests (other than getting to know you?)? Is there a way to tailor some aspect of your class around his topic - it may focus him better.

Music is the great communicator - if he's one of the musically inclined, using song lyrics may be a fun diversion for the whole class.

I do not understand the Japanese fascination with blood types... I've noticed that for over a decade in anime. All the fanservice character bios, etc, include blood types. Could it be that what you perceive to be 'personal' questions are not considered quite so personal in Japan? The questions he asked seem to be to be typical teenage questions kids might ask each other. If he starts asking 'are you married?', 'do you have kids?' I might be a bit more concerned. Honestly, the questions you used as an example seem like the kind he may have learned in social education training. I don't know how they manage autism in Japan but the questions almost sound like a script - how to 'get to know' someone.

Is there any way you can ask for a consultation with his special ed team? Again, I have no idea how the system works over there, but, as a teacher, I would hope they could offer you some insight.

Asking questions you already know the answer to--Don't know how common it is, but my sister used to do it all the time when she was little. I think maybe she liked the scriptedness of it; she liked that she could say one thing and always get the same response. She used to laugh whenever she got the same response, probably because she felt smart for being able to predict it. Conversations are tricky enough to learn when you're that age--it's nice when you know exactly what the other person's going to say for a change.

Have you tried taking the kid aside and explaining the concept of "on topic/off topic"? Maybe he's not yet had somebody explain that to him.

But you can totally use this. He likes asking questions and getting answers. Work it into the lesson; let him do that kind of thing. Like you said, it's good English practice. Maybe you could give the class some scripts to practice with each other, and start out taking him as your partner as a demonstration, then partner him with another kid after he knows what's going on. If scripts are easier for him, then maybe that could get him started with using them with the other kids...

Anyway, good luck. He's still young; he's got a lot to learn; but it sounds like he's doing OK.

I ask a lot of questions.

Thank you everyone for the responses.

Unfortunately the setting in which I have to teach doesn't really allow for me to spend extra time with the students outside of my class. I really don't think I can just chat with this particular kid at any other time.

I'm sure he finds the lessons uninteresting at times. Most of the kids do! But we still have to go through them. No, I don't know what my student's special interests are. I was told he enjoys learning kanji and English words because he can read them very quickly. I don't think he comprehends what he is reading though.