1,2,3 magic

This strategy works for a lot of the older grades like 3rd and 4th that have difficult behaviors. On the left side of the paper is the child's schedule. When you move to the next column you will see this is where they earn their stars. (rewards) I usually do three stars before they earn treasure chest or free time. If you move to the next column you will see 1... If the child refuses to do their work or a task that you have asked them to do, then they get a 1. If you ask them again and they are still defiant, then that is 2. If they get to 3 they TAKE 5. Which is basically time out for five minutes.

TANTRUMS

All children that have Autism have their meltdowns or tantrums. A strategy that has worked for me is putting a mirror in front of their face so they can see what they look like when they are throwing a tantrum. It makes them realize how silly they look. Most the time they don't like it so it decrease the behavior. 

Using prompting and fading

Some of the children I work with always look for help from an adult which causes them to be less independent so a strategy I use is prompt and fade. Use prompts to guide your child to engage in a desired behavior or choose a correct answer. However, it is also important that you fade, or decrease your usage of promptings over some time. Fading your prompts will help your child engage in the desired behavior independently. It's natural to want to help your child, but don't prompt too much. Make sure you give your child chances to do things on their own.

Are you ready?!?

Some children with Autism cant always express to you when you they are ready to apologize, come back after a meltdown, and ect...So with these cards children don't have to say anything. You can put these cards out in front of the child and ask them if they are ready to join the group? (or whatever you would need to use them for) from my experience it has really helped communicate better with some of my kids.

Understanding Red Days and Green Days

Being able to understand right and wrong is really hard for children who have Autism. So going over the red day and the green day every morning reminds the child what he/she needs to do to have a good day. That if the child has a GREEN day he/she will earn treasure chest and everyone will have a happy green day. 

Rules and Rewards

This technique works great with children who might be impulsive or misbehave often. On this work system there are rules at the top with PECS (picture exchange communication system) that helps the child understand the rules. At the bottom there are rows of boxes. If the child is following the rules at the top then you give them a star in the box. If the child earns one row of stars which is 10 boxes then he/she gets a reward. They can earn up to 6 rewards within a day.

Timers and Choices

Working with children that have Autism I have always found that they would rather swing the entire recess than play on the playground with their friends. Children with Autism need that sensory of swinging but they aren't going to socialize if that's all they do during recess. So a technique I have found that works is using timers. I usually give my child a choice between two different times that work for me but I let him/her choose between the two. That makes the child feel like they are in control. I would tell him/her FIRST: Swing THEN: Friends. Then I ask them "would you like 4 minutes or 5 minutes". You would think they would always answer with 5 minutes, that's not always the case. This technique works every time with my children because they are prepared to leave after the timer is up. One great thing about the IPhone timer is you can let the child set the sound he/she wants to go off when it is up.