problem solving activities autism

20 Activities for Kids with Autism: Play, Learn, Grow!

Play is a fundamental part of your child’s growth. Through play, your child learns to communicate, share ideas, express feelings, and understand others — not just with words, but through their actions and expressions. It also allows children to develop an interest in future careers or hobbies, but the best part? You can do it together.

We’ve created a list of 20 fun activities for kids with autism , all of which are meant to support your child’s development. 

Let’s play!

Great Activities for Autistic Kids & Families to Enjoy at Home

From quiet, introspective tasks to lively physical games, there’s something here to light up every child’s day. Our selection of free autism activities guarantees your child finds joy, comfort, and challenge in their everyday play.

1. Balancing Beam

Set up a balancing beam using planks of wood or simply tape on your floor. Guiding your child across this beam improves their balance and coordination, and turns a fun challenge into a developmental win. It’s a fantastic way to introduce a bit of playful physical activity into your day.

2. Shadow Puppet Theater

Create cardstock shadow puppets to bring stories to life in your own shadow puppet theater. This activity combines art and storytelling to spark your child’s imagination. It turns storytime into an interactive adventure, perfect for winding down during indoor evenings.

3. Water Play Stations

Set up a water play station filled with various containers, funnels, and toys for those warm, sunny days. This setup is ideal for refreshing summer activities for children with autism , as it encourages endless sensory exploration and provides a sense of calm amidst splashes and laughter.

4. Music Jam Session

Grab some household items and start a music jam session. Discovering sounds, rhythms and dancing together not only fills the room with laughter but also enriches your child’s sensory experiences. Kids living with any type of autism can benefit from music, even those who are nonverbal. It’s a fun way to express their musical creativity, whether solo or with a family band.

5. Garden Together

Simple gardening, such as planting seeds or caring for a small plant, provides a relaxing way to reconnect with nature. This activity also teaches your child about life cycles and responsibility.

6. Create a Sensory Box

Fill a box with various household items with different textures, such as fabric scraps, rice, or foam pieces. This activity allows your child to explore tactile sensations in the comfort and safety of home. 

Sensory activities for kids with low functioning autism are especially beneficial because they provide them with a gentle yet engaging way to interact with their surroundings.

7. Homemade Puzzles

Turn family photos or beloved illustrations from your child’s favorite books into puzzles. Laminate these images, then cut them into pieces. Working on these personalized puzzles together not only sharpens problem-solving skills but also strengthens your child’s connection to familiar images and cherished memories.

Just as visual cues in puzzles help in understanding, they can also make explaining autism to kids clearer by creating a connection to familiar and positive images.

8. DIY Light Box 

Make a DIY light box to give transparent and translucent objects a soft, captivating glow. This creative project is an ideal component of indoor activities for an autistic child , as it improves visual focus and discrimination while also turning simple objects into a source of wonder.

9. Themed Treasure Hunts

Set off on an adventure right at home with themed treasure hunts, whether inside or outside. These hunts can infuse your day with excitement and a bit of mystery. Use everyday items as hidden gems and visual cues for guidance, and make sure the themes are appropriate for your child’s interests.

10. Balloon Tennis

Play a lively game of balloon tennis with simple paddles. This game promotes active play, coordination, and healthy turn-taking. It’s a flexible and inclusive group activity that works well for kids with autism.

11. Build with Recyclables

Encourage your child to see the potential in everyday items by crafting with recyclables, such as tubes, cardboard boxes, and containers. This is one of the best activities for kids with autism who enjoy hands-on projects because cardboard creations can range from simple structures to massive forts — a practical and fun lesson in sustainability.

12. Bubble Wrap Path

Transform your floor into a sensory adventure with a path of bubble wrap. Every step and hop results in satisfying pops, which makes this a hit for children who love tactile and auditory feedback. It’s an easy way to turn movement into a game of discovery.

13. Nature Collage Making

On your next walk, collect natural treasures like twigs, leaves, and flowers for a collage. This peaceful activity encourages your child to connect with the natural world and allows for artistic expression. 

Making collages can be a serene solo task during a quiet afternoon or a shared group activity, ideal for fostering teamwork and appreciation for nature’s beauty.

14. Interactive Reading Nooks

Set up a special corner filled with picture books and objects that bring stories to life through touch and sight. This cozy spot can be a great addition to existing daily activities for your autistic child because it becomes a sanctuary for stories, with each book read together taking them on a sensory-rich journey.

15. Story Cubes

Transform cardboard cubes into engines of imagination by decorating each side with images of characters, scenes, and actions. Tossing these cubes to make up new stories strengthens creativity, language skills, and family bonds. It’s an interactive way to create stories of adventure and mystery together.

16. Sensory Walks

Take your child on sensory walks in the garden, the park, or through different rooms at home, paying attention to the various textures, colors, and smells that surround you. This activity is a practical application of sensory play activities that deepen their connection to the environment and encourage your child to explore and interact with their surroundings in a thoughtful manner.

17. Miniature Worlds

Invite your child to create detailed miniature worlds within shoeboxes or small garden spaces. This activity, whether set in a fairy tale land or a natural setting, fosters storytelling and imagination while developing fine motor skills. It is beneficial for both individual and group activities for children with autism , as it allows for shared stories and creations.

18. Cook Together

Share the joy of cooking by involving your child in preparing simple meals, like no-bake treats or creative sandwiches. This shared activity teaches valuable life skills while also providing a sensory playground of textures and flavors. When they successfully prepare something tasty, it can boost their confidence and provide them with a sense of accomplishment.

19. DIY Obstacle Courses

Boost your child’s love for movement by creating obstacle courses that match their abilities and spark their curiosity. Guide them to crawl under ropes, leap over cushions, and zigzag around cones. This fun challenge promotes physical growth and encourages problem-solving.

20. Role-Play Scenarios

Role-play scenarios with costumes or puppets can help your child learn about different social situations and emotions. In order to practice and understand complex social dynamics and emotional expressions in a relatable manner, this type of creative play is an essential component of social skills activities for autism .

Selecting the Right Activities for Your Child

Autistic children exhibit different learning styles , so it’s important to adapt play to each child’s specific needs and preferences. Here are some factors to consider when selecting activities that will appeal to your child:

• Start with what inspires them . Whether it’s dinosaurs, space, or music, adapting activities to kids’ interests increases their engagement and joy.
• Incorporate visual aids . Visual cues can simplify understanding and execution of tasks, especially if your kid is a visual learner.
• Choose activities that play to their strengths . If they excel at puzzles, consider complex building sets or coloring books. Also, pay attention to their sensory preferences. 
• Keep instructions simple and direct . Break down tasks into manageable steps to avoid overwhelm and encourage independence.

There you have it — the best (and simplest!) activities you can do at home to help your child better understand their surroundings and strengthen your bond. If certain activities don’t resonate as hoped, remember, Abacus Therapies is here to offer additional support .   

Have fun exploring these playful moments together!

What activities are good for children with autism?

Children with autism find joy and calm in structured activities that blend routine with exploration and creativity. Puzzles, for example, captivate with their complex elements, sensory bins filled with rice or water beads soothe with their textures, and arts and crafts provide them with freedom to express themselves.

What keeps a autistic child busy?

Aligning activities with their passions and strengths keeps autistic children deeply engaged. For instance, mechanically inclined kids can immerse themselves in assembling LEGOs or other building toys. Educational games that make learning interactive spark both fun and development, especially in areas like language and problem-solving.

What things are good for autistic child?

A predictable routine, as well as sensory-friendly toys and items like weighted blankets and noise-canceling headphones, can help children with autism meet their needs for consistency and balance. Also, visual aids such as picture schedules make daily tasks easier.

What are ADL activities for autism?

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) for children with autism are practical tasks aimed at building independence in personal care and daily chores. These might include dressing oneself using Velcro-fastened clothing, brushing teeth with a step-by-step visual guide, or participating in meal preparation with simple tasks like washing vegetables.

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Social Problem Solving: Best Practices for Youth with ASD

• By: Michael Selbst, PhD, BCBA-D Steven B. Gordon, PhD, ABPP Behavior Therapy Associates
• July 1st, 2014
• assessment , problem solving , social information processing , social skills
• 8190    0

Joey, age 9, has been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and due to his high functioning has been mainstreamed into a fourth grade classroom with a shadow. His […]

Joey, age 9, has been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and due to his high functioning has been mainstreamed into a fourth grade classroom with a shadow. His challenging behaviors typically center on his peer interactions in spite of adequate academic performance. When in a group situation he becomes very argumentative when his ideas are not used, becomes very bossy on the playground, and has run out of the classroom when things do not go his way. Megan, age 14, has also been diagnosed with ASD. She isolates herself from her peers and rarely initiates or responds to greetings. Conversations are almost nonexistent unless they are focused on her favorite topics of anime or fashion.

Children with ASD described as above typically have significant social skills impairments and often require direct instruction in order to address these deficits. They often have difficulty in many of the following areas: sharing, handling frustration, controlling their temper, ending arguments calmly, responding to teasing, making/keeping friends, complying with requests. Strong social skills contribute to the initiation and maintenance of positive relationships with others and as a result contribute to peer acceptance. Social skills impairments, on the other hand, contribute to peer rejection. The ability to get along with peers, therefore, is as important to self-esteem as the ability to meet with academic success in the classroom. This article will review the domain of social skills, the assessment of social skills, the importance of social problem-solving and a social skills curriculum which incorporates evidence-based practices to address this very important area.

Social information processing (SIP) is a widely-studied framework for understanding why some children have difficulty getting along with peers. A particularly well-known SIP model developed by Crick and Dodge (1994) describes six stages of information processing that children cycle through when evaluating a particular social situation: encoding (attending to and encoding the relevant cues), interpreting (making a judgment about what is going on), clarifying goals (deciding what their goal is in the particular situation), generating responses (identifying different behavioral strategies for attaining the decided upon goal), deciding on the response (evaluating the likelihood that each potential strategy will help reach their goal and choosing which strategy to implement), and performing the response (doing the chosen response). It is assumed that the steps outlined above operate in real time and frequently outside of conscious awareness. Numerous studies have shown that unpopular children have deficits at multiple stages of the SIP model. For example, they frequently attend to fewer social cues before deciding on peers’ intent, are more likely to assume that peers have acted towards them with hostile intent, are less likely to adopt pro-social goals, are more likely to access aggressive strategies for handling potential conflicts, evaluate aggressive responses more favorably, and are less skillful at enacting assertive and prosocial strategies.

Deficits in social skills are one of the defining characteristics of children with ASD. These impairments manifest in making and keeping friends, communicating feelings appropriately, demonstrating self-control, controlling emotions, solving social problems, managing anger, and generalizing learned social skills across settings. Elliott and Gresham (1991) indicated that social skills are primarily acquired through learning (observation, modeling, rehearsal, & feedback); comprise specific, discrete verbal and nonverbal behaviors; entail both effective and appropriate initiations and responses; maximize social reinforcement; are influenced by characteristics of environment; and that deficits/excesses in social performance can be specified and targeted for intervention. Social skills can be conceptualized as a narrow, discrete response (i.e., initiating a greeting) or as a broader set of skills associated with social problem solving. The former approach results in the generation of an endless list of discrete skills that are assessed for their presence/absence and are then targeted for instruction. Although this approach has an intuitive appeal and is easily understood, the child can easily become dependent on the teacher/parent in order to learn each skill.

An alternative approach focuses on teaching a problem solving model that the child is able to apply independently. Rather than focusing on teaching a specific behavioral skill, the focus is on teaching a social problem solving model that the learner would be able to use as a “tool box.” The well-used saying “give a person a fish and she eats for a day but teach her to fish and she eats for a lifetime” is particularly relevant. The social problem solving approach offers the promise of helping the child with ASD to become a better problem solver, thereby promoting greater independence in social situations and throughout life.

After many years of conducting social skills training using the specific skill approach, the authors have developed a model of social problem solving that uses the easily learned acronym of POWER. The steps of POWER-Solving® include:

P ut problem into words

O bserve feelings

W ork out your goal

E xplore solutions

R eview plan

Each of the five steps of POWER-Solving® has been previously identified as reliably distinguishing between children with emotional/behavioral disorders and psychologically well-adjusted individuals. The ability to “Put problem into words” is critical in order to start the problem solving process. Children with ASD often have difficulties finding the words to identify a problem. Thus, the first step in this approach involves direct training in the use of the rubric “I was… and then…” Upon entering the classroom and finding a peer in his seat Joey immediately pushed the peer in an attempt to get him out of his seat. Through the use of POWER-Solving® Joey was taught to articulate “I was walking into the classroom and then I saw that Billy was in my seat.”

The second step of “Observe feelings” was addressed by helping Joey develop a feelings vocabulary (e.g., angry, frustrated, scared, sad) as well as measuring the intensity of these emotions using a scale from one to ten, with a one being “very weak” and a ten being “very strong.” Photographs and drawings were used extensively to capitalize on his strong visual skills.

The third step of POWER-Solving®, “Work out your goal?” involves identifying the goal and the motivation to reach the chosen goal. This critical step sets the stage for what follows. The goal must be specific and measurable, consistent with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) principles. Joey was able to identify that his goal consisted of two parts. First, he wanted to get Billy out of his seat and second, he wanted him to still be his friend. He reported that his desire to reach this goal was a nine on the ten-point scale.

The fourth step of POWER-Solving® involves “Explore solutions.” Socially skilled individuals are able to generate a range of effective solutions but those with impairments are more limited and often apply the same rigid solution over and over again in spite of repeated ineffectiveness. Joey was taught to “brainstorm,” which involves generating as many solutions as possible that might reach the stated goal, provided the solution is safe, fair, and effective. Joey was able to identify that approaching Billy and saying “Excuse me but I need to sit in my seat now” would help him to accomplish his goal(s). Behavioral rehearsal, combined with coaching and feedback, helped Joey to become fluent in applying this solution.

The final step of POWER-Solving®, “Review plan,” involved Joey reviewing his plan to use this skill the next time the situation presented and to reward himself by saying “I am proud of myself for figuring this out.”

POWER-Solving® has been applied successfully in multiple settings such as the classroom, a summer treatment program, clinical settings and home environments. The curriculum is systematic and relies heavily on visual cues and supports. Children are taught how to problem-solve first using their “toolbox” (i.e., the five steps of POWER-Solving®). The children are presented with specific unit lessons on each of the five steps of POWER-Solving®. All children have an opportunity to practice each step of POWER-Solving®. After learning each step of POWER, the children have acquired a “toolbox” which they can begin to apply to social situations.

When teaching social skills, it is important to coach the children through behavioral rehearsal activities to promote skill acquisition, performance, generalization and fluency. Additionally, daily activities reinforce these skills, some of which include designing their own feelings thermometer, developing novel products via group collaboration, and developing a skit to teach a specific skill.

To increase students’ performance of the desired skills, use of a token economy may be helpful, whereby points are earned during the day for displaying appropriate behavior, demonstrating a predetermined individualized social behavioral objective and for using the POWER-Solving® steps. At the end of every day, points could be exchanged for a reward. In addition to the direct instructional format, incidental teaching should be used in anticipation of a challenging situation as well as a consequence for failure to use the steps when confronted with a specific problem. An experienced social skills coach, generalization strategies, and a systematic plan to teach and reinforce skills are critical for success.

Please feel free to contact us at Behavior Therapy Associates for more information about best practices for social skills training, as well as information regarding the POWER-Solving curriculum. We can be reached at 732-873-1212, via email [email protected] or on website at www.BehaviorTherapyAssociates.com .

Crick, N.R., & Dodge, K.A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment.  Psychological Bulletin , 115, 74–101.

Elliott, S.T. & Gresham, F. M. (1991).  Social skills intervention guide: Practical strategies for social skills training . Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

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Social Skills Activities that Teach Kids Problem-Solving

September 22 , 2021.

​​ Social skills activities are important for children of all abilities. With this in mind, We Rock the Spectrum’s Social Skills Blog Series aims to provide insight into activities and practical tips that help instill social skills in children. In this article, we focus on the importance of problem-solving skills in children and introduce five fun and educational activities that can enhance their problem-solving skill set. 

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disability in which children find it difficult to socialize and interact with others. Although autism comes in a variety of forms, many 

kids have difficulty developing problem-solving skills. The combination of diminished communication, emotional, and self-regulation skills, all contribute to the child’s reduced skills. To be able to become well-rounded individuals, children of all abilities need to be given the opportunity and resources to learn proper problem-solving skills so that they can face challenges head-on later in life. With this in mind, we have put together a guide on the importance of problem-solving skills for both neurotypical children and children with autism.

