Top Ten Tips for Home Schooling Children with Autism

Written and supplied by LVS Hassocks, a specialist school for children with autism in Sayers Common, West Sussex

LVS Hassocks is open and providing a full curriculum for all students, but for parents of autistic children who are learning from home, headteacher Jen Weeks offers her top ten tips for productive study:

1. Consistency is key

2. Reduce anxiety and support your child’s online learning with visual timetables so they can see how their whole day is mapped out

3. Build in rewards and other motivation, such as a favourite activity, to help boost their engagement

4. Use cards to show what the current activity is and what is coming up next

5. Other visual cues like timers may be useful to show how long is left on the current activity

6. Praise what gets done and don’t worry about what has not been achieved

7. Communicate with the school if you have any questions or worries about what to do

8. Ensure your child has opportunities to get up and jump about, play with fiddle toys, listen to some music or whatever they enjoy that helps them calm, as the more anxious they are, the less able they are to focus on the lesson/task they should be doing. You can always set a timer for these movement breaks so that your child knows when they will be expected to return to their lesson/task

9. Try to do a mix of practical, workbook and online tasks

10. Where possible try and incorporate learning into everyday activities within the home to promote independent skills. Blurring the lines between school and home can be challenging for SEN children, but there are ways to incorporate learning into your day to ensure that your child is developing essential skills and supplement online classes, even when they’re not at school eg:-

• Maths – ask your child to work to a budget and help complete an online shopping order

• Food Technology – get your child involved in preparing lunch or dinner as a way of not only understanding how to make food but developing independent life skills

• English - Read a book together as a family or write a letter to a loved one / neighbour

• PE - Go for a walk or try geocaching. Set a target number of steps to complete and use an app to track activity.  Look online for virtual classes you can try at home like Zumba 

• Science - Go on a virtual tour of a museum via YouTube or try out the Natural History Museum Lego Life Forms Activity  https://www.nhm.ac.uk/schools/teaching-resources/lego-life-forms-activity-support-for-schoolkids.html

• Design and Technology - Birds will soon be looking for nests, so give them a helping hand by building a bird box https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-kids/games-and-activities/activities/make-a-nestbox/ 

Headteacher, Jen Weeks, explains: “There is a requirement to provide face-to-face education for children with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), which many of our students have. But for children with autism who are online learning due to illness, shielding or because they are extremely vulnerable, it's important to maintain a routine and create the right environment to study at home.

“We believe that school is the best place for our students’ wellbeing and education and I’m immensely proud of all the staff and teachers who have made it possible for us to continue to offer face-to-face learning.  Mass testing has been set up to ensure that we can offer a safe educational environment for everyone attending classroom-based lessons.  We continue to carry out regular risk assessments and we are also offering online learning for those who are unable to come to school.”