Building lesson plans to help students with autism thrive

制定课程计划以帮助自闭症学生茁壮成长

Every student with autism is different, but as the number of diagnoses continues to grow and many are included in general education classrooms, teachers and school leaders can implement certain principles to ensure students with autism thrive.

每个自闭症学生都是不同的，但随着诊断数量的持续增长，许多人被纳入普通教育课堂，教师和学校领导可以实行某些原则来确保自闭症学生的茁壮成长。

Among the best practices schools can take are direct and multisensory instruction, role-playing and modeling behaviors, employing a variety of communication strategies, and being sensitive to overstimulating situations.

学校可以采取的最佳的做法是直接和多感官教学、角色扮演和模仿行为、采用各种沟通策略，以及对过度刺激的情况保持敏感。

Explicit instruction with step-by-step guidance in carrying out assignments, paired with multiple ways to digest those instructions — spanning visual, auditory and even kinesthetic cues — are the first concepts that come to mind for Delancy Allred, public policy manager at the Autism Society of America.

美国自闭症协会（Autism Society of America）公共政策经理德兰西·奥尔雷德（Delancy Allred）首先想到的理念是，在完成任务时，有明确一步一步的指导，再搭配上多种方式来消化这些指导——涵盖视觉、听觉甚至动觉线索。

Students with autism may also benefit from visual supports like schedules, charts and diagrams can be very helpful, such as “if-then” boards for younger children that lay out a scenario in the form of “if this is done, then this will be the result or reward” to provide incentives to finish an assignment or behave well, said Allred.

奥尔雷德说，患有自闭症的学生也可以从视觉支持中受益，比如时间表、图表和图解都非常有帮助，例如为年幼儿童提供“如果-那么”板，以“如果这样做，那么这将是结果或奖励”的形式列出一个场景，以激励他们完成任务或表现良好。

The portion of students with autism who qualify for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act increased by nearly 10% between 2022 and 2023, according to a The Advocacy Institute analysis of U.S. Department of Education Department data for students ages 5-21.

根据美国倡导研究所分析了教育部5-21岁学生的数据来看，在2022年至2023年间，符合《残疾人教育法》规定的服务资格的自闭症学生比例增加了近10%。

A 2025 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 1 in 31 8-year-olds were identified with autism in 2022. That’s up from 1 in 44 in 2018 and 1 in 150 in 2000. Autism is about 4 times more common in boys than girls, the CDC said.

美国疾病控制与预防中心2025年的一份报告中发现，在2022年，每31名8岁儿童中就有1人被诊断患有自闭症。这一比例高于2018年的1/44和2000年的1/150。美国疾病预防控制中心表示，自闭症在男孩中的发病率大约是女孩的4倍。

Monica Waltman, president of the South Dakota chapter of the Council of Administrators of Special Education and director of special services at Carrousel School in Box Elder, South Dakota, puts a visually supportive environment high on the list, noting that teachers often talk at students too much and forget that students learn visually, too.

南达科他州特殊教育管理委员会南达科他州分会主席兼南达科他州博克斯埃尔德卡鲁塞尔学校特殊服务主任莫妮卡·沃尔特曼（Monica Waltman）将视觉支持环境放在首位，她指出，老师经常对学生说得太多，却忘记了学生也是通过视觉学习的。

For example, when one teacher expressed frustration to her about a student who came into class, opened his computer and did not listen to directions, Waltman pointed out that the first line on the visual instructions at the front of the classroom read, “Get out your computer and log on.” She persuaded the teacher to change the directions to, “Sit down and listen to instructions.” And the student did so the very next day.

例如，当一位老师向她表达了对一名学生走进教室，打开电脑，不听指示的沮丧时，沃尔特曼指出，教室前面的视觉说明上的第一行写着：“拿出你的电脑并登录。”她说服老师把指示改成：“坐下来听指示。”第二天，这个学生就这样做了。

Allred said that role-modeling and practicing real-life scenarios, regardless of academic content, can be very helpful to build students’ social skills and teach them to read social cues. Given that approximately 40% of students with autism don’t communicate in the traditional manner, she adds that teachers need to establish systems ranging from high-tech devices that help students get across their needs and wants to low-tech approaches where students simply point to something.