Why is Problem-Solving Important?

Problem-solving deals with the ability to make decisions in tough or challenging situations. Children of all abilities need to learn how to properly handle each situation with problem-solving in order to become more independent and resilient. Having good problem-solving skills allow children to gain the patience and self-confidence they need to develop into capable individuals.

Problem-solving activities help children develop the skills they need to efficiently and effectively deal with complex issues and situations. In life, children will run into a variety of situations with differing contexts. Having the proper problem-solving skill set will allow children to learn how to handle every situation with ease. Once a child is able to effectively problem-solve, they will be able to better navigate their own personal problems and those of others as well. Additionally, a child will be able to identify a problem, develop different solutions, test different solutions, and analyze the results.

It is essential for parents or guardians to help boost problem-solving skills through a variety of sensory strategies. Here is a list of 5 fun activities that will teach children of all abilities how to build their problem-solving skills.

5 Activities that Teach Problem Solving

1. problems in a jar.

Problems in a Jar is a fun and creative way for children to explore different situations that can occur in the real world. This activity is designed to help kids generate solutions from one problem or circumstance. To begin, an adult will write one situation on a small sheet of paper, fold it, and place it in a jar. This continues until the jar is full. The child then picks a paper and reads off the problem. He/she must then come up with the best solution that solves the challenging scenario. This helps children think thoroughly about each possible solution independently.

2. Scavenger Hunt

Everyone loves a game of scavenger hunt! This group activity prompts children’s deduction skills based on clues and hints, which in turn, enhances their problem-solving skills. To start, divide children into groups of 2-3 and have them come up with a plan on which members look for which items. Children can also brainstorm together on where each item is located. This helps kids work together towards one goal while also nourishing their communication. Parents can also reward kids with small treats for every item they find on the scavenger hunt.

3. Impromptu Skits

Impromptu skits are a fun and engaging way for kids to think independently and with quick reactions. In this activity, children are given one situation wherein they have to reenact how the situation unfolds and how to solve the issue. This allows children to think about how to deal with each situation and see how it can be solved efficiently. After the skit, ask the children to explain their thought processes and correct them if there were any actions that were unnecessary. Children watching the skit will also be able to learn and understand how to best act in certain circumstances. 

Puzzles are one of the best ways a child can stimulate their mind. Puzzles have multiple pieces that are all jumbled together. To solve a puzzle, children need to sort the pieces out and place them in their proper areas to be able to put the puzzle back together. This helps children develop memory recall and thought organization. To start off easy, children can work on puzzles with fewer pieces. Once they get the hang of it, they can move on to more difficult and complex puzzles to build their skill set. 

5. Play With A Purpose TM

Having a space where your children will feel safe experimenting is vital to developing problem-solving skills quickly. We Rock the Spectrum’s Play With A Purpose™ stimulates and exercises a child’s sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch, vestibular system, and proprioception through positive physical, emotional, and social development. At We Rock the Spectrum, kids are able to play and interact together through arts and crafts, classes, our sensory equipment , and more to strengthen their problem-solving skills in an inclusive, sensory-safe environment.

Key Takeaways

Equipping all children with the proper problem-solving tools and resources at an early age will ensure they develop the skills they need to become versatile individuals. Children who are able to hone their problem-solving skills at their most important phase of development will be able to become more independent and know how to acclimate best to a multitude of situations in the long run. We Rock the Spectrum is a kids gym franchise that offers a wide range of fun and inclusive problem-solving activities through its specialized sensory equipment and Play With A Purpose™ program. Discover more about our mission by getting in touch with us today !

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9 Activities to Encourage Problem-Solving in Autistic Kids

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Building up our kiddo’s confidence and skills are so important when looking at short-term and long-term goals. One important skill to work on is problem-solving.

I know I’m guilty of not giving my little guy enough time to solve something on his own if I’m not actively thinking about it. Can’t get something to work? Momma’s got it. Can’t reach something? Momma’s got it. It can be so automatic to help.

But problem-solving for yourself is extremely important, and that is no different for our sprouts. We have to let them try on their own, then seek help after trying.

So let’s dive into the 9 activities to encourage problem-solving in autistic kids!

I think it’s important to note that depending on your child’s skill level and interests that not all of these will be winners. But I believe with some imagination and thinking you can adapt things to suit your child’s needs (in most situations).

#1 Scavenger Hunts

How many free scavenger hunts do we come across on Pinterest when scrolling for activities for our kids? Whether it’s looking for a list of items or deciphering clues, they’re encouraged to problem solve. Plus, It’s a great activity to do inside or outside and do together to get moving around.

Here’s a few I found on Pinterest to get you started:

• Indoor Scavenger Hunt for Kids Free Printable – Thrifty NW Mom (thriftynorthwestmom.com)
• Outdoor Scavenger Hunt and S’mores Printables – Clean and Scentsible
• 30 Best Scavenger Hunt Ideas {Free Printables} – Play Party Plan

Puzzles are obviously great for problem-solving because they’re trying to put pieces together that usually only fit one way. Having to turn pieces, focus, and think all encourage problem-solving in our kiddos.

• Jigsaw puzzles
• Rubik’s Cube
• Tangrams 
• Shape Sorters
• Some Ideas on Amazon I Found:

#3 Board Games/Games

There are so many board games that can help with problem-solving because they encourage strategic thinking and planning. Obviously chess, checkers, and Monopoly are the first few to come to mind.

Here are a few more ideas:

• Jenga – this is fun for everyone, but having your sprout have to stop and think before pulling out a piece and figure out how to not be the one to make the tower topple is fun problem-solving. Plus the tower toppling is fun for the kiddos too!
• Don’t Rock the Boat – My son likes the little penguins and likes the ship falling over. It’s fun to do hand-over-hand or if you kiddo can place the pieces on the boat on their own.
• Connect 4 – This is a nostalgic game for me to play, but the fine motor skills involved and problem-solving to get 4 and block your opponent is perfect for sprouts.
• Don’t Break the Ice
• Yeti in my Spaghetti
• Pancake Pile-Up – The instructions say it “helps children develop important gross motor skills, like balance and coordination.” Also, that this helps “children practice following a sequence, a beginning math skill.”

#4 Building Blocks and Structures

Another way to encourage problem-solving is using building materials and either giving your child instructions to follow or let them imagine and build their own. Full disclosure: my son is a destroyer! So I build things and he’ll figure out ways to tear it apart. Still problem-solving if you ask me.

Some ideas for you!

• Classic Blocks – make a block train, pile them up way high without tipping over, make a fort!
• Magnetic building tiles – there are so many designs to come up with these or just make boxes out of the tiles; whatever you kiddo can do and enjoys
• LEGO – they have so many sets and designs that the options are endless
• Bristle Block Stackadoos – we found these at Target and my son loves the texture and this is one he loves for me to build things and he tears them apart.

#5 Obstacle Courses

I love obstacle courses because they’re fun, but they’re working problem-solving skills and gross motor skills. You can find sets on Amazon, but it can get pricey. If your kid is like mine, there’s tons of toys and random things in the house to make obstacle courses from.

You can use Pringles cans as cones, have them hop over toys, step on sturdy boxes.

Some Set-up Ideas:

• 20 Amazing Backyard Obstacle Courses – Happy Toddler Playtime
• 10 Obstacle Courses You Can Set Up at Home – Tiny Beans
• 15 Amazing Indoor and Outdoor Toddler Obstacle Course Ideas – Mom Junction

My son’s physical therapist used Jumping Stepping Stones and he loves hopping and walking on those as an obstacle course. So my friend bought it for him as a birthday present and he has a blast on them:

#6 Escape Rooms

This is all problem-solving with clues and riddles to figure out. This is not for everyone, but if your kid has a knack for things like this, it could be a really fun outing together.

Or, Pinterest has some neat ideas for Escape Rooms at home. I tried to find a few to get you started:

• Make Your Own Escape Room Challenge for Kids ( with a FREE Printable) – The Activity Mom
• 40 DIY Escape Room Ideas at Home – Hands On Teaching Ideas
• How to Build Escape Room Challenges – Pathway 2 Success

Cooking can involve following a recipe or letting your child go nuts and create their own recipe. If following a recipe, they have to identify and find ingredients, figure out what cutting something in quarters looks like, measuring, cooking times, portions.

If they’re making their own recipe then they’re using their imaginations while trying to make something edible. It can even be fun to try to problem-solve why something wasn’t edible!

I just let my son shake the season salt on some green beans I was cooking the other day. He was unimpressed to say the least lol. His diet is basically snacks, Kroger chocolate chip waffles, and chicken fries, so we’ll be working on pouring his own snacks, toaster use, and microwave use.

Some ideas to get you going:

• Chocolate Chip PB Banana Sandwiches – Taste of Home
• Easy Apple Bites – Chop Chop Family
• Recipes Kids Can Make (Broken down into Age Groups!) – Momables

I love this suggestion because it’s challenging, but it’s also teaching a skill that could turn into a career later on in life. And if your kid finds it fun and engaging, then that’s a real win!

Some suggestions I found:

• The First 3 Coding Lessons You Need to Teach Kids – Carly & Adam Osmo Coding Starter Kit 5-10+
• Learning Resources Code & Go Robot Mouse 4+

#9 Experimenting

Finding fun experiments to do and helping your child explore the world is another form of problem-solving. Not everything is going to be a winner; for instance, my son refused to touch the Oobleck his class made for Dr. Seuss week. But he did enjoy petting the STEM teacher’s Madagascar cockroach.

Suggestions:

• Classic Diet Coke and Mentos Explosion – Scholastic
• Engaging STEM Activities with Pipe Cleaners – Stemtropolis (He’s a teacher!)
• Science Activities with Apples – Stemtropolis
• STEM Activities Using the Scientific Method for Kids – Stemtropolis

This is just a range of suggestions that your child may or may not enjoy; or they may or may not be at the level to understand. All our kiddos are different ages, stages, skill levels, so having more options to choose from is better.

I know my sprout would not be interested in cooking, and I wouldn’t be able to hold his attention long enough to even get him to show him how to mix ingredients in a bowl. Don’t force these things and make you both miserable. This should be fun and engaging first because we’re not really learning if we’re too upset to comprehend what we’re doing.

Did you try any of these suggestions? I’d especially love to know if you have your own suggestions or even modified one to suit your little sprout! Let me know in the comments or hit me up with an email. I’d love to hear from you no matter what it is!

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Hi, I love these suggestions! It’s so nice to have new ideas since I seem to get stuck on doing the same things and need to remember to allow the kiddos to experience a range of things, even if it’s not their very favorite things all the time!

I’m the same way with my son! He’s stubborn lol. I wrote this as some ideas for myself as well because it’s easy to get stuck on the same thing. And you know the kids will let you know if it’s not their thing haha.

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25 Best Social Skill Training Exercises for Children with Autism

Social Skill Training Exercises for Children With Autism are a game-changer for families navigating the complexities of autism spectrum disorder.

These exercises are designed to enhance communication, improve social interactions, and build meaningful relationships.

They offer practical ways to teach essential social skills that can significantly impact a child’s quality of life.

Keep reading to find out more about the Social Skill Training Exercises for Children With Autism.

You might also like :

• The Early Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Autism Awareness Month Activities
• Crafts for Autism
• How to Diagnose Autism
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• Best Autism Programs for Adults for Each State
• How Does Autism Affect Cooking?
• Autism Resources Adults
• What is High Functioning Autism?

What Are Social Skills?

Social skills are the abilities that enable individuals to interact effectively with others and navigate various social situations.

They encompass a range of competencies, from understanding social cues to effective communication and problem-solving.

For people with autism, these skills are often a focus of therapeutic interventions.

What are Social Skill Training Exercises for Children with Autism?

Social Skill Training Exercises for Children with Autism are structured activities and interventions aimed at teaching essential social skills to children on the autism spectrum.

These exercises focus on various aspects of social interaction, such as understanding social cues, improving communication, and building relationships.

They often incorporate evidence-based methods like Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), role-playing, and social stories to provide targeted instruction.

The ultimate goal is to enhance the child’s ability to navigate social situations, thereby improving their overall well-being and quality of life.

List of Social Skill Training Exercises for Children with Autism

The Basics of Autism Social Skills

Social skills are the abilities that enable individuals to interact effectively with others and adapt to various social situations.

For children on the autism spectrum, these skills are particularly crucial.

They often find it challenging to understand and interpret social cues, making social skills training a vital part of their development.

Why Social Skills Matter?

Social skills are not just about being polite or making friends; they’re about understanding the world around you.

For a child with autism, social skills activities can be a lifeline to a more fulfilling life.

They can help children learn how to communicate better, understand social expectations, and form meaningful relationships.

The Consequences of Poor Social Skills

• Lack of social skills can lead to difficulties in making friends, maintaining relationships, and participating in everyday social activities.
• This can have a long-term impact on the child’s emotional well-being and overall quality of life.

25 Best Social Skill Training Exercises for Children with Autism

Navigating social situations can be challenging for children with autism.

However, if you encourage your child with the right training exercises, they can learn to interact more effectively with their peers and adults.

Here are 25 social skill training exercises designed to help children with autism spectrum disorder develop essential social skills.

These exercises are not only effective but also engaging, ensuring that your child will be motivated to learn and grow.

1. Role-Playing for Social Scenarios

Role-playing social skills activity is a fantastic way to help children with autism understand social situations and how to react appropriately.

• How it works : Create a social scenario and act it out with your child. For example, you can pretend to be a friend at school, and your child can practice greeting you and asking how you are.
• Why it’s effective : This exercise allows children to practice social interactions in a safe and controlled environment.
• Keywords : social situations, autism spectrum disorder, role-playing, social skills activities for children

2. Turn-Taking Games

Games that require turn-taking can teach children the importance of patience and waiting for their turn.

• How it works : Simple board games or card games work well for this exercise.
• Why it’s effective : These games naturally require turn-taking, teaching children the social rules associated with sharing and patience.
• Keywords : turn-taking, board game, social rules, children with autism

3. Emotion Flashcards

Understanding emotions is crucial for social interactions. Emotion flashcards can help children recognize different feelings.

• How it works : Show your child flashcards with different facial expressions and ask them to identify the emotion.
• Why it’s effective : This exercise helps children with autism spectrum disorder become more aware of emotional cues, which is essential for social interactions.
• Keywords : emotion, flashcards, autism spectrum disorder, social cues

4. Social Stories for Scenario Understanding

Social stories are short narratives that describe a social situation, what happens, and why it happens.

• How it works : Read a social story that is relevant to a situation your child might encounter, like going to a birthday party or sharing toys.
• Why it’s effective : Social stories break down complex social situations into understandable parts, helping children with autism make sense of social norms.
• Keywords : social stories, social norms, autism, complex social situations

5. Praise and Reward System

Positive reinforcement can go a long way in teaching social skills.

• How it works : Whenever your child exhibits good social behavior, praise them or give them a small reward.
• Why it’s effective : Positive reinforcement encourages the repetition of good behavior, making it more likely that the child will act appropriately in social situations in the future.
• Keywords : positive reinforcement, social behavior, praise, reward system

6. Eye Contact Practice

Eye contact is a fundamental social skill that many children with autism find challenging.

• How it works : Sit across from your child and encourage them to maintain eye contact with you for a few seconds at a time. Gradually increase the duration as they become more comfortable.
• Why it’s effective : Practicing eye contact in a safe and familiar setting can help children become more comfortable with this form of nonverbal communication.

7. Conversation Starters

Initiating a conversation can be daunting for children with autism.

• How it works : Teach your child simple conversation starters like, “How are you?” or “What’s your favorite game?”
• Why it’s effective : Learning these basic phrases can give children the confidence to initiate conversations, making social interactions less intimidating.

8. Listening Skills

Active listening is crucial for meaningful social interactions.

• How it works : Read a short story or statement and ask your child to repeat it back to you. This helps them focus on what is being said.
• Why it’s effective : This exercise helps children develop the ability to focus on a conversation, which is essential for understanding social cues and responding appropriately.

9. Group Activities

Participating in group activities can teach children valuable teamwork skills.

• How it works : Engage your child in group activities like team sports or group art projects.
• Why it’s effective : Group activities require children to cooperate and communicate with others, helping them understand the dynamics of social interactions.

10. Understanding Personal Space

Respecting personal space is a crucial social skill.

• How it works : Use a hula hoop or draw a circle around your child to visually represent personal space. Teach them to respect others’ personal space by staying outside of their “circle.”
• Why it’s effective : This visual representation makes the concept of personal space more tangible, helping children understand and respect boundaries.

