What are some ways I can get to know my autistic students if they don't talk much?

Transcript

 What are some ways that I can get to know my autistic students if they don't talk much? I think there are two main things here. One group of students, they can communicate with words, but they don't do it much, so you'll want to think about what will help them feel at ease. Engaging with them around their special interests or their hyper-fixations is often a great place to start for building the trust that they might need to open up.

And many autistic people do better with AAC, augmentative and alternative communication, like writing or typing or picture cards than they do with the spoken word. But if a student doesn't use words or any kind of clear symbols, you might have to do detective work to figure out what is helpful for them.

Some observations, some trial and error, and maybe interviewing people who know them well. Pay attention to who they gravitate to because in addition to family members and professionals, you might get valuable information from someone you didn't immediately think of as an expert, like their classmates or like the school custodian.

Neurodivergent staff can be especially helpful, even if they don't know the kid personally, they might have experienced something similar or known people who did.

And to go back to the kids who can speak, I actually think that they're sometimes at a disadvantage where adults are less understanding because they assume that if you have a big vocabulary, then communication will come easily in all areas. And the reality is that understanding and talking about what you feel and need is a completely different skillset. So you often need to do your detective work with them as well.

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