Regional Autism Advisory Council of

Southwest Ohio (RAAC-SWO)

RAAC Training Committee 2011

The Basics of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Training Series

Training Series ModulesModule One: Autism Defined, Autism

Prevalence and Primary Characteristics

Module Two: Physical Characteristics of Autism

Module Three: Cognition and Learning in Autism

Module Four: Getting the Student Ready to Learn

Module Five: Structuring the Classroom Environment

Module Six: Using Reinforcement in the Classroom

Training Series Modules

Module Seven: Autism and Sensory Differences

Module Eight: Sensory in the Classroom

Module Nine: Communication and Autism

Module Ten: Communication in the Classroom

Module Eleven: Behavior Challenges and Autism

Module Twelve: Understanding Behavior in Students with Autism

Training Series ModulesModule Thirteen: Social Skills in the School

Environment

Module Fourteen: Functional Behavior Assessment

Module Fifteen: Working Together as a Team

Module Sixteen: Autism and Leisure Skills to Teach

Module Seventeen: Special Issues of Adolescence

Module Eighteen: Safety and Autism

Module Nineteen: Special Issues: High School, Transition, and Job Readiness

Training Series ModulesModule Twenty: Asperger Syndrome:

Managing and Organizing the Environment

Module Twenty-One: Asperger Syndrome: Addressing Social Skills

Social Skills and Asperger Syndrome

Social skills deficits is the one characteristic that we will see in all students that have a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome.

This is an area that has to be addressed at every level and every age.

Social skills must be specifically taught, these students are just not going to get it through observations and repeated experiences.

Big Idea

When talking about social skills and students with Asperger Syndrome, it is more about the WHAT to teach

then the how to teach.

The Hidden Curriculumthe “WHAT” to teach

The Hidden Curriculum was developed by Brenda Smith Myles (2004).

The Hidden Curriculum is a set of rules or guidelines that are often not directly taught but are assumed to be known.

The Hidden Curriculum contains items that have an effect on social interactions, school performance, and safety.

There are things that most students “just pick up” or learn through observation.

The Hidden CurriculumThe Hidden Curriculum differs across gender.

Girls and boys interact with each other in vary different manners.

The Hidden Curriculum differs across age.The Hidden Curriculum for a 9-year-old is different

from that for a 16-year-old or a 25-year old.

The Hidden Curriculum differs depending on who you are with. Students use different language based on whether

they are with their peers or with the adults in their lives.

Big Idea

Never assume that a student knows even the most basic social

skills. These must be taught, sometimes over and over again

and in multiple locations.