11. Practicing Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, and it’s a vital social skill.

• How it works : Discuss different scenarios where someone might be feeling happy, sad, or angry. Ask your child how they think that person is feeling and why.
• Why it’s effective : This exercise helps children develop the ability to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, which is crucial for meaningful social interactions.

12. Learning to Share

Sharing is a basic yet essential social skill.

• How it works : Use toys or snacks to practice sharing with your child. Take turns giving and receiving the item.
• Why it’s effective : This simple exercise teaches the importance of sharing and turn-taking, fundamental aspects of social interactions.

13. Identifying Nonverbal Cues

Nonverbal cues like facial expressions and body language often convey more than words.

• How it works : Show videos or pictures of people displaying different emotions through body language and ask your child to identify them.
• Why it’s effective : Understanding nonverbal cues is essential for interpreting social situations correctly.

14. Asking for Help

Being able to ask for help is an important social skill that promotes independence.

• How it works : Create scenarios where your child needs assistance, like reaching an item on a high shelf, and encourage them to ask for help.
• Why it’s effective : This exercise teaches children that it’s okay to ask for help and shows them how to do it appropriately.

15. Saying ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’

Basic manners like saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ go a long way in social interactions.

• How it works : Remind your child to use these phrases when asking for something or receiving something.
• Why it’s effective : Teaching basic manners helps children understand social expectations and behave appropriately in various settings.

16. Role-Playing Social Scenarios

Role-playing is a fantastic way to practice social interactions in a controlled environment.

• How it works : Create different social scenarios that your child might encounter, like meeting a new friend or going to a doctor’s appointment. Act out these scenarios with your child.
• Why it’s effective : Role-playing allows children to practice social interactions in a safe space, helping them feel more prepared for real-life situations.

17. Learning to Apologize

Understanding when and how to apologize is a crucial social skill.

• How it works : Discuss scenarios where an apology might be necessary, and practice saying “I’m sorry” with your child.
• Why it’s effective : Learning to apologize helps children understand the importance of taking responsibility for their actions and mending social relationships.

18. Understanding Sarcasm and Jokes

Grasping humor and sarcasm can be challenging for children with autism.

• How it works : Use children’s books or shows that incorporate humor and sarcasm and discuss them with your child.
• Why it’s effective : This helps children understand different tones and nuances in language, which is essential for social interactions.

19. Learning to Wait

Patience is a virtue, especially in social settings.

• How it works : Practice waiting in line at the grocery store or waiting for a turn on the swing.
• Why it’s effective : Learning to wait teaches children the importance of patience and self-control in social interactions.

20. Identifying Feelings

Being able to identify and express feelings is crucial for emotional intelligence.

• How it works : Use emotion flashcards or apps that help children identify different feelings.
• Why it’s effective : Understanding emotions is the first step in managing them effectively, which is essential for healthy social interactions.

21. Learning to Compliment

Giving and receiving compliments is a lovely way to build positive social interactions.

• How it works : Teach your child simple compliments like “You look nice today” or “Great job!”
• Why it’s effective : Compliments help build self-esteem and foster positive relationships.

22. Practicing Greetings and Farewells

Basic greetings and farewells set the tone for social interactions.

• How it works : Practice saying “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Please,” and “Thank you” in various social settings.
• Why it’s effective : These basic phrases are the building blocks of polite and positive social interactions.

23. Learning to Follow Instructions

Following instructions is crucial in both educational and social settings.

• How it works : Give your child a series of simple instructions to follow, like “Pick up the toy and put it in the box.”
• Why it’s effective : Being able to follow instructions is essential for participating in group activities and succeeding in educational settings.

24. Understanding Personal Boundaries

Respecting personal boundaries is crucial for healthy social interactions.

• How it works : Discuss the importance of not touching people without permission and respecting personal space.
• Why it’s effective : Understanding boundaries helps children navigate social settings more comfortably and respectfully.

25. Learning to Ask Questions

Asking questions is a great way to engage in conversations and show interest in others.

• How it works : Practice asking questions like “How was your day?” or “What’s your favorite color?”
• Why it’s effective : Asking questions not only keeps the conversation going but also shows that the child is interested in what the other person has to say.

These 25 social skill training exercises are designed to help children with autism navigate the complexities of social interactions.

Each exercise targets a specific skill, making it easier to focus on areas that need improvement.

With consistent practice, these activities can make a significant difference in a child’s social life.

How To Create a Social Story for Your Child with Autism

Creating a social story for your child with autism can be a transformative experience.

Social stories are short, personalized narratives that break down a situation, skill, or concept into understandable and relatable terms for children on the autism spectrum.

They can help your child navigate social situations, understand expectations, and improve their communication skills.

Here's a step-by-step guide to creating an effective social story for your child.

• A computer or paper and pen for writing the story
• Pictures or illustrations (optional)
• Laminating machine or plastic sleeves (optional for durability)
• Your child's favorite book or story as a model (optional)

Instructions

Step 1: identify the purpose.

• Determine what social skill or situation you want to address. 
• It could be anything from sharing toys to understanding the steps of a daily routine.

Step 2: Know Your Audience

• Understand your child's level of comprehension, interests, and what resonates with them. 
• This will help you tailor the story to their needs.

Step 3: Choose the Format

• Decide whether you'll write it down on paper, create a digital version, or even make it into a small book. 
• Some parents find it useful to include pictures or illustrations to make it more engaging.

Step 4: Write in First Person

• Write the story from your child's perspective, using simple language. 
• Use the word "I" to make it relatable.
• For example, "I go to the park. I see a swing. I wait my turn."

Step 5: Be Specific but Not Overwhelming

• Detail the situation or skill you're addressing, but don't overload the story with information. 
• Stick to what's essential for understanding the social context.

Step 6: Include the Desired Outcome

• Clearly state what the appropriate social behavior or reaction should be.
• For example, "I wait my turn, then I can swing."

Step 7: Review the Story

• Go through the story to ensure it's clear, concise, and free of any ambiguities. 
• Make sure it aligns with your child's level of understanding.

Step 8: Involve Your Child

• Read the story to your child or have them read it with you. 
• Ask for their input and make any necessary adjustments.

Step 9: Practice

• Use the story as a guide for role-playing the situation with your child.
• This will help them internalize the lessons in the story.

Step 10: Implement and Revise

• Use the story in real-life situations and observe how your child responds. 
• Make revisions as needed to ensure it remains effective.

Creating a social story is not just about crafting a narrative; it's about opening a channel of understanding between you and your child. 

It's a tool that can significantly improve your child's social interactions and overall well-being. So, why not give it a try?

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Effective Social Skills Activities for Autistic Children

Unlock the world of social interaction for your autistic child! Dive into proven activities that not only educate but also entertain.

Using Social Stories to Teach Social Skills for Kids

Social stories are personalized teaching stories designed to make social situations more predictable for children with autism.

They can be tailored to a child’s specific needs and are an effective way to teach appropriate social responses and behaviors.

Play Board Games: More Than Just Fun and Games

Board games are not just a way to pass the time; they’re a fantastic tool to develop social skills.

They teach children how to take turns, share, and follow rules, enriching their social behavior and problem-solving skills.

Turn-Taking Activities: Learning the Art of Patience

Activities that encourage turn-taking can be a great way to teach children the importance of waiting for their turn and listening to others.

Simple games or role-playing activities can be both fun and educational.

Sensory Issues and Their Impact on Social Skills

Is your child overwhelmed in social settings? Discover how sensory issues can be the hidden roadblock to social success and what you can do about it.

The Connection Between Sensory Issues and Social Behavior

Sensory issues are common in people with autism and can significantly affect their social skills.

For instance, a child who is hypersensitive to certain sounds may find crowded environments overwhelming, affecting their ability to engage in social activities.

Addressing Sensory Challenges

Addressing sensory issues is crucial for creating an environment conducive to social skills development.

Simple accommodations like noise-canceling headphones or sensory breaks can make a world of difference.

Sensory-Friendly Activities for Social Skill Development

Incorporating sensory-friendly activities, such as sensory exploration or outdoor play, can help children with autism develop social skills while also catering to their sensory needs.

Effective Teaching Strategies for Social Skills Development

Stop guessing and start knowing! Learn the teaching strategies that experts swear by for enhancing social skills in children with autism.

Visual Aids and Structured Routines

• Visual aids like social stories and visual schedules can provide clear explanations of social expectations and routines.
• They help children with autism understand and navigate different social situations more effectively.

Social Skills Training Programs

• Structured social skills training programs can offer targeted instruction and practice in specific social skills.
• These programs often use role-playing, video modeling, and direct feedback to enhance social understanding and abilities.

Play-Based Learning: Making Social Skills Fun

• Play-based learning can be an effective way to teach social skills.
• Activities like pretend play and cooperative games create a natural environment for children to learn and practice social interactions.

How do you teach social skills to children with autism?

Teaching social skills to children with autism often involves a multi-faceted approach that includes behavioral therapies, social stories, and real-world practice.

Techniques such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and structured social skills training programs are commonly used.

What is the social skills training program for autism?

A social skills training program for autism is a structured intervention that aims to improve the social abilities of individuals on the autism spectrum.

These programs often use methods like role-playing, video modeling, and direct feedback to teach social norms and behaviors.

What is the social game for autism?

Social games for autism are designed to improve social interaction, communication, and understanding of social cues.

These games often involve activities that require turn-taking, sharing, and cooperation, making them effective tools for teaching social skills.

What is social skills training in ABA?

In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), social skills training involves breaking down complex social interactions into smaller, teachable units.

Strategies like reinforcement, modeling, and role-playing are used to teach and generalize social behaviors.

Fun and Engaging Activities for Social Skill Development

Who says learning can’t be fun? Explore activities that will have your child laughing and learning essential social skills at the same time.

Social Skills-Themed Scavenger Hunt

• A scavenger hunt with a social skills twist can be a fun and interactive way to teach social skills.
• Each clue or task involves a social interaction that the child needs to complete successfully,
• Promoting problem-solving and communication skills.

Group Activities for Social Interaction

• Group activities like team sports or collaborative art projects can encourage social interaction and cooperation.
• These activities not only build social connections but also promote empathy and teamwork.

Arts and Crafts for Social Skills

• Arts and crafts activities offer a creative outlet for children with autism.
• Working on collaborative projects can promote sharing, communication, and cooperation,
• Making them excellent activities for social skill development.

How effective are social stories in helping kids with autism understand social behavior?

Social stories are highly effective tools designed to help children on the autism spectrum disorder understand the nuances of interpersonal interactions.

These stories present everyday situations in a structured manner, helping the child grasp social rules and expectations.

They are a great way to help children learn social skills and understand what appropriate socialization looks like.

What board games are recommended for activities for children with autism to develop social skills?

Board games like “The Social Skills Game” or “Let’s Talk” are excellent fun activities to help children with autism learn turn-taking, sharing, and communication.

These games are designed to help children on the spectrum practice skills like fine motor skills and nonverbal communication in a relaxed setting.

They can be a fantastic way to help children develop great social skills with practice.

Can activities for autism like role-playing help children take turns and develop better social interaction?

Absolutely, role-playing activities are a hands-on way to teach children with autism the importance of taking turns and engaging in reciprocal conversations.

These activities can be tailored to fit the child’s interests and can help them learn social skills like understanding social cues and sensory information.

Role-playing can be a fun and effective way to help children on the spectrum understand everyday situations they may encounter.

What are some fun social skills activities for kids with autism that can help autistic children improve their social behavior?

Activities like scavenger hunts, arts and crafts, or sensory-friendly sports can be both fun and educational.

These activities are designed to help children with autism spectrum disorder engage with their peers and learn important social rules.

They can also help a child develop fine motor skills and language skills, enriching their relational skills in the process.

How can parents use social skills activities for autism to help their child develop better understanding of children social skills?

Parents can use a variety of social skills activities for children, such as social stories, board games, and role-playing, to teach their child important social norms.

These activities can help your child learn how to interact in social situations, understand sensory processing, and even develop a desire to interact with others.

It’s a comprehensive program for the education and enrichment of relational skills, helping them understand that social skills are important for their overall well-being.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about Social Skill Training Exercises for Children With Autism. Get some quick answers to everything you need to know.

What are the social skills training techniques?

Social skills training techniques can vary but often include role-playing, video modeling, and social stories.

These methods are designed to provide practical, hands-on ways for individuals to learn and practice social interactions.

How do you teach social skills to special needs students?

Teaching social skills to special needs students often involves individualized plans that take into account the child’s unique challenges and strengths.

Methods can include visual aids, social stories, and structured social skills training programs.

Does ABA help with social skills?

Yes, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is often effective in teaching social skills.

It uses evidence-based techniques to break down social interactions into smaller, more manageable components, allowing for targeted teaching and practice.

How do you teach social skills step by step?

Teaching social skills step by step involves breaking down a social interaction into its component parts.

Each step is taught individually, often using methods like role-playing or video modeling, before combining them for more complex social interactions.

How can I help someone with autism socially?

Helping someone with autism socially often involves a combination of structured training programs, real-world practice, and ongoing support.

Understanding the individual’s specific challenges and strengths is crucial for effective intervention.

Can you teach an autistic person social cues?

While teaching social cues to an autistic person can be challenging, it is possible through consistent training and practice.

Techniques like social stories and video modeling can be particularly effective in this regard.

Wrapping Up Social Skill Training Exercises for Children With Autism

This guide aims to provide a comprehensive overview of social skill training exercises for children with autism.

From understanding the basics to diving into effective activities and teaching strategies, the goal is to offer practical ways to help your child navigate the social world.

I hope you find immense value in this guide to social skill training exercises for children with autism.

If you enjoyed this article about Social Skill Training Exercises for Children With Autism and would like to learn more, please leave a comment below.

Like and Share!

Resources for More Information on Social Skill Training Exercises for Children With Autism:

• Top 10 Social Skill Activities for Autism to Help with Sensory Issues in Children – Special Strong
• FREE SOCIAL SKILLS DOWNLOADS – Autism Teaching Strategies
• Social skills for autistic children | Raising Children Network

These resources offer a wealth of information on social skill training exercises tailored for children with autism.

From activities that help with sensory issues to free downloadable resources and strategies for social skills development, these sites are a treasure trove for parents, caregivers, and educators alike.

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10 Hobbies and Activities to Enjoy With Your Autistic Child

Video gaming, hiking and walking, making things, puzzle solving, board games, animal care.

• Choosing the Activity

Play is important for the development and well-being of all autistic children at their respective levels of functioning . Hobbies and activities help autistic kids to develop skills that are important for learning and communication.

Along with building social skills, enjoying activities together can create bonds when you choose the appropriate activity based on your child's capabilities and interests.

This article offers 10 activities to try with your autistic child. It also provides guidance on how to choose the right hobbies and activities to enjoy with your child.

Verywell / Ellen Lindner

Hobbies and Activities to Enjoy

These are just some of the activities that can be shared and enjoyed by autistic kids and their families. They may not be the exact fit for your autistic child, but they may help spark ideas and your imagination.

Building with LEGOs can improve fine motor skills and foster creativity. Who knew that a bunch of plastic building bricks could turn into a full-scale, international artistic (and scientific) medium? If your autistic child is a LEGO ® toy fan, your options may be endless.

Build from blueprints and diagrams. Create your own cities. Watch the LEGO movie. Go to LEGO conventions. Get involved with LEGO Mindstorms, and then join clubs and compete. Go to LEGO art shows. The possibilities are amazing.

Studies have shown using LEGOs in therapy for autistic children resulted in improvement in social and communication skills (such as the desire to play with others), improved social interactions, better coping, and more engagement with family.

Video games can improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, and they're not just for kids—there's a match for any level of expertise. Your autistic child may enjoy playing Minecraft or Harry Potter on their own, but that doesn't mean you can't join in and take part in the fun.

Instead of assuming you're not wanted (or that the games are too hard for you), take time to learn the ropes, ask questions, and get involved.

If your child is just starting out or has difficulty navigating complex games, opt for simpler vintage video games or sports games that don't require high-level manual dexterity (like golf, bowling, or pool).

Some studies have found that video games help relieve stress and aid with social connection in autistic children. On the downside, they can lead to video "addiction" if not monitored and managed.

If you're not British, you may think that it's odd to memorize train numbers, schedules, and specs. In Britain, however, "trainspotting" is a time-honored activity, and many autistic kids embrace similar interests.

If your child likes trains (or planes or automobiles), join them in learning. Explore train museums where real trains look exactly like those in the Thomas the Tank Engine TV show. Watch train-related videos. Read train-related books. Build model trains. Visit model layouts. Join a modeling club together.

Building models (whether it's trains, planes, or cars) is an excellent way to improve fine motor skills and attention to detail.

