Playground
‘For students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the playground can be a confusing and intimidating place, without the structure and routine of the classroom, students may feel stressed and anxious’ (Autism Victoria, 2011).
During a lunchtime there is so much happening all the time, there are students going to the toilet, students eating, students playing and during lunchtime it is the most likely time in the school day that bullying and fighting among students is likely to happen (Department of Education and Training, 2006), this creates an unstructured and a high anxiety and stress area for students with ASD. In regards to Mike and lunchtime at current Mike spends his lunchtimes in a sensory room with a few other students as Mike initially joined his fellow peers at lunchtime for playtime but the playground was overwhelming and cause Mike anxiety and stress which led to meltdowns and returning to the classroom with a high state of anxiety, studies show that 70% of students experience bullying in the playground and their low self-esteem is effected (Larkey, 2015). This issue is affecting Mike social skills and the ability to socialise with other students at lunchtimes and in the playground.
During a lunchtime there is so much happening all the time, there are students going to the toilet, students eating, students playing and during lunchtime it is the most likely time in the school day that bullying and fighting among students is likely to happen (Department of Education and Training, 2006), this creates an unstructured and a high anxiety and stress area for students with ASD. In regards to Mike and lunchtime at current Mike spends his lunchtimes in a sensory room with a few other students as Mike initially joined his fellow peers at lunchtime for playtime but the playground was overwhelming and cause Mike anxiety and stress which led to meltdowns and returning to the classroom with a high state of anxiety, studies show that 70% of students experience bullying in the playground and their low self-esteem is effected (Larkey, 2015). This issue is affecting Mike social skills and the ability to socialise with other students at lunchtimes and in the playground.
Strategy and Artefact
The issue current is Mike is unable to play in the playground with his class members as the playground is an overwhelming place. The intervention that could be placed on playtime is having a supervised introduction into the morning tea, initially having Mike join the students for the first half of morning tea for eating and then before the students go to play then Mike could then go to the sensory room for playtime. It would be slowly introducing him to the playground and the playground environment. The use of visual aids before lunchtime to introduce the idea and social stories before he joins the class would be crucial especially in consistency with the visual aids used throughout the day. The use of a rewards system would be adequate throughout the classroom and playground. Using a board of 5 making it achievable that Mike knows when he will get a prize and how many more he needs to get to work towards the prize. If the eating time goes well at lunchtime then at the end of lunchtime then Mike could get a counter to place on his rewards board. Mike likes counters and it would be ideal to include it as a reward as it is something that is of interest to him.
Rewards chart with Mike choosing his rewards, having small picture cards to put in the rewards section.
Choosing rewards that are Mike’s interests and use photos of the actual objects as opposed to photos from elsewhere.