奥尔雷德说，无论学术内容如何，角色塑造和现实生活场景练习对培养学生的社交技能和教会他们解读社交线索都非常有帮助。考虑到大约40%的自闭症学生不以传统方式交流，她补充说，教师需要建立各种系统，从帮助学生传达他们的需求和愿望的高科技设备到学生简单地指向某物的低技术方法。

The growth in tech devices sometimes causes educators to “pathologize students’ quirks,” Waltman said, adding that school is no longer the place to teach technology, because students are "digital natives." “The amount of time kids spend on technology does impede their ability to socially communicate,” especially for students with autism, given their tendency to fixate on preferences, Waltman said.

沃尔特曼说，科技设备的增长有时会导致教育工作者“将学生的怪癖病态化”，并补充说学校不再是教授技术的地方，因为学生是“数字原住民”。沃尔特曼说，“孩子们花在技术上的时间确实会阻碍他们的社交交流能力”，尤其是对于患有自闭症的学生来说，因为他们倾向于关注自己的喜好。

Teachers also need to take into account students’ sensory needs, Allred said. “Bright lights can be challenging,” she said. “Offer a dimming light, or don’t have overhead lights on. Maybe lamps can be more supportive."

奥尔雷德说，教师还需要考虑学生的感官需求。“明亮的灯光可能具有挑战性，”她说。“提供调光灯，或者不要开顶灯。也许灯能提供更多的支持。”

She also recommends educators try to limit background noises or give space in a classroom that can be quieter and offer noise-canceling headphones.

她还建议教育工作者尽量限制背景噪音，或者在教室里留出更安静的空间，并提供降噪耳机。

Family collaboration is another key element of working with children on the autism spectrum, Waltman said. That includes open communication to determine how the school day is impacting a student at home to make sure a student isn’t barely keeping composure during the day and then “losing it” at home.

沃尔特曼说，家庭合作是与治疗自闭症儿童的另一个关键因素。这包括公开沟通，以确定学校的一天如何影响学生在家，以确保学生不会在白天勉强保持冷静，然后在家里“失去冷静”。

And teachers and school leaders shouldn’t stereotype autism as a “boy thing” and should be mindful that girls on the spectrum are more likely to “mask” their struggles, she said.

她说，教师和学校领导不应该将自闭症定型为“男孩的事情”，而也应该注意患有自闭症的女孩更有可能“掩盖”自己的挣扎。

Working with families is critically important, agrees Jamai Leigh, a special education teacher at REACH Academy, a special education-focused school in West Harrison, New York.

纽约西哈里森一所专注于特殊教育的学校REACH Academy的特殊教育教师Jamai Leigh也认同，与家庭合作至关重要。

“You have to build with parents,” she said. “A lot of parents are either in denial that their student has a disability, or they may not know how to ask the right questions to get those resources.”

“你必须和父母一起建设关系，”她说。“许多家长要么否认他们的学生有残疾，要么他们可能不知道如何提出正确的问题来获得这些资源。”

Schools need to have a range of learning settings and options for students with autism, including self-contained classrooms and paraprofessionals who can provide 1-to-1 supports, while still ensuring students with autism “feel like they are a part of the school community,” Leigh said. “And challenge them. Don’t think that because they don’t talk or may have some other disability, they’re not capable.”

利说，学校需要为自闭症学生提供一系列学习环境和选择，包括独立的教室和可以提供一对一支持的辅助专业人员，同时仍然确保自闭症学生“感觉自己是学校社区的一部分”。“然后挑战他们。不要认为因为他们不会说话或可能有其他残疾，他们就没有能力。”

Students with autism require patience, compassion and genuineness, she said. “Leave everything at the door because they need all of you.”

她说，患有自闭症的学生需要耐心、同情心和真诚。“把所有东西都放在门口，因为他们需要你们所有人。”