A surprising number of autistic people love anime, a complex and much-beloved form of Japanese animation. Although there is limited research, anime may help autistic kids improve social skills and interactions.

Anime is huge, and it's everywhere. Join your child in watching, reading, and drawing anime.

Create your own anime on the computer. Go in costume to an anime convention. Most schools and communities even have anime clubs your child can join.

Studies have shown that autistic children are often responsive to anime-style virtual characters, which have been used as a tool for social skills training.

Reading encourages language development and communication skills. Reading books together, or even making up your own stories, can be a wonderful bonding experience.

Whether it's science fiction and fantasy or non-fiction topics like dinosaurs and volcanoes, books can be a great activity. Depending on their interest levels and abilities, autistic people may learn every detail of a particular "universe," write their own stories, watch and rewatch movies, read comics, attend conventions, or even make their own costumes.

There is a whole world of opportunity for hobbyists out there at all levels.

Swimming can improve motor skills, fitness levels, and sensory processing. 

Whether at the ocean, in a lake, at a pool, or under the sprinkler, water activities are fun for almost everyone. And while some people are there to learn swimming strokes, join swim teams, or become lap swimmers, others just go to have a good time together.

Similar to swimming, hiking and walking can improve physical fitness, motor skills, and sensory processing. 

Autistic people are often less amenable to team sports for a variety of reasons. But they have plenty of physical energy and stamina, and if your autistic child falls into this category, consider getting into hiking and walking.

In some areas, hiking means climbing a nearby mountain; in others, a walk down the street is more accessible. Either way, it's a great opportunity to get exercise and spend time together.

You might also bring along a pair of binoculars to do some bird watching, trainspotting, or star gazing—and by doing so, build another shared interest.

Building things can encourage self-expression and creativity while also improving fine motor skills and attention to detail.

Many autistic children are very good at taking apart and building devices ranging from alarm clocks to small engines. These skills, sometimes referred to as "maker" skills, have been attributed by some to a heightened sense of focus and attention to detail in many autistic people.

This growing community of "makers" involves autistic people who conceive, create, and share prototype devices that lift, move, teach, and more. Your child may be only a beginner "maker," but encouraging those skills can plug them into the larger "maker" community.

Puzzles are an excellent way to improve problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

Many autistic people, even those who are nonverbal, have a tremendous knack for solving jigsaws and similar puzzles. This is a popular hobby and one you can share in your home alone, with a group of friends, or even in a club setting.

Board games provide an opportunity to build social skills, such as turn-taking, following rules, and sportsmanship. Choose games according to your child's age and interests. There are games for every age group and skill level.

Yoga can help improve body awareness, fitness levels, and sensory processing. Yoga also offers a calming atmosphere, allowing children to slow down. Breathing strategies may help reduce irritability and stress.

Check out yoga videos, online resources, and classes in your local community that are designed for kids.

Not all autistic people love animals, but those who have an interest are usually very interested. Consider sharing that interest through horseback riding, pet care, volunteering at nature centers, fostering kittens or puppies, joining a 4-H club, or working at a local farm.

One study noted significant improvement in social communication skills in autistic children when animals were involved in animal-assisted play therapy compared to autistic children who did not receive this type of therapy.

How to Choose the Right Activity

Choosing the right activity for your autistic child can sometimes be difficult. Parents may need to work around autism traits and behaviors like sensory overload , social and communication limitations , and a preference for repetition and routine .

However, an autistic child can develop and thrive in hobbies and activities that other kids commonly enjoy. The key to success is to choose an activity and venue that is comfortable and interesting to your child.

These tips can help you select the right hobby or activity:

• Observe : Start by watching your child play . If they are verbal, ask questions. Don't make any assumptions. Just observe and take note of how your child chooses to share interests with you.
• Follow your child's lead : Next, try joining your child's activity. Rather than leaping in with your own ideas, allow your child to let you in as far as they are comfortable. The most important thing is to engage and communicate, not instruct.
• Take it a step at a time : Don't rush things or set an agenda. Your autistic child may love baseball cards, for instance, but that doesn't mean that you should organize a full day's outing to a baseball game. Start slowly, perhaps by watching a single inning at a little league game.
• Plan : Think about your workarounds. If there are certain challenges faced by your child (like sensitivity to heat, boredom, or behaviors that disturb others), take time to figure out how you might work around them.
• Be flexible : Sometimes there may not be a workaround and you may need to adjust your goals. This is why the slow-and-steady approach works best. With incremental goals and changes, your autistic child is more likely to adapt as you try out new things together.
• Have fun : Remember the whole point of enjoying activities together is to build connections. If the experience is stressful for either of you, it's time to back off a bit and find a way to make it fun.

Don't Give Up

You may assume that your child is incapable of shared activities because they are nonverbal or have other autism traits. But it is important to remember that many children with nonverbal autism have gone on to become accomplished gamers, artists, swimmers, runners, and more.

Play is important for the development and well-being of all autistic children. Hobbies and activities help autistic kids develop skills that are important for learning and communication. Doing activities together can create bonds between parents and autistic children when activities are chosen based on the child's interests, functional level, and comfortable environment.

Lindsay S, Hounsell KG, Cassiani C. A scoping review of the role of LEGO ® therapy for improving inclusion and social skills among children and youth with autism . Disability and Health Journal. 2017;10(2):173-182. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.10.010

Mazurek MO, Engelhardt CR, Clark KE.  Video games from the perspective of adults with autism spectrum disorder .  Comput. Hum. Behav.  2015:51:122–30. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.062 

Tanaka H, Nakamura S. The acceptability of virtual characters as social skills trainers: usability study . JMIR Hum Factors.  2022 Jan-Mar;9(1) e35358. doi:10.2196/35358

Arnell S, Jerlinder K, Lungqvist LO. Perceptions of physical activity participation among adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: a conceptual model of conditional participation . J Autism Dev Disord.  2018;48(5):1792–802. doi:10.1007/s10803-017-3436-2

Happe F. Why are savant skills and special talents associated with autism? World Psychiatry.  2018 Oct;17(3):280–1. doi:10.1002/wps.20552

O'Haire M.  Research on animal-assisted intervention and autism spectrum disorder, 2012-2015 .  Appl Dev Sci.  2017;21(3):200-216. doi:10.1080/10888691.2016.1243988

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Signs and symptoms of autism spectrum disorders .

Potvin MC, Snider L, Prelock P, Kehayia E, Wood-Daphinee S. Recreational participation of children with high functioning autism . J Autism Dev Disord . 2013 Feb;43(2):445-57. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1589-6

By Lisa Jo Rudy Rudy is a writer, consultant, author, and advocate who specializes in autism. Her work has appeared in The New York Times and Autism Parenting Magazine.

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17 Engaging Activities for Autistic Kids

Children learn best through activities that are fun, engaging, and geared toward their interests. Children with autism also benefit from activities that incorporate their preferences. Using preferred topics, items, and activities can engage kids with autism in learning and enhance its benefits . 

Kids learn many important things during play. Play involves developmental skills like language, problem solving, and cooperation. Play also helps kids develop their coordination skills, and the ability to share attention with others on an activity and goal. 

Play-based activities allow kids with autism to practice interpersonal and communication skills. And they do so in a way that feels comfortable and enjoyable for them.

Play-based therapy is an effective tool in supporting children with autism to develop important life skills. 

This article will explore the use of activities for children with autism.

Physical activities 

Physical activities for children with autism can build strength, coordination, and cooperation skills. Kids with autism tend to have more issues with their motor skills than their neurotypical peers. They may also struggle with their awareness of where their body is in space, also known as proprioception . This can affect coordination skills. 

Cooperative group sports: tag and capture the flag  

Physical activities like sports can help kids with autism work as part of a team and focus on planning and thinking strategically. Examples of sports activities for kids with autism include tag and capture the flag. 

Tag can be played in groups of three or more, with one child acting as “it” and then other children trying to evade being touched by this player. Once the player who is “it” touches another player, that player then becomes the person trying to tag others. 

Capture the flag involves two teams of three or more players. In this cooperative game, both teams compete against each other to locate and capture each others’ flag. These flags can be actual flags or any type of material, such as socks or clothing. First, each team hides their flag in such a way that it is able to be viewed in plain sight. Then, both teams search for one another’s’ flags. Once a flag is located, the team works together to steal the flag from the opposing team and to bring it back across the field. Typically, a line must be crossed in order for the flag to be considered captured. Each team works to defend their flag, by using blocking and misdirection. 

These games offer physical stimulation and exercise. They provide a team framework to practice interpersonal skills. They also offer opportunities for following directions, planning, and using language skills. 

Kids with autism can benefit from structured activities like sports. They also offer a chance to cooperate with others and work on physical coordination. Sports activities also uphold the values of inclusion . Inclusion benefits all children, not just children with autism. Sports allow autistic kids to be part of a collective, and to engage with their same-aged peers in working toward a common goal. 

Tag and capture the flag are fun, active, cooperative games. They involve following rules, flexible thinking, and working together.  During cooperative sports activities, it can be helpful to work with kids to promote inclusion. This can involve promoting awareness of the differences in how autistic kids may interact during group tasks. 

Solo sports: yoga and swimming 

Other physical activities can help with nervous system regulation, or self awareness skills. Examples include yoga and swimming. Yoga can help with calming and regulating emotions in kids with autism. It can also help enhance flexibility and following directions. Swimming can offer a wonderful sensory experience for children with autism. It can allow them to use their bodies in a different way than on land. 

Autistic kids can be led in yoga poses and swimming strokes. These activities can be used to promote receptive language skills and follow verbal and visual directions. Imitation can be targeted in both these activities. Imitation is a skill many kids with autism struggle with. Imitation is an important developmental skill. It enhances learning of new skills and social engagement. 

Encourage your child with autism to imitate your movements. Then, reverse roles and have them take the lead, while you mimic them.

Dance allows kids with autism to check in with their bodies and work on coordination skills. It can provide chances to cooperate and follow directions. Movement-based activites can also be a positive outlet into which to channel emotions. It can be very calming to the nervous system. Dance can reduce negative behaviors and improve communication skills in kids with autism. 

Kids with autism can both lead dancing activities or be asked to follow along with an instructor. They can select music they like or be exposed to different genres of music to see how they respond. They can be led in discussions about how certain music affects their body, or makes them feel. They can talk about what colors or shapes different music evokes for them. 

Dancing activities can be structured or unstructured. You can practice following specific steps, or simply move to the music as you like. 

Sensory activities

Sensory processing and integration issues are common in kids with autism. Sensory activities can help strengthen these skills. They can also promote emotional regulation in kids with autism.  

Sensory bins

Large plastic tubs can be filled with rice, beans, or orbeez, to create a sensory activity experience for kids with autism. Items like blocks, toy cars, or squishy toys can be added, and a child with autism can be instructed to locate and remove them. Tools like toy shovels, measuring cups, spoons, and tweezers can be offered, or the child can use their hands. 

Offering kids with autism the experience of interacting with different textures promotes sensory integration and tolerance. 

Eyes can be open or closed, depending on the individual child, their preferences and needs. Kids can be encouraged to vocalize and verbalize during these activities, to enhance language skills. 

Sensory bins can support sensory integration skills in children with autism. 

Fidget toys 

Fidget toys include items like spinners, pop-its, pop tubes, stress balls, and magnetic balls or tiles. These toys can be used to enhance self-regulation in kids with autism. They can reduce behaviors like hand flapping , and offer an outlet for sensory stimulation seeking. In one instance , fidget toys made a positive impact on the skin picking behaviors of an adolescent girl with autism. These toys have shown promise in promoting the attention and participation in group activities for kids with autism. 

Fidget toys can have a calming, focusing effect. They can offer sensory stimulation in a way that’s not distracting to the user or others. Fidget toys can help kids with autism channel their need for tactile sensory input. And they do so without impairing their ability to focus visually and mentally. Fidget toys can be provided to kids with autism during group activities, or during tasks that require sustained focus. For example, a child with autism might benefit from using a fidget spinner while listening to a story with their class. 

Fidget toys can also be used in activities that involve following directions and shared attention. An adult can ask a child with autism to imitate their movements with a fidget toy, or ask the child to give them directions to follow. Fidget toys can also be used in cooperative activities, like connecting pop tubes to form different shapes. 

Shaving cream marbling 

Occupational therapists love using this activity with kids with autism. That’s because it’s creative, fun, and targets sensory and fine motor skills. Speech therapists like how it addresses following directions, language skills, and shared attention. 

For this activity, you’ll need a paper plate or bowl, foaming shaving cream, food coloring, a plastic knife, and paper. 

Fill your child’s paper plate or bowl with shaving cream, then add a few drops of food coloring in different colors. Next, take the plastic knife and assist them with carving lines that go up and down and back and forth, spreading the food coloring in the shaving cream. Then, take the paper and press it into the top of the shaving cream. You can use hand over hand with your child with autism for this part of the project. 

When you carefully remove the paper, you’ll have a colorful masterpiece! You can even expand on this activity by turning your child’s artwork into custom cards. 

Creative activities 

Creative activities are great for targeting emotional regulation, motor control, and interpersonal skills. They can channel autistic kids’ artistry and target skills in a way that’s fun and motivating. 

Drum circle

Music activities are a great way to target eye contact and body orientation skills in kids with autism. Music tasks also involve use of nonverbal cues, and coordinated body movements. 

For this activity, you’ll need small hand drums or a range of rhythm instruments. This can include shakers, tambourines, rhythm sticks, or even DIY instruments like a coffee can, or a closed cup with pennies inside. 

Rhythmic music tasks are a great way to get kids with autism involved in shared attention and cooperative play. Drumming also offers tactile stimulation and can be very calming and centering for children. Participating in a drum circle also encourages focused attention. This is a great activity for a child with autism and a parent or for a group of children. For two participants, they can take turns leading and following. One person can establish a beat, and the other imitates it. Then, switch roles. 

In a group setting, one person can step into the center of the circle and be the leader or conductor of the group. This person starts drumming and establishes the rhythm for the group to imitate and follow. Participants can all take a turn as the leader and as a member of the group. 

Drums are a great activity for preschoolers with autism. 

Magic bottles

This activity creates an item kids with autism can enjoy and use for calming and visual stimulation after the activity is complete. 

For this activity, you’ll need a plastic bottle, a glue gun, glitter, water, and small beads or plastic gems or other fun, small items. Simply fill the plastic bottle with water to about 2/3rds full. Then, add glitter, and put in the beads and other items. Add more water until the bottle is mostly full. Then, use the glue gun to seal the cap. 

Voila! You’ve got a magic bottle that makes beautiful colors and reveals hidden surprises when shaken, stirred, or flipped upside down. This is a great activity for kids with autism, because making it requires focus, following directions, and fine motor skills. Afterward, the bottle, itself, can create a sense of calmness and act as a preferred fidget toy. 

DIY rain sticks

Rain sticks are a classic rhythm instrument. They provide both auditory and tactile stimulation and can be very soothing for kids with autism. 

For this activity, you’ll need a paper towel tube, a couple of rubber bands, and some paper or plastic wrap. You’ll also need a selection of small beads, beans, paperclips, rice, or other items to create the “rain” effect, and a series of toothpicks. 

The first step is to poke toothpicks through the sides of the cardboard, all over the tube. Next, cover one end of the paper towel tube with plastic wrap or paper. Secure it around the end with a rubber band.Then, add rice, beans, beads, or other items to the tube. When you’ve added enough, simply repeat the covering on the other end. Then you can play with your rain stick by turning it upside down over and over and hearing the “rain” fall. You can experiment with adding and removing items to see how this changes the sound. 

Social activities

Many children with autism struggle with their social skills . Activities that can help them develop and practice social skills are a great way to address these skills in a way that’s fun and motivating. 

Emotion identification card game

Children with autism often struggle to interpret emotions in others. Emotional recognition can be trained in activities for kids with autism. 

Photo cards or drawings with people expressing overt feelings are shown, and kids are asked to pinpoint the emotions they see. For example, a woman crying may depict sadness. A man yelling may indicate anger. 

Kids with autism can play this game, and earn points for each emotion they guess correctly. A prize can be given once the child reaches a certain threshold of correct responses. Teachable moments can also be taken, whenever needed, to promote a child’s ability to identify key facial features of common emotions. 

Cards that need more work can be set aside, and targeted during a bonus round. You can deepen this activity by adding an imitation component. The autistic child can show their version of the emotions, to enhance their understanding of how feelings are expressed in the face and body. Modeling and feedback can be provided by the adult leading the activity.

Social scripts 

Kids with autism can work with adults to create their own books to help them navigate social situations. Social scripts offer kids with autism a narrative roadmap to improve their social skills. 

