Supporting students with autism spectrum disorder

Evidence-based strategies to help students with autism spectrum disorder

Telephone02 6947 2164

Emailsnowyvalleys-s.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Literacy

Literacy is a key learning area for students at each stage of learning. The following visuals can be useful in having students understand what behaviours are appropriate for reading time, presenting in class and so on.

News

News telling and plan

Talking about the news does not necessarily mean current events! News can refer to events in the student's life, either at home or at school. In 'Telling News' and 'News Plan', it gives students clear instructions on how to talk about news and what details to provide, such as who, what, where, why and when.

Download and view Telling news (PPTX 62KB).

Download and view News plan (PPTX  218KB).

Stories

Storytime

Storytime depicts the various behaviours a student should enact when they have reading time at school. These behaviours include different sensory cues, such as how to sit, when to listen, when to speak and what to be looking at during story time.

Download and view Storytime (DOCX 82KB)

Download and view Storytime 2 (DOCX 57KB).

Writing 

Sentences

In these worksheets, students can learn how to write different parts of a sentence through visual representations. These worksheets go over the who, what, where, why and when of sentence writing.

Download and view Sentence writing (PPTX 533KB).

Download and view Writing a sentence (PPTX 383KB).

Writing a poem

In this worksheet, students use a visual outline to assist them in writing a poem. It engages sensory stimuli to help paint the picture of what the student is looking to write about.

Download and view Writing a poem (PPTX 119KB).

Writing scaffolds

Writing scaffolds, or prompts, guide students in creating a narrative. These prompts and associated visuals assist students in creative writing. 

Download and view Writing scaffolds (PPTX 2256 KB).

Visuals 

Alphabet

This is a simple alphabet visual. It shows each letter of the alphabet, in lower and upper case, with a drawing of something starting with that letter.

Download and view Alphabet visual (PPTX 152KB).

Download and view Alphabet visual (DOC 96KB).

Download and view A-Z visuals (DOCX 209KB).

Colours

In this simple visual, students learn different colours as well as objects that are that colour, for example the sky being blue and grass being green.

Download and view Colours visual (PPTX 103 KB).

Days of the week

'Days of the week' includes visuals to help students learn the names of the week and the order of the days. It also shows different names of types of weather and what they look like.

Download and view Days of the week (DOC 39KB).

Download and view Calendar days (DOCX 23KB).

Directions

'Directions' shows students the various ways in which objects can move and the words to describe each motion. It also asks students to idenify their motions with the words that describe them.

Download and view Directions (DOC 40KB).

Download and view Directions (DOCX 19KB).

Go together

'Go together' is a visual exercise that helps students see associations between different objects. On the sheet, students must read each word and point out what other object goes with it, such as 'water' and 'boat'.

Go together (DOC 468KB).

Opposites

In this visual, students can compare objects that are different and the words used to describe that difference. For example, short and long, open and shut, and wet and dry.

Download and view Opposites visual (PPTX 202KB).