Counseling Students with Autism

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Over the past four years as a classroom teacher I have referred many students to the school counselor.  During that same time period I have interacted with and taught several children with autism.  With Autism on the rise counselors must learn to address the specific needs of children with autism while helping them work through any issues they might have.  

Before a counselor can begin to help a child with autism they must first understand what autism is and how it might affect children academically and socially.  According to Winner (2010):
They seem to start out well then fairly quickly fall behind as they progress

through the primary grades. As I have watched this pattern of academic

development I have seen that it coincides with the children’s pattern of social

development, a pattern with increasing deficit as the child ages. It has become

apparent that the children’s academic development is tied to their social

development and I have found that by focusing on the development of social

thinking these children can be helped to achieve far more than with a focus on

academics alone.

To help students with autism close this achievement gap, both socially and academically, Winner (2010) came up with an ILAUGH model which gives a quick description of what children with autism generally need work on.  I stands for initiation, teaching children to ask for help in any given situation.  L for listening with eyes and brain, children with autism normally miss out on social cues this will help them to better understand what others are and are not saying.  A for abstract and inferential language and communication, children with autism tend to take things very literal and have difficulty understanding the abstract.  U for understanding perspective, understanding what others are feeling and how to interpret it.  G for Gestalt Process, getting the big picture, as a counselor helping a child with autism put all the little pieces together and see the big picture will be a difficult task but once completed that child should be more successful.  And H for humor and human relatedness, they lack the ability to see the humor in small mistakes which may lead to a melt down.
According to “Social Stories Therapy for Children with Autism” social stories are used to help children with autism develop social skills.  They are written by an adult from the childs point of view.  The topic varies depending on the social skill a particular child needs to develop.  By using simple sentences based on a particular skill the student is lacking the student is then able to prerehearse social situations that they previously had difficulty with.  The counselor reads the story with the student a few times and then allows for role play.  This helps to calm the student once the actually situation occurs.  “Social stories were developed to help improve social interactions in children with autism by giving simple and clear descriptions of social cues and appropriate behaviors” (Social Stories Therapy for Children with Autism, 2009).  This past school year I used social stories with one of my students with autism.  The stories were written from the point of view of his favorite cartoon character, SpongeBob.  My student really enjoyed the social stories and they proved to be successful within the classroom setting.

Aspergers counseling

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With autism on the rise counseling students with autism will continue to grow as well.  We cannot forget about the parents who are struggling to deal with their childs’ needs and development.  According to Smith, Segal & Hutman (2010) parents have options too.  They can join Autism support groups, seek respite care, and may need counseling of their own.  As a school counselor part of my job will involve helping parents of children with Autism locate and receive these services to better help their child.  As a school counselor I know that I will be called upon to help students with Autism.  It is my job to know what Autism is, the skills they need to work on, and how best to help them.  Social stories are one of the many ways that students with Autism can learn the social and academic skills that they need to be successful in life.


Check out this video about Social Stories



For even more information on Social Stories click here:

http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/social-stories

References

Smith, M., Segal, J. & Hutman, T. (2010). Helping children with Autism: Autism treatment strategies and parenting tips. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_help.htm

Social stories: Therapy for children with Autism. (2009). Retrieved from http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/social-stories

Winner, M. (2010).  Autism and Aspergers Syndrome: Social thinking and its impact on academics.  Retrieved from http://www.scottcounseling.com/wordpress/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-social-thinking-and-its-impact-on-academics/2009/02/12/http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/social-stories