Social scripts can be multimedia items. For example, they may include words, illustrations, or even videos. They can mimic storybooks, or even comic strips. 

An example of a social script is a story that helps a child with autism to understand and take active part in greeting others. Social scripts can provide guidance in making introductions and using appropriate body language. They can also help with recognizing common social cues. 

A social script is a personalized story that walks a child with autism through these interactions. They offer a chance to plan and practice for common social situations.

Mindfulness activities 

Meditation, deep breathing, and music can help to calm and regulate the nervous system. These can be powerful tools for children with autism, who may struggle with emotional regulation skills. Meditation has shown promise in harmonizing the emotional and physical systems of kids with autism. There are many free meditation apps out there. These include offerings like Insight Timer , Calm , and Headspace , among others. 

Meditation improves social skills by calming the nervous system and improving awareness skills. Anxiety issues are common amongst kids with autism. 

You can guide your child with autism in a medication activity, prior to a social situation that may cause them to feel stress and anxiety. You can also medicate alongside them, using a guided meditation recording. YouTube is another source for meditation recordings. 

Activities for brain development

Brain activities help to promote the development of important skills. They also help kids with autism to interact with the world, and participate in school. 

Scavenger hunt

This is an activity that combines the physical with the mental in a way that’s fun and beneficial. 

You can select an autistic child’s preferred interests for this activity. For example, if your child is interested in dinosaurs, it could be a dinosaur scavenger hunt. For this activity, toy dinosaurs could be hidden around the house, classroom, or outdoor area for your child to find. 

Clues can be given both verbally or in written form. They can offer your child known facts about each dinosaur they’re seeking. The dinosaurs could be found in places that may mimic their actual surroundings. For example, Diplodocus was a water-dwelling dinosaur, so maybe he’s found in a creek or even in the bathtub or sink. 

Gear the hunt toward your individual child, their preferences and capabilities. You can start with five items and build from there. Kids with autism may find lists very motivating, so giving them a list of items to find can offer a source of fun and engagement that’s also beneficial. 

Scavenger hunts involve problem solving, deductive reasoning, and planning skills. They also involve working memory and language skills. Focus and concentration are other important developmental skills you can target with a scavenger hunt.

Sort it out

Sorting is a way many kids with autism self-regulate. A feature of autism is also repeating tasks . You can co-opt this preference to target additional skills in selecting sorting activities for your child with autism. This type of activity can also offer a chance to engage in parallel play . 

Another benefit of sorting games for kids with autism is they help teach relational concepts . This important developmental skill means understanding how different things relate to one another. Big and little, short and tall, heavy and light are all relational concepts. So are behind and in front of, on top and beneath, on and in. Understanding these concepts can improve language skills and the ability to interact with the world. 

A fun sorting game can include basic to complex items. For example, you can create a sorting game around grouping toys by their characteristics. This can involve sorting toys by color, size, or texture. This can be a great preschool autism activity. 

Older kids with autism may enjoy sorting items like coins. If you have a toy kitchen, sorting toy food items can also be fun. You can sort these by category, which can include size or features (such as if they’re fruit, meat, or veggies). 

Creating a picture schedule 

Children with autism often struggle with transitions and disruptions in their daily routines. You can proactively involve them in addressing this issue with a picture schedule activity. A picture schedule can help them anticipate and plan for any transitions, so they’re prepared instead of thrown-off by surprise. 

Picture schedules can be created on a computer, or with drawings on paper. For this task, you’ll want to think about their daily routine. Then, create a series of pictures that depict parts of this routine. For example, math time may be a picture of numbers or equations. Recess could show kids on a swing set. Reading time could show a child with a book. 

Your child can help select and create appropriate images and participate in organizing them. When any changes are planned for their routine, you can work together to modify their schedule and review the upcoming changes. 

Include written labels, as well, to help your child use written language skills. You can even create a moveable marker that shows your child where they are in their daily schedule. They can be involved in moving the marker to help start each transition. 

Teachers and school staff can also be involved in using this item, in addition to parents. A picture schedule can be used both at home and in school to help your child with autism to make successful daily transitions. 

What are the Benefits of Activities for Kids with Autism

Activities, games, and play-based tasks benefit the development of all children. Children with autism can learn and practice important skills through play-based activities.

Activities benefit kids with autism in many ways, including:

• Stimulating the brain and promoting development
• Improving social skills
• Improving motor skills
• Decreasing stereotypical behaviors, hyperactivity, and aggression
• Promoting inclusion
• Fostering self-expression and creativity
• Promoting emotional regulation and expression
• Enhancing language skills
• Improving attention skills 

What are the Challenges Children with Autism Face when Playing 

Children with autism have brains that develop differently than typically-developing kids. This affects how they interact with and experience the world. 

• Autistic kids often have restricted interests , and struggle to grasp how to engage in cooperative play with others. They may prefer to repeat the same task over and over.
• Kids with autism often have difficulties with sharing attention during structured activities. They may also have sensory sensitivities, which could complicate tactile play activities.
• Autistic children tend to have challenges with adaptation , including changes to their routine. This may impact their ability to follow the flow of imaginative play. They may resist actively participating in activities, at least at first.

While these factors may complicate the use of activities for kids with autism, it’s vital to push through. That’s because the use of activities for kids with autism is very important to encourage their growth and development. 

Parents and educators may face challenges when incorporating activities into autistic children’s routines. But autistic children greatly benefit from tasks that help them expand their comfort zone and enhance their skills. They can also support their ability to engage with others and the world around them. 

Play-based activities can help kids with autism learn to channel their emotions into more positive outlets. This can help reduce aggressive, destructive, or antisocial behaviors. 

Regular activities mean more chances to engage in this vital avenue of childhood growth and development. 

Choosing the Right Activities to Play with Autistic Kids

Children with autism are individuals. They have unique personalities and preferences. 

When selecting appropriate autism activities, it’s important to consider the following factors: 

• Personal needs
• Child’s interests
• Child’s strengths
• Child’s problems and challenges
• Communication skills
• Developmental level
• Child’s preferences
• Severity of autism 

How can you put these factors into action when creating an activity plan for a child with autism? 

Take into account where they are, developmentally, and what skills they most need to build:

• A child who is a good reader but doesn’t understand how to play with others should focus on cooperative activities and shared attention tasks.
• A child who loves trains can stay motivated and engaged when these are used in their activities.
• A toddler with autism who doesn’t understand joint attention is not ready for activities that involve cooperation. 
• A child with behavioral issues may benefit from activities that promote self-regulation.

It’s always important to consider the individual child when creating an activity plan that will benefit them. This is especially important for kids with autism. 

Using Forbrain as a Complementary Too l

Forbrain is an auditory stimulation headset. It can be used to enhance auditory processing and speech production. 

Therapists have used Forbrain in activities with children with autism with positive effects. Forbrain can encourage participation in activities by enhancing focus and attention. Forbrain can also help autistic children to more effectively self-regulate. Some children with autism vocalize more while wearing Forbrain, as it allows them to hear and process their own voices. 

For some kids with autism, the Forbrain headset can offer a positive complement to their activity program. It may encourage and motivate them to participate at a higher level.  Here is a video that shows the benefits of Forbrain for kids with autism in action.

Activities for Autistic Kids FAQs

When it comes to implementing activities with autistic children, you may have some questions. 

What Do Autistic Children Like To Do?

Just like neurotypical kids, children with autism have a wide range of interests and preferences. It’s important to consider the individual child when you’re developing an activities program. 

Many kids with autism are very interested in one or two subjects. These can become a focus of your activities, in order to engage them and motivate them to participate. 

What Is The Best Sport For Autism?

This depends on the individual child, their needs, skills, and interests. 

A child with poor motor skills and coordination might not benefit from a game of team soccer. Children with autism may find it easier to participate in sports where they work alongside others, such as bowling or swimming. 

They may benefit from a dedicated buddy to support them in participating in team sports. This person can help them understand the rules and participate effectively. This person can also check in with them, and help them regulate if needed. 

The ideal sports for kids with autism may be individual recreational activities. These include sports like skiing, swimming, running, biking, golf, and hiking. Some kids with autism enjoy competing against another person in tennis. 

Individual sports help to provide recreation opportunities, without the added stress of social interactions.

Is Swimming Good For Autistic Children?

Swimming can be a very calming and positive activity for autistic children. It can help with body awareness and coordination, and offer opportunities for sensory integration. 

Swimming involves gentle, repetitive motions. This can calm the nervous system and enhance motor coordination and control. 

Can Children With Autism Play Football?

This depends on the individual child. If your child shows interest in this game and has the motor skills and ability to engage with others on a team, it may be possible. Your child will also need to understand the rules of the game and be able to show some flexibility. 

Football isn’t at the top of the list of activities for autistic kids. But it’s important to support your child with trying out activities they’re interested in. 

What Is The Best Age For Play Therapy?

Play therapy can begin when your child is a baby and continue until they’re an adolescent. This is the time your child would naturally use play as their way to learn, grow, and develop. 

Play therapy can enhance the play skills and opportunities for kids with autism. Play therapy can be geared toward your child’s age and stage of development, as well as their needs. It can fold in their interests and teach them valuable skills. 

Early intervention for kids with autism is the best case scenario. But autistic children of all ages can benefit from play-based therapy. 

How Do I Motivate My Autistic Child?

Start by using items and topics they’re interested in. Using preferred items can also promote their engagement. If your child with autism loves stamps, use them. If they’re interested in dinosaurs, bugs, or historical facts, use those. 

The great thing about activities for kids with autism is you can structure them around any interests your child has. Keeping activities interesting is the key to keeping them engaged and motivated to participate. You can build their interests into almost any activity you choose. 

In addition, many kids are motivated by a system of rewards. This can include stickers, a star chart, or tokens that lead to a small prize. Many kids with autism find a clear rewards system motivating to participate in activities. 

What Can A Child With Autism Play With?

Children with autism have interests that are as varied as anyone. Many enjoy playing with items they can stack, sort, order, or line up. This can be soothing and regulating for kids with autism. 

Activities that satisfy this need include items like puzzles, stacking blocks and cups, magnatiles, and Lego. 

Select toys and games for your child that are based on their interests and level of development. 

What Activities To Avoid If My Child Has Autism?

Kids with autism don’t typically play in the same ways as other kids. They often prefer solo play to interacting in a group. They may struggle to follow the typical rules of shared play. This includes things like taking turns, sharing, and following the rules. Kids with autism also often struggle with imaginative play. 

Your child with autism may prefer to participate more in parallel play than cooperative play. This means being in the same space with someone, while not actually playing together. Parallel play can engage kids with autism in learning skills in a way that upholds their play preferences. Activities that can incorporate parallel play include coloring and painting. 

It can be beneficial to a point to engage your autistic child in activities that expand their comfort zone. But be cautious, because this can also cause them stress and induce them to withdraw. It’s best to approach activities that may be difficult for your child slowly and in stages. Consider why this activity is important for their growth and development and if there may be another way to target those skills. 

Final Words

Play-based activities are a great way to teach autistic children important skills that can help them grow as individuals. Building activities into the daily routines of kids with autism is important. This gives them many chances to practice and learn new skills, in ways they find motivating and enjoyable. 

Choosing activities based on a child with autism’s preferences and needs is a great way to grow skills and motivate them to participate. 

Parents, educators, and healthcare professionals can draw from the activities listed in this article. These activities can be used in therapy for kids with autism, as a way to enhance development and build important skills. 

Aslan, S., Agrawal, A., Alyuz, N. et al. Exploring Kid Space in the wild: a preliminary study of multimodal and immersive collaborative play-based learning experiences. Education Tech Research Dev 70, 205–230 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10072-x

Boyd, B. A., Baranek, G. T., Sideris, J., Poe, M. D., Watson, L. R., Patten, E., & Miller, H. (2010). Sensory features and repetitive behaviors in children with autism and developmental delays. Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 3(2), 78–87. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.124

Caldwell-Harris C. L. (2021). An Explanation for Repetitive Motor Behaviors in Autism: Facilitating Inventions via Trial-and-Error Discovery. Frontiers in psychiatry, 12, 657774. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.657774

Cavalari, R. N. S., DuBard, M., & Luiselli, J. K. (2014). Simplified Habit Reversal and Treatment Fading for Chronic Skin Picking in an Adolescent With Autism. Clinical Case Studies, 13(2), 190–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534650113510348

Charman T. (2003). Why is joint attention a pivotal skill in autism?. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 358(1430), 315–324. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2002.1199

DeJesus, B. M., Oliveira, R. C., de Carvalho, F. O., de Jesus Mari, J., Arida, R. M., & Teixeira-Machado, L. (2020). Dance promotes positive benefits for negative symptoms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A systematic review. Complementary therapies in medicine , 49 , 102299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2020.102299

Elbeltagi, R., Al-Beltagi, M., Saeed, N. K., & Alhawamdeh, R. (2023). Play therapy in children with autism: Its role, implications, and limitations. World journal of clinical pediatrics, 12(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.5409/wjcp.v12.i1.1

Ingersoll, B. (2008). The social role of imitation in autism: Implications for the treatment of imitation deficits. Infants & Young Children, 21(2), 107–119. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.IYC.0000314482.24087.14

Ledford, J. R., Zimmerman, K. N., Severini, K. E., Gast, H. A., Osborne, K., & Harbin, E. R. (2020). Brief Report: Evaluation of the Noncontingent Provision of Fidget Toys During Group Activities. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 35(2), 101–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088357620902501

Lee, Mackenzie, “Sensory Integration: Helping Students with Autism Incorporate Sensory Integration Techniques” (2013). Education Masters. Paper 280.

https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/education_ETD_masters/280

Loveland, K.A., Tunali, B. Social scripts for conversational interactions in autism and Down syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 21, 177–186 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02284758

Marco, E. J., Hinkley, L. B., Hill, S. S., & Nagarajan, S. S. (2011). Sensory processing in autism: a review of neurophysiologic findings. Pediatric research, 69(5 Pt 2), 48R–54R. https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e3182130c54

Matson, J. L., Matson, M. L., & Rivet, T. T. (2007). Social-skills treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders: an overview. Behavior modification, 31(5), 682–707. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445507301650

Morris, S. L., Foster, C. J., Parsons, R., Falkmer, M., Falkmer, T., & Rosalie, S. M. (2015). Differences in the use of vision and proprioception for postural control in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroscience, 307, 273–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.08.040

Pillay, Y., Brownlow, C., & March, S. (2022). Transition approaches for autistic young adults: A case series study. PloS one, 17(5), e0267942. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267942

Sequeira, S., & Ahmed, M. (2012). Meditation as a potential therapy for autism: a review. Autism research and treatment, 2012, 835847. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/835847

Spiker, M. A., Lin, C. E., Van Dyke, M., & Wood, J. J. (2012). Restricted interests and anxiety in children with autism. Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 16(3), 306–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361311401763

Sung, Y. S., Lin, C. Y., Chu, S. Y., & Lin, L. Y. (2022). Emotion Dysregulation Mediates the Relationship Between Sensory Processing and Behavior Problems in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 10.1007/s10803-022-05839-x. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05839-x

Tanksale, R., Sofronoff, K., Sheffield, J., & Gilmour, J. (2021). Evaluating the effects of a yoga-based program integrated with third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy components on self-regulation in children on the autism spectrum: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 25(4), 995–1008. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320974841

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Crystal Bray

50 Best Activities For Children With Autism

Engaging in hobbies and activities with your autistic child is an excellent way to bond and improve their social, emotional, and cognitive skills. With these hobbies and activities, you can find new and exciting ways to engage your child and encourage their development.

As a parent of an autistic child, you may sometimes find it challenging to come up with engaging activities to do with your child. Engaging in hobbies and activities is not only a way to bond with your child, but it can also improve their social, emotional, and cognitive skills. In this article, we'll explore 30 hobbies and activities that you can do with your autistic child.

• Art and Crafts: Art is a great way to encourage self-expression and creativity. You can make finger paintings, create collages, or try your hand at pottery.
• Cooking and Baking: Cooking and baking are excellent activities to help your child learn basic skills, such as measuring, pouring, and mixing.
• Gardening: Gardening is a great way to teach your child about plant life and the environment.
• Music: Music is an excellent way to engage your child's senses. You can play music, sing songs, or even try playing musical instruments.
• Reading: Reading is a fantastic way to encourage language development and communication skills. You can read books together, or even make up your own stories.
• Swimming: Swimming is an excellent way to improve motor skills and sensory processing. You can even make it more fun by playing games in the pool.
• Puzzle-solving: Puzzles are an excellent way to improve problem-solving and critical thinking skills. You can start with simple jigsaw puzzles and work your way up to more complex ones.
• Board Games: Board games are an excellent way to improve social skills, such as turn-taking, following rules, and sportsmanship.
• Video Games: Video games can be an excellent way to improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. You can even play multiplayer games with your child to encourage social interaction.
• Lego Building: Building with Legos is an excellent way to improve fine motor skills and creativity. You can start with simple designs and work your way up to more complex ones.
• Role-playing: Role-playing is an excellent way to improve social skills, such as empathy and perspective-taking. You can even act out your own stories together.
• Dance: Dancing is an excellent way to engage your child's senses and improve motor skills. You can dance to music or even try out different dance styles.
• Yoga: Yoga is an excellent way to improve body awareness and sensory processing. You can even try doing yoga poses together.
• Martial Arts: Martial arts are an excellent way to improve physical fitness and discipline. You can even enroll your child in classes and participate together.
• Hiking: Hiking is an excellent way to improve physical fitness and sensory processing. You can even try hiking in different environments to expose your child to new experiences.
• Photography: Photography is an excellent way to encourage creativity and self-expression. You can even try taking photos of nature or people together.
• Painting: Painting is an excellent way to encourage self-expression and creativity. You can even try painting with different materials, such as watercolors or acrylics.
• Science Experiments: Science experiments are an excellent way to improve problem-solving and critical thinking skills. You can even try making your own experiments at home.
• Building Models: Building models is an excellent way to improve fine motor skills and attention to detail. You can even try building different types of models, such as cars or airplanes.
• Writing: Writing is an excellent way to improve language skills and self-expression. You can even try writing stories or poems together.
• Horseback Riding: Horseback riding is an excellent way to improve physical fitness and sensory processing. You can even try taking riding lessons together.
• Fishing: Fishing is an excellent way to improve patience and attention to detail. You can even try fishing in different locations to expose your child to new experiences.
• Birdwatching: Birdwatching is an excellent way to improve attention to detail and sensory processing. You can even try identifying different types of birds together.
• Camping: Camping is an excellent way to improve social skills and sensory processing. You can even try camping in different locations to expose your child to new experiences.
• Volunteering: Volunteering is an excellent way to improve social skills and empathy. You can even try volunteering at different organizations to expose your child to new experiences.
• Geocaching: Geocaching is an excellent way to improve problem-solving and critical thinking skills. You can even try finding different geocaches together.
• Collecting: Collecting is an excellent way to improve attention to detail and organization skills. You can even try collecting different types of items, such as stamps or coins.
• Knitting or Crocheting: Knitting or crocheting is an excellent way to improve fine motor skills and attention to detail. You can even try making different types of items, such as scarves or hats.
• Building Forts: Building forts is an excellent way to improve creativity and problem-solving skills. You can even try building different types of forts, such as tree forts or blanket forts.
• Stargazing: Stargazing is an excellent way to improve attention to detail and sensory processing. You can even try identifying different constellations together.

Best Activities For High-Functioning Children

• Coding: Coding is an excellent activity for high-functioning children on the autism spectrum. It can help improve their problem-solving skills, logical thinking, and attention to detail. You can start with simple coding games or apps and work your way up to more complex programming languages.
• Chess: Chess is a great game to improve critical thinking, planning, and strategy-building skills in autistic children. It can also help them develop patience and focus.
• Debate Club: Joining a debate club can be an excellent way for high-functioning autistic children to improve their communication skills, learn how to express their opinions effectively, and engage in social interactions with peers who share similar interests.
• Drama Classes: Drama classes are an excellent way for high-functioning autistic children to improve their social skills, develop empathy, and practice perspective-taking while engaging in creative activities such as role-playing and improvisation.
• Robotics: Robotics is an excellent activity that combines engineering, technology, and creativity for high-functioning autistic children. It can help them develop problem-solving skills while learning about mechanics and electronics.
• Science Fiction Writing: Science fiction writing is another creative outlet that high-functioning autistic children may enjoy exploring. It can help them develop their imagination while improving language skills such as vocabulary building and grammar.
• Photography Club: Joining a photography club or taking photography classes can be a fun way for high-functioning autistic children to express themselves creatively while developing technical skills such as lighting, composition, and editing.
• Debate Team: For older high-functioning autistic children who are interested in public speaking or politics, joining a debate team can be an excellent opportunity to learn about current events while improving communication skills such as persuasion and argumentation.
• Entrepreneurship: Encouraging high-functioning autistic children to explore entrepreneurship by starting small businesses or selling crafts online can help them develop valuable life skills such as financial literacy, marketing, and customer service.
• Creative Writing: Finally, creative writing is an excellent activity for high-functioning autistic children to express themselves in a safe and supportive environment while improving their language skills and developing their imagination.

Best Activities For Low-Functioning Children

Engaging in activities can be especially beneficial for low-functioning children on the autism spectrum. However, it can be challenging to come up with suitable activities that cater to their unique needs. Here are some of the best activities for low-functioning children:

• Sensory Activities: Sensory activities such as playing with sensory bins or exploring different textures can help improve sensory processing skills and provide a calming effect.
• Music Therapy: Music therapy has been shown to improve communication and social skills in low-functioning autistic children. Listening to music, singing, or playing simple instruments can be an enjoyable way to engage with your child.
• Therapeutic Horseback Riding: Therapeutic horseback riding is a structured activity that involves riding horses under the supervision of trained professionals. It has been shown to improve balance, coordination, and social skills in low-functioning autistic children.
• Water Play: Playing with water can be an enjoyable activity for low-functioning autistic children while improving motor skills and sensory processing abilities.
• Tactile Activities: Tactile activities such as finger painting or playing with playdough can help improve fine motor skills and sensory processing abilities.
• Visual Arts: Creating art using visual mediums like crayons or markers is another excellent way to develop fine motor skills while providing a calming effect.
• Storytelling: Reading books together or creating stories using picture cards is an effective way to improve language development and communication skills in low-functioning autistic children.
• Dance Therapy: Dance therapy uses movement and music as a means of expression and communication for individuals on the autism spectrum. It has been shown to improve socialization, self-expression, and emotional regulation in low-functioning autistic children.
• Swimming Lessons: Swimming lessons not only provide physical benefits but also help improve sensory processing abilities while providing a calming effect.
• Animal-Assisted Therapy: Animal-assisted therapy involves interacting with animals under the supervision of trained professionals. It has been shown to improve social skills, communication, and emotional regulation in low-functioning autistic children.

By engaging in these activities with your low-functioning autistic child, you can provide them with a fun, safe, and supportive environment that encourages growth and development.

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Teaching Autistic Students to Solve Math Word Problems

August 29, 2022

By: Jenny Root, Ph.D., BCBA

Categories: How To , Education

In the past three months, how many times have you had no choice but to use cash to make a purchase? Or tell time using an analog clock?  

Although you have undoubtedly made purchases, it is likely you used a card or smart device, especially if the purchases were made online. To check the time, you probably glanced at a digital clock on a screen or even just asked Alexa, Google Home, or another artificial intelligence device.   

While the functions of many activities of daily living, such as making purchases and telling time, have remained the same over time, how we accomplish these tasks has changed dramatically as technology has evolved.   

Math instruction for autistic students has historically had a limited focus on “functional” skills in order to prepare them for independence in their adult lives. Yet in addition to mastering a series of discrete skills, autistic young adults need to be able to problem solve . This includes:  

• Being aware of when there is a problem.  
• Identifying a reasonable strategy.  
• Monitoring their progress accurately.  
• Adapting as necessary.  

Word problem solving is one way to teach students how, when, and why to apply math skills in real-world situations they will encounter in a future we may not be able to envision yet.   

These research-supported strategies can help teachers and parents teach autistic students to solve word problems using modified schema-based instruction (MSBI). MSBI is an evidence-based practice for teaching word problem solving.  

Create a meaningful task.

Word problems need to depict a realistic and meaningful problem. This will help students better understand the “why” behind word problem solving and support generalization to everyday situations. You can begin planning by identifying high-interest, real-world contexts when the targeted math skills could be used, such as familiar community locations, family routines, or preferred activities. The quantities represented in the problem should be realistic for the situation. Use technology to build background knowledge for generalization by showing short videos or pictures, such as videos of people making purchases using a credit card or comparing rideshare costs between two apps.  

Consider accessibility.

Both the materials and word problems themselves need to be accessible to students. The reading level, quantities represented, structure, and visual supports can all be adjusted to address barriers students may face. If independently reading the problem is a barrier, students can use technology to access text-to-speech or ask a skilled reader—a parent, peer, or teacher—to read it aloud to them. Quantities in the problem can be reduced to match a student’s numeracy skills (e.g., quantities under 10) or they can be provided with a calculator for efficiency.   

Research has shown that autistic students can successfully fade this equation template once they become fluent in problem solving.   

Focus on problem types, not keywords or operations.

Teaching word problem solving using MSBI may differ from your prior approaches to math instruction. Many teachers and parents teach operations sequentially, meaning once addition is mastered, they move on to subtraction, then multiplication, then division. But this developmental mindset can put unnecessary ceilings on student opportunity by having a “not ready for” mindset. Waiting for students to be “ready for” problem solving by overly focusing on their skill deficits will hold them back from meaningful, age-appropriate instruction.   

MSBI also does not teach students to focus on keywords to identify operations, such as “more” meaning add and “left” meaning subtract. While this trick may initially work for some simple problems, it doesn’t help students conceptually understand the problem. Real-world problems won’t have keywords.  

Instead of teaching by operation or focusing on keywords, research has shown when autistic students learn to identify and represent the problem by the schema (pattern of problem structure), they are able to independently solve, discriminate between, and generalize problems. There are two categories of schemas, or problem structures. Additive problems use addition and subtraction operations and include group/total, compare/difference, and change schemas. Multiplicative problems use multiplication and division and include equal group, multiplicative comparison, rate, and proportion. Here is a great resource that explains each schema .   

Choose a problem-solving routine.  

The three key components of schema instruction are teaching:   

• The key features of each schema.  
• A solution strategy for each schema.  
• Important language and vocabulary related to the schema.  

MSBI provides additional support as needed for working memory, language, reading level, and numeracy skills so that students are engaged, motivated, and able to “show what they know” while problem solving.   

Problem-solving routines draw students’ attention to the decisions they need to make and actions they need to engage in to arrive at a solution. General attack strategies can be effective. These are two examples:   

UPS Check  

• Understand  
• Check work  
• Discover the problem type.  
• Identify information in the problem to represent in the diagram.  
• Solve the problem.  
• Check the answer.   

Students usually write these at the top of their paper or reference them on a poster or whiteboard in the classroom. Autistic students and those with more extensive support needs will likely need a more detailed and personalized routine that breaks down the mathematical decisions into more discrete behaviors.   

When developing routines to meet student needs, analyze the decisions that need to be made and behaviors involved in solving problems. Routines should always begin with reading the problem or requesting that a problem be read aloud. At least when students are initially learning the routine, they should have individual copies to follow, either printed directly on worksheets or as a separate visual support. Judiciously pair visual supports with text to give support but not so much that they are just relying on matching instead of demonstrating mathematical understanding. The general curriculum access lab at Florida State University has example problem-solving routines from research with students with autism and other developmental disabilities on their website.  

Support independence.

You must explicitly teach students to follow a problem-solving routine. Use think-alouds with clear and concise language while actively engaging students in the problem-solving process. Opportunities for guided practice are important for identifying points of strength and areas of misconception. A system of least prompts (starting with the prompt that provides the least amount of assistance) can be used when students are not independently correct:   

• A generic verbal prompt: Read/point to step of the problem-solving routine.   
• Direct verbal prompt: explain how to complete the step.   
• A model-retest: Model completing step and ask student to repeat.   

Self-monitoring and goal-setting can help facilitate independence in problem solving. Giving a space for students to check off steps as they are completed enables self-monitoring task completion to start as soon as they begin to solve the problem. The focus can shift to self-monitoring independence by having students check off steps completed “by myself” or “with help” as in the example below or self-monitoring duration by timing themselves.  

Word problem solving is an important skill for all students, as it puts math concepts and procedures into a real-world context. In addition, self-determinatio n skills such as choice-making, self-monitoring, and goal-setting can be feasibly embedded to enhance effectiveness and efficiency. To prepare autistic students for independence in their futures, they need instruction focused on skills of the future, not the past.  

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Free resources, how social problem solving and social skills deficits in autism impact behavior.

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In this episode, I am exploring how social skills deficits, and specifically difficulties with social problem solving, impact the behavior of students with autism, particularly those who are working in general education classrooms. One of the areas that I see many students struggle with in schools is how to handle those situations that occur in recess, at lunch, in group assignments or other unstructured times when something unexpected happens. Those are the times that our students with ASD may respond in a way that makes sense to them, but may not always make sense to those around them.

Social competence, which is how I often refer to the larger approach to social skills, is a very huge deal. It encompasses a lot of different skills and abilities. Some of these are specific, definable skills. For instance, when to say hello to someone. But others involve more esoteric, less easily observed skills.

Episode 69 Highlights

In this episode, I’m talking about how deficits in social problem solving puts our students at risk for negative behavior.

I will also talk about why we need to look at social skills and social problem solving as part of our functional behavior assessment .

And why we need to incorporate social problem solving instruction into our students’ curriculum to prevent challenging behavioral issues.

Finally, I’ve got a free tool that to download in the post for this episode that can help to remind them of some social problem solving strategies.

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This week, I am exploring how social skills deficits, and specifically difficulties with social problem solving, impact the behavior of students with autism, particularly those who are working in general education classrooms. One of the areas that I see many students struggle with in schools is how to handle those situations that occur in recess, at lunch, in group assignments or other unstructured times when something unexpected happens. Those are the times that our students with ASD may respond in a way that makes sense to them, but may not always make sense to those around them.

The Student In the Gym

For instance, a student who found himself in a gym locker room unsupervised. Other kids were teasing him and giving him a hard time. He was feeling threatened and wanted them to stop. But he didn’t know how to remove himself from the situation or ask them to stop. He didn’t have the skill or know the right thing to do. So, he said something threatening that he had heard in a movie when someone was feeling uncomfortable. He told them he would come back and beat them up. They left him alone (so it worked), but they also told the principal and he was suspended. Knowing him, he had no intention to act upon that threat. But the other students and administrators wouldn’t know that.

It was poor social problem solving on his part. He didn’t know how to ask them to leave him alone or remove himself from the situation in a more appropriate way. He didn’t have social skills at his finger tips for handling that situation.

But he also couldn’t figure out why they were teasing him and how to address it. He didn’t have the ability interpret what they might be thinking. He simply didn’t have good social problem solving for the situation. And his behavior got him into trouble.

In this episode, I’m talking about how deficits in social problem solving puts our students at risk for negative behavior.

And why we need to incorporate social problem solving instruction into our students’ curriculum to prevent challenging behavioral issues.

Finally, I’ve got a free tool that to download in the post for this episode that can help to remind them of some social problem solving strategies. You can find that at autismclassroomresources.com/episode69.

So let’s get started.

The Impact of Social Problem Solving on Behavior

Students on the spectrum often have difficulty interpreting others’ behavior, predicting what others might be thinking, and determining that right action to take based on particular situations. They often struggle with reading the nonverbal cues of body language and tone of voice. And all of that together means that they can have difficulty knowing how to respond in social situations.

Like the student in the gym, that means that the way they respond to situations may not be the best options. These are students whose challenging behaviors are often more esoteric than just aggression. It might be categorized as a “meltdown.” Or it might be a group of behaviors that get conveyed as being rude, uncommunicative, shutting down, refusing to participate in activities, etc.

Sometimes these behaviors look just rude or antisocial rather than being a result of not being able to “read the room” or understand the social context. But they also sometimes lead to some big social misunderstanding that can get these students into bigger trouble.

The Importance of Social Problem Solving in Behavior Assessment and Support

Given the impact that social problem solving deficits can have on these students’ behavior, it’s critical that we address them in our assessments and interventions. That leads to two avenues.

In the FBA, we need to include a focus on their social skills and problem solving. We probably don’t need a formal assessment tool. But in our interviews and observations, we should be looking for how the student manages in social situations.

Then, in our interventions, we should be including strategies for addressing social problem solving. These are critical replacement skills given that some of the challenging behaviors may be the result of poor social problem solving and deficits in social skills. And we need to make sure that this training is intensive and not just happening as needed. If students are demonstrating challenging behavior, they need explicit interventions.

Teaching Social Problem Solving to Prevent Challenging Behavior

If the student’s behavior does not rise to the level of needing an FBA (yet), then we should be thinking about how we can prevent that from happening. Many of our students on general education standards don’t get social skills instruction because it isn’t part of their academic curriculum. But they will struggle in the long run without it. So we need to make it a priority. So here are 2 strategies that are fairly easy to implement in the classroom that can help.

Social Narratives, Role Playing, Reinforcement

Social narratives are one strategy that we can use to teach our students how to solve social problems. Narratives are like Social Stories™️ and are designed to describe social situations. The most important component of social narratives for these students are that they should highlight others’ perspectives of the social situation. They should also present options to the student about how to handle the situation and how those actions might be interpreted by others.

Social narratives are also used in combination with other interventions. They aren’t a quick fix that works on their own. I have had some students who respond really well to them. Others who didn’t respond at all. Typically, they have worked as a great way to introduce information to the students. But they aren’t necessarily the behavior change agent for instruction. That is going to take practice.

For practice we need to do role playing, practice, and feedback. We can use video modeling. Students can practice with others or with adults. And we need to reinforce them. So there is a lot of explicit instruction that needs to happen as well as part of a social skills curriculum. Tools such as Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking and Scott Bellini’s Building Social Relationships are both good resources for these.

Option Cards

And that brings me to a second tool that I wanted to highlight in this episode. Option cards are simply visual supports that remind students of what their options are. You know that student who always calls out whenever he needs help? He doesn’t know to wait his turn. Or he doesn’t know to ask a friend. And instead he’s always calling out in class and interrupting.

Option cards are a way of reminding him what he could do instead. So in the case of the interrupting student, you might have an option card that says, If I don’t know what to do, I could raise my hand and ask for help, or I could ask a friend. You can tape it to his desk or put it in his pocket or notebook as a reminder.

You can also use them to help prevent more significant challenging behaviors. So some students I’ve worked with have an option card that says, “If I get upset, I can ask for a break or get a fidget.” I’ve had option cards for students during PE that said, “If I lose the game, I could congratulate the other team or go get a drink of water.” The second option may not be the most socially appropriate, but it’s better than screaming at the other team and denying that they won.

And I have a free option card that you can download in the resource library. You can sign up and grab it at autismclassroomresources.com/episode69.

Other Tools

Obviously there are tons of other tools that we can use to address social problem solving, like contingency maps , some of the self-regulation tools I talked about in episode 67 and social skills instructional strategies. But the key is that we need to be addressing these issues for these students. Often times we forget that they need this as explicit instruction. And it’s not included in the general education academic curriculum. We need to advocate for the needs for these students to learn these skills to avoid behavior but also to promote success within and after school.

So head over to the website page for this episode at autismclassroomresources.com/episode69 to grab your free option cards and contingency maps. And if you are interested in learning more about how to teach social competency, we have a whole course on teaching the specific skills for all different populations, including autism, in the Special Educator Academy. So, come join us for a 7-day free trial of the Academy at specialeducatoracademy.com

And I would love to hear about how you teach social problem solving to your students. So if you are an educator, hop over to the free Facebook group at specialeducatorsconnection.com and share.

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Home » Autism Parenting Advice » Teaching Autistic Children Critical Thinking Skills

Teaching Autistic Children Critical Thinking Skills

By   Donnesa McPherson, AAS

October 21, 2022

What is so important about teaching autistic children critical thinking skills? These skills are important to everyday decisions and obstacles an individual may face, there are many neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals that have a hard time with these skills.

This article is going to outline abstract and conceptual thinking skills development, practice, and use in the school setting and at home. I plan on including ways that both parents and teachers will best be able to encourage and build these skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

It may take some creativity and thinking outside the box when interacting and teaching these skills. It is important to remember and take note of the differences and potential difficulties that your child may have when taking these ideas into consideration.

As always, these are merely the tip of the iceberg and may not work for everybody. That is why the ability of parents and educators to think outside the box and use their own critical thinking skills when figuring out what will work best for the child.

Neurodivergence, autism, and critical thinking skills

It has been thought that neurodivergent children, particularly autistic children, have a harder time with an abstract idea. In the article, Associations Between Conceptual Reasoning, Problem Solving, and Adaptive Ability in High-functioning Autism, they state that this thought is not entirely correct and cannot cover the spectrum that autism covers.

For instance, the article states that there are children that have learned some conceptual reasoning skills, along with abstract thinking in a therapy or school setting and do well. Then when they go about their everyday lives they tend to forget or have a hard time applying these skills to everyday occurrences.

There are also autistic children who have no need to further their problem solving and conceptual skills. As I stated, with the spectrum that autism falls under, it can be challenging to address all the differing areas of development in these areas.

Ways to promote and enhance abstract and conceptual thinking skills

In this section I will mainly focus on ways of developing these skills in the classroom environment. Also, what alterations and support can be put in place to help the individuals develop these skills.

Problem solving and critical thinking development in the classroom

The presentation, Understanding Autism Professional Development Curriculum: Strategies for Classroom Success and Effective Use of Teacher Supports, starts with explaining what autism is and moves into what affects the autistic students and ways to help and support these students.

What can affect the student with autism?

• Unpredictability this can be daunting and even a little scary for a student that may rely on knowing what they should expect next when school events, like an unexpected pep rally in the loud gym, can be met with extreme difficulty and be more of a stressful event than something fun
• Transitions knowing what is coming up next and have the time to prepare for these transitions can be key with some students keeping transitions and how they are handled in mind can help decrease difficult behaviors before they begin by making it easier for the student to transition smoothly
• Environmental changes these changes can be anything from seating changes to adding a new plant to the classroom and can stimulate certain sensory sensitive individuals or be an unwelcome surprise they were not ready for
• Sensory overload if a student is exhibiting unusual or difficult behaviors, it can occur from all the sounds in the hallway to the buzzing from the lights and can affect the individual that may have a sensitive sensory response
• Sensory seeking these students need some type of sensory stimulating activity, or could be the individuals that need to move around during discussion because that is how their brain best functions
• Navigation it can be confusing, especially if the student has any of the various communication difficulties and may lack the social skills needed to ask when navigating from classroom to classroom or learning center to learning center and can be further irritated by loud and unexpected sounds of voices and chairs scraping the floor
• Expectations not knowing what is expected of them, if the student is still developing social skills they may not do what is asked because they are unsure of what the expectations were before the activity and/or task and are unaware of how to ask appropriately
• Decision making if given too many possibilities for decisions, the student may become confused and irritated because they don’t know what to do and there are too many choices that have been presented to them

Ways to help and support these students

• Provide structure and consistency organizational skills are so important when it comes to this step because it can require a posted classroom schedule and one that the students also have in their notebooks that they can refer to, if needed try to stay clear of visual clutter, as that can cause more confusion
• Make information and supplies readily accessible label where items, homework, lessons, etc. go for the day don’t forget to verbally explain and show the students where they can find these areas and labels, if they haven’t been introduced
• Predictability this is where having a schedule and following it helps and is a nice starting point also having different tools and visual supports that are easily accessible to the student makes it easier for them to use and understand
• Consider potential distractions try to remember that open windows, fluorescent lighting, strong smells, and loud noises can be extremely distracting and are a few of the things that can affect a sensory sensitive student keeping these distractions down or altering them in a friendlier way can help the individual with paying attention to the task at hand
• Provide plenty of visual supports visual supports are your friend and ones that are interactive, more so for younger students but can benefit older students who like the sensory stimulation when the student physically removes a piece to the complete side or has a visual schedule in front of them and knows to expect gym class after recess

What are five ways that teachers can support critical thinking in the classroom?

Whether the student is in a general education classroom or special education program, there are five ways that teachers and teaching aids can help support students:

• Expose and prepare this a way that the teacher or aid could show and talk about the assignment before the assignment is taught and helps expose the student to the material and prepare them for what is going to be expected of them and what the assignment will entail
• Provide and plan for necessary adaptations for the student if the student already has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) there could be modifications and adaptations already outlined
• Visual supports these could be token charts that allow the student to interact and add tokens when they have accomplished something all the way to an interactive visual board that the student carries around, to a visual schedule that changes as the tasks change throughout the say letting the students know what to expect next
• Reinforcement the reinforcement discussed here is a way of rewarding the child for following school rules, finishing assignments, interacting with other students, or whatever they are working on for the moment
• Offer a safe space this is an area where the student can decompress and can either be a place where they go by themselves when they become overwhelmed

Free your mind

As a parent, it can be difficult changing around your thought patterns and expectations when it comes to different aspects of your child and what is being expected of them. It is an important thing to remember, though, that as your child is learning all kinds of things like new ways to interact in a more socially acceptable way to keep all your interactions as light and fun as possible.

As a parent you can look at things in a creative way. This can be fun and add a sense of adventure to how you and your child continue to learn and respond, especially when it comes to critical thinking, abstract skills, conceptual skills, and problem solving skills.

For instance, if you know your child doesn’t like doing their school work at the table, you can ask them where they would like to do their school work, be careful and avoid verbal overload by talking too long. It is best to keep to shorter sentences and questions and offer two to three potential answers.

If they say they would prefer to practice spelling on the couch, just make sure to minimize distractions and voila they have a new place to do work and where able to practice some abstract concepts to where homework can be done.

In her article, 3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking, Helen Lee Bouygues states three ways of improving critical thinking, and they are things parents can do at home to practice with their children!

What are the three things that parents can do at home to help these skills?

• Ask questions this can seem super simple, but the act of asking and answering repetitive verbal questions can help build problem solving skills because the child has to use their thinking skills and reason with the question to come up with potential answers
• Be logical if your child is very logical, this exercise could help them expand beyond their logic, although they would start with logic, and expand as you both come up with more questions and concepts to talk about
• See things differently you and your child have had a discussion about homework and they have figured out that they can do spelling practice on the couch, maybe come up with what other subjects may be done on the couch? Or where else could be a good place to practice spelling words and find out that they love spelling while swinging on their sensory swing.

Key takeaways

There are many ways that teachers and parents can both support and help develop critical thinking and other skills that will help the student in their future. Some of these ideas include ways that the classroom can help or hinder development and education.

Also, challenging parents to think outside the box when helping develop thinking skills and those needed for problem and organizational solving on a daily basis. Although there are children that may be able to express these skills during some times and forget about them during daily tasks, practice can help further the skill set.

As with anything else in life, practice can make perfect. Or, it can at least help by making steps toward the ultimate goals of using these skills as a student and beyond.

Bouygues, H. (2019). 3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking. https://hbr.org/2019/05/3-simple-habits-to-improve-your-critical-thinking

Goldstein, G., Mazefsky, C., Minshew, N., Walker, J., Williams, D. (2018). Associations Between Conceptual Reasoning, Problem Solving, and Adaptive Ability in High-functioning Autism. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6067678/

The Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders & Organization for Autism Research. Understanding Autism Professional Development Curriculum: Strategies for Classroom Success and Effective Use of Teacher Supports. https://csesa.fpg.unc.edu/sites/csesa.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/other/Presentation%202%20(Strategies%20for%20Classroom%20Success%20and%20Effective%20Use%20of%20Teacher%20Supports)(2).pdf

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18 Social Skills Activities for Kids with Autism and Sensory Issues

If you’re looking for social skills activities for kids with autism, as well as practical tips to help you teach social skills to a child on the autism spectrum, you’ve come to the right place!

Autism and Social Skills

While no two children with autism are the same, and the range and intensity of symptoms varies from person to person, social dysfunction tends to stand out the most when interacting with a child on the autism spectrum. Some kids find back-and-forth dialogue difficult, preferring to talk only about a topic he or she is interested in, while others prefer to avoid social interactions completely.

To an outsider, it often seems as though these children prefer to play independently, and while that may be the case for some, many kids with autism genuinely want to form friendships with their peers.

They just don’t know how to do it!

In the face of communication challenges, sensory processing sensitivities, an inability to express their own emotions and understand the emotions of others, and problems with impulse control and self-regulation, the world is an overwhelming and confusing place for people with autism, and despite their best intentions, they often fall short when it comes to reading social cues and responding appropriately.

The good news is that it IS possible to teach social skills to kids with autism, and we have 25 tips and social skills activities to help.

Teaching Social Skills for Autism: 7 Tips for Parents

Be a good role model. One of the foundations of teaching social skills for autism is to model what appropriate socialization looks like for your child, and explain what you’re doing and why. This can be uncomfortable for parents and caregivers who are introverted, but when you model consistent and positive social behavior for your child, it will be easier for her to mimic these behaviors over time. Make it a point to greet those you encounter together on a daily basis, and engage in small talk wherever possible.

Role play. Another great way to teach social skills to kids with autism is to role play. You can come up with fictional situations to act out together, or you can re-enact scenes that already happened and discuss more appropriate ways to handle such interactions in the future. Remember to practice often and to be consistent to ensure the principals and ideas you are trying to teach your child resonate with her.

Use social stories and scripts. Social stories are written descriptions of everyday situations and events told from a child’s perspective. They are aimed at providing children with something to rehearse so they feel prepared once the situation described actually takes place, and can be an excellent strategy for teaching social skills to kids with autism. Social scripts are a little more generic in that they provide kids with a pre-defined list of things to say in certain situations, and while they are certainly useful in teaching kids how to start conversations and how to respond to small talk, they should be used with caution as they won’t work in every situation and can make kids sound too scripted.

Develop a list of social rules. If your child struggles to understand some of the nuances of socialization, like the importance of saying ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’, taking turns while talking, respecting personal space, etc., consider developing a list of ‘Social Rules’ for your child to abide by. Write them down on a white board and keep them somewhere visible so your child can refer to the list often, and if your child struggles to maintain the rules you’ve set forth, consider turning this into a reward system whereby your child earns a small treat for following a certain number of the rules you’ve set forth for her each day.

Enroll your child in social groups. Many major cities offer social groups for kids with autism, which are aimed at pairing children with similar abilities together in an effort to provide opportunities for them to practice important social skills like starting conversations and taking turns talking. This is often done through play, and while social groups can be highly beneficial, the uniqueness of autism can make it difficult to find other kids with similar social skills to your child.

Organize supervised playdates. If you’re interested in providing your child opportunities to socialize with her peers, but struggle to find kids with similar social abilities, consider hosting playdates with some of her school mates at your home and find ways to get involved so as to teach your child how to interact appropriately. Organize games and activities for the kids to enjoy during the playdate so your involvement seems natural, and find subtle ways to prompt your child. Alternatively, if the other parents are open to it, you might consider having one of your child’s therapists participate in the playdate so he/she can more appropriately teach your child what is expected of her.

Read books. There are heaps of great books filled with social learning tips and social skills activities for kids with autism, many of which are geared towards providing ideas to parents and caregivers. Here are of 6 my favorites!

• The Zones of Regulation . The Zones of Regulation is a cognitive behavior based curriculum designed to help children learn how to regulate their emotions independently by teaching them how to identify their feelings and how their behavior impacts those around them. Developed by Leah M. Kuypers, the program teaches children how to recognize when they are in different emotional states called ‘zones’, which are represented by different colors. The Zones of Regulation uses activities to equip children with the tools they need to regulate their actions and stay in one zone (or move from one zone to another), allowing them increased control and problem-solving abilities, which will in turn help them understand how to interact in social settings, and how their actions may be perceived by and impact others. If your child struggles with self-control and lacks the ability to understand her emotions as well as the feelings of others, I highly recommend the program, and this book is a great starting point.
• You Are a Social Detective . This is an introductory book to the Social Thinking curriculum, and kids love it! Through fun cartoons, kids learn to distinguish between ‘expected’ and ‘unexpected’ social behaviors, and as they work through the book with a parent, therapist, or teacher, they will learn other ‘social smarts’, which will help them understand how they should and shouldn’t behave in social settings.
• The New Social Story Book . If you’re interested in using social stories to teach your children social skills and/or need inspiration on how to create your own social stories, this book is a great place to start. With over 150 social stores to choose from, these stories will help you teach your child how to recognize and respond to social cues, and how to make and maintain friendships.
• Social Skills Handbook for Autism: Activities to Help Kids Learn Social Skills and Make Friends . With more than 50 meaningful social skills activities to choose from, this book is packed with ideas to help parents, therapists, and teachers teach social skills to kids with autism.
• How to Make & Keep Friends: Tips for Kids to Overcome 50 Common Social Challenges . This book comes highly recommended from parents with older kids on the autism spectrum who struggle to make and maintain friendships.
• The Autism Activities Handbook: Activities to Help Kids Communicate, Make Friends, and Learn Life Skills . With more than 30 games and activities to help children on the spectrum learn different developmental skills like following directions, interacting with peers, developing social skills, and improving their communication and language skills, I highly recommend this book!

Social Skills Activities for Kids with Autism

And now for the fun part! If you’re looking for social skills activities for kids with autism and other developmental delays, this collection of 18 ideas is perfect for home, school, therapy, and social group settings, and double as fabulous one-on-one activities you can enjoy with your child when you want to spend some good ‘ole quality time together.

Kids Activities that Teach Emotions

Emotions Match Up | Teachers Pay Teachers Teachers Pay Teachers offers all kinds of helpful activities and games to help kids work on specific skills, and this Uno-inspired match-up game presents thought-probing questions about emotions, situations, and strategies which not only serve as an excellent teaching tool, but also helps foster conversation skills!

Emotions Sorting Game | Mom Endeavors If your child struggles with emotional regulation, this is a great activity to explore. It’s based on the movie Inside Out , and these Inside Out figures provide so many opportunities to teach kids about anger, sadness, fear, disgust, and joy!

Zones of Regulation Twister | Unknown If your kids enjoy the classic game Twister , this is a great Zones of Regulation activity, and you can set this up so many different ways. For example, when your child puts a hand on a certain color, he must tell you about a time he was in that colored zone, and when he puts his foot on a certain color, he must tell you about a strategy he used while in that colored zone to help him get back to the green zone.

Kids Activities that Teach Self-Regulation

Self-Control Bubbles | Love, Laughter and Learning in Prep! If you want an excuse to get outside and enjoy some sunshine with your little ones, grab a couple of bottles of bubbles and give this self-control activity a try!

Musical Statues I remember this being a favorite birthday party game when I was growing up, and recently learned it’s a fabulous game to teach kids the art of self-control. All you have to do is pump some good tunes, let your child dance off some energy, and periodically stop the music and yell ‘FREEZE!’ The idea is for your child to go from dancing to standing completely still in an instant, which isn’t an easy task for kids who struggle with self-control.

Distraction This game is equal parts hilarious and educational, and can be enjoyed in the classroom or as a family. Players take turns drawing number cards and must remember the growing sequence of numbers until a player pulls a ‘distraction card’. This person must then answer a silly question before reciting the sequence of numbers in the exact order they were drawn. It’s so much fun and a great therapy toy to help kids with challenges develop their cognitive skills in a non-threatening way.

Blurt! Geared towards older kids, Blurt! is a fun game the whole family can participate in, but it’s also a great way to teach kids self-control. The premise behind the game is simple – one person reads a definition, and the person to blurt out the corresponding word first wins – and when you organize the game such that only 2 people are playing against one another at a time, it forces the rest of the family to exercise self-control as they refrain from yelling out the answer.

Kids Activities that Teach Communication Skills

Social Skills Board Games This set contains six unique board games in one box, which are focused on helping kids learn about morals, manners, empathy, friendship, and emotions. It’s a great bundle to consider and the games are perfect for family game night!

Size of the Problem Activity Pack | Teachers Pay Teachers The activities in this set help kids identify the size of their problems and the feelings they create, identify which reactions are/are not appropriate, and strategize possible solutions, making it a great way to engage in meaningful back-and-forth communication with your child while simultaneously teaching appropriate communication skills and responses.

Learning Resources Conversation Cubes With 36 conversation starters to choose from, these Conversation Cubes offer a fun way for older kids to practice starting and maintaining conversations with others. You can practice at home, or set-up conversation groups within a classroom setting, allowing children the opportunity to practice how to initiate a conversation, and how to listen when others are speaking.

All About You Thumball Whether you’re practicing social skills at home, or hosting a social group for your child, the All About You ball offers a great way to break the ice, teach kids appropriate social conversation starters, and get them talking.

Social Skills Challenge | Teachers Pay Teachers This is a fun classroom activity, but you can easily use it at home or in a therapy setting as well. The idea is to provide your child(ren) with a social challenge each day, and then have them reflect on how they felt while completing each activity. It’s an innovative way to get kids thinking about appropriate socialization throughout the day, and by offering your child a way to reflect on their feelings afterward, you will gain a greater understanding of how she perceives certain social settings and interactions.

Kids Activities that Teach Problem Solving Skills

Describing and Solving Problems | Teachers Pay Teachers This is a great activity for kids who struggle to distinguish between big and small problems as well as appropriate reactions.

Scrabble Scrabble is a great game for kids who struggle with planning and organization. As the game progresses, they must strategize and anticipate how they can build their own words off of those already played by others. This is also a great game for kids who struggle with spelling and/or vocabulary, and it gets them talking!

Memory Also known as ‘Concentration’, there are many versions of the classic game Memory available for purchase to help develop a child’s focus and concentration skills. The idea is pretty easy and can be enjoyed with 2 or more players. Simply lie all of the tiles from the game facing downwards, and then take turns turning over 2 tiles at a time until you find a match. Children naturally build their working memory as they try to remember where specific cards are. We love our Despicable Me Memory Game , and I highly recommend Melissa & Doug’s Flip to Win Travel Memory Game as it can be played independently (or as a family) for on-the-go fun.

Problems in a Jar Mosswood Connections is one of my favorite resources for ideas to help kids with developmental delays like autism and sensory processing disorder, and I recently found this Problems in a Jar activity on their site. It’s designed to help kids with executive function disorder learn how to define a problem, generate possible solutions, evaluate and select the best solution, and then implement the solution independently. It’s a great social skills activity to work through with your child at home.

Team Sports Another great way to help a child develop her social skills is to sign her up for team sports she enjoys, like soccer or basketball. Organized activities such as these require kids to practice a whole range of social and problem-solving skills, like following directions, planning, strategizing, and even controlling their emotions in the event that they lose a game.

Swish I’m new to this game, but so far I really like it. To play, you lay out your cards and then try to find as many matches as possible. The cards are transparent and have different colored hoops on them in different positions. Players must look for matches (aka ‘swishes’), and the player to find the most wins. Swishes are created when a player can line up 2 cards such that the hoops are identical when they are stacked one on top of another. Cards can be rotated in order to make a swish, requiring players to use a variety of executive functions. In addition to exercising their visual-spatial abilities, they must focus and concentrate, and work quickly to beat their opponent, making it a great interactive game for kids who struggle with socialization.

I hope this collection of teaching tips and social skills activities for kids with autism proves helpful to you. Remember to be a good role model, to practice patience and consistency, and to keep things FUN!

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Verbal Problem-Solving Difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorders and Atypical Language Development

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) adopt less efficient strategies than typically developing (TD) peers on the Twenty Questions Task (TQT), a measure of verbal problem-solving skills. Although problems with the TQT are typically associated with executive dysfunction, they have also been reported in children who are deaf, suggesting a role for atypical language development. To test the contribution of language history to ASD problem solving, TQT performance was compared in children with high-functioning autism (HFA), children with Asperger syndrome (AS) and TD children. The HFA group used significantly less efficient strategies than both AS and TD children. No group differences were evident on tests of question understanding, planning or verbal fluency. Potential explanations for differences in verbal problem-solving skill are discussed with reference to the development of inner speech and use of visual strategies in ASD.

Young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are often reported to have difficulty with spontaneously generating plans and strategies to solve new problems [ Channon, Charman, Heap, Crawford, & Rios, 2001 ; Mackinlay, Charman, & Karmiloff-Smith, 2006 ; Minshew, Meyer, & Goldstein, 2002 ]. Compared with tasks with a fixed set of responses, children with ASD can struggle with more “open-ended” cognitive tasks where a range of strategies could be deployed to achieve a particular goal [ White, Burgess, & Hill, 2009 ]. Knowing more about why this occurs is important in both the lab and the real world, as it has implications for adaptive skills and independent living [ Kenworthy, Yerys, Anthony, & Wallace, 2008 ].

Problem Solving in People with ASD

A simple example of this is seen on the Twenty Questions Task (TQT), a verbal problem-solving 1 test based on the traditional guessing game [ Mosher & Hornsby, 1966 ]. In the TQT, the experimenter selects a target from a picture array of everyday objects, and the participant asks a series of questions to establish its identity. Typically, the questions will narrow down possibilities via a categorical hierarchy, such as “Is it living?”, “Is it an animal?” and so on. Compared with age and intelligence quotient (IQ)-matched typically developing (TD) peers, high-functioning children and adults with ASD take more guesses on the game and ask fewer category-based questions [ Minshew, Siegel, Goldstein, & Weldy, 1994 ]. Moreover, the grouping questions used by ASD participants are often too specific: for example, they may ask “Is it something you eat soup with?” when it may be more effective to first ask “Is it something you eat with?” or “Is it cutlery?” [ Alderson-Day & McGonigle-Chalmers, 2011 ].

Because many ASD individuals are able to identify basic categories when they are prompted to on other tasks [ Tager-Flusberg, 1985 ; Ungerer & Sigman, 1987 ], it has been suggested that this reflects a specific problem with “concept formation,” namely a difficulty in organizing a set of items into a new grouping heuristic when this needs to be done spontaneously [ Minshew et al., 2002 ]. But the TQT—and problem-solving more generally—also involves a range of other, complex demands that could be affecting ASD performance.

First, efficient problem solving relies on executive functions (EFs); that is, the set of skills required to retain and manipulate information “on-line” during goal-directed tasks, such as planning, flexibility, selective attention, inhibition and working memory [ Hill, 2004 ]. Two studies by Alderson-Day and colleagues studied the effects of these factors on TQT performance [ Alderson-Day, 2011 ; Alderson-Day & McGonigle-Chalmers, 2011 ]. The typical TQT includes an array of pictures that do not change throughout the task, meaning that participants have to remember their questions “on-line” as they play [ Mosher & Hornsby, 1966 ]. Alderson-Day and McGonigle-Chalmers [2011] tested what effect this has using a version of the TQT based on a Guess Who? board, where participants could knock down items as they searched. Compared with controls, a sample of high-functioning children with ASD had to ask more questions on average to reach the target when they were unable to physically eliminate items.

When items cannot be removed, participants not only have to remember questions, but they also have to selectively attend to relevant information in the visual array. To parse out these demands, a second study by Alderson-Day [2011] provided participants with a written reminder of their questions when knocking down items was prohibited. This eliminated the need for additional questions in the ASD group—even though the visual demands of the task had not changed—implying a problem with memory for questions rather than attention. In addition, the participants in Alderson-Day [2011] appeared to have difficulty with the planning demands of the TQT. Compared with controls, ASD participants could recognize good questions to ask in isolation but struggled to plan a series of questions in advance that would be likely to narrow down options. Thus, while the TQT may require some element of concept formation, problems with working memory and planning also appear to affect ASD problem solving in this case.

Effects of Language on Problem-Solving: The Comparison With Deafness

Another important factor to consider is the role of language skills, which is prompted by similarities in problem solving between ASD and deafness. In a study with deaf schoolchildren, Marschark and Everhart [1999] observed more guessing and less use of category questions in deaf participants compared with hearing participants, with similar problems being evident in a follow-up sample of deaf graduate students. Executive difficulties are sometimes evident in deaf children, usually presenting as problems with self-regulation and impulsivity [see Hauser, Lukomski, & Hillman, 2008 , for a review]. But rather than explain their data in terms of EF skills, Marschark and Everhart proposed that they are likely to reflect the atypical language development that many deaf children experience. Deafness per se is not associated with delays or deficits: if deaf children have early access to language, usually by having deaf parents or relatives who can sign, they tend to develop very good language and cognitive skills [ Mayberry, 2002 ]. However, over 90% of deaf children have hearing parents [ Mitchell & Karchmer, 2004 ], meaning that many will not encounter skilled users of signing until school age, and some may only be encouraged to use spoken language rather than sign. Accordingly, there can be a range of delays in language skills for deaf children [e.g. Blamey, 2003 ; Moeller, Tomblin, Yoshinaga-Itano, Connor, & Jerger, 2007 ], and it has been suggested that this has consequences for language-related cognitive skills, particularly those more dependent on knowledge of spoken English [ Marschark, 2006 ]. For instance, there is evidence of subtle differences in verbal reasoning, categorization and free recall in deaf adults when compared to hearing controls [ Farjardo, Arfé, Benedetti, & Altoé, 2008 ; Koh, Vernon, & Bailey, 1971 ; Marschark, Convertino, McEvoy, & Masteller, 2004 ; McEvoy, Marschark, & Nelson, 1999 ; Ormel et al., 2010 ; Yi et al., 2011 ].

Given the presence of early communication difficulties in ASD [ Boucher, 2012 ], it could be that similar factors affect verbal problem solving in autism. One way to test this is to compare TQT performance in young people with high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger syndrome (AS). In contrast to HFA, AS has typically been associated with the presence of intact structural language skills in the first 3 years of life [ American Psychiatric Association, 1994 ; World Health Organization, 1993 ]. In most other respects, however, HFA and AS are considered to be alike [as indicated by the removal of AS as a separate diagnosis in DSM 5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ]. While some early studies reported greater EF skills and stronger verbal than nonverbal skills in AS compared with HFA [e.g. Szatmari, Archer, Fisman, Streiner, & Wilson, 1995 ], studies that have controlled for IQ generally find very few cognitive differences at all between the two groups, including similar performance on many EF tasks [ Manjiviona & Prior, 1999 ; Mayes & Calhoun, 2004 ; Ozonoff, South, & Miller, 2000 ]. No studies, however, have compared verbal problem-solving skills of this kind between autism and AS.

If early language skills affect verbal problem solving in ASD, then children with AS should show intact verbal problem-solving skills compared with children with autism. The main aim of the present study was to test this by comparing children with HFA, AS and typical development in their TQT performance. The first hypothesis was that HFA but not AS participants would show impaired performance on the task compared with TD children.

Explaining Differences in Problem-Solving Performance

The second aim of the study was to explain why such a difference might exist by ruling out confounds and identifying potential markers of early language skills. Poor problem-solving performance could just result from problems with question understanding, planning ahead and coming up with new questions on the spot; none of which are necessarily indicative of early language skills [AS participants, for instance, in some cases show an advantage over HFA participants on tests of word fluency; Spek, Schatorje, Scholte, & van Berckelaer-Onnes, 2009 ]. To rule out such differences, three tasks were deployed: a question discrimination (QD) task and a plan construction (PC) task from Alderson-Day [2011] , and a verbal fluency measure. Following prior evidence of generally similar executive and language skills in HFA and AS, we hypothesized that there would be no difference between the two ASD groups on these measures.

For early language skills to have an effect on later problem solving, they would plausibly need to shape how different strategies are internally considered and selected. For instance, early language delays could disrupt the development of inner speech, interfering with self-regulation and verbal deliberation [ Diaz & Berk, 1992 ]. Alternatively, delays in language could lead to visually mediated cognitive strategies taking precedence over verbally mediated ones [ Soulieres et al., 2009 ]. Arguably the most plausible route, though, is via semantic memory. Delays to early communication could disrupt the learning of new semantic groupings and the development of typical associations between exemplars and categories [ Horton & Markman, 1980 ; Marschark et al., 2004 ]. To test this, a novel semantic decision task (SDT) was included in the testing battery. It was hypothesized that HFA but not AS participants would show atypical semantic decision skills and that this would be associated with group differences in problem solving.

Finally, a questionnaire measure of language milestones was deployed as an exploratory tool to assess possible links between language history and task performance. If semantic skills were not observed to explain problem-solving performance, then language milestones could still indicate the presence of an unspecified effect of language delay.

Participants

Fifteen children with AS (14 m; ages 9–16) and 15 children with HFA (14 m: ages 9–18) were recruited from the local area via parent groups and a local autism charity. Participants possessed a diagnosis of either autism or AS in accordance with ICD-10 research diagnostic criteria [ World Health Organization, 1993 ]. All ASD participants were originally diagnosed via contact with local clinical services, where diagnoses are made based on agreement by a multidisciplinary panel and use of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule [ Lord et al., 2000 ] and Autism Diagnostic Interview—Revised [ADI-R: Lord, Rutter, & Couteur, 1994 ]. Five participants had also had their diagnosis confirmed within the past 3 years by a trained researcher using the ADI-R. Exclusion criteria included the presence of any other neurological conditions, specific language impairments (SLIs) or reading difficulties. 2 Fifteen TD children (10 m; ages 9–18) were recruited from a participant database to provide a neurotypical comparison group. All recruitment and study procedures were approved by the University of Edinburgh research ethics committee.

Cognitive abilities were estimated using the vocabulary, similarities and matrix reasoning subtests of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale for Intelligence [WASI: Wechsler, 1999 ], providing scores for full-scale IQ (vocabulary and matrix reasoning) and verbal IQ (vocabulary and similarities). Pairwise t -tests indicated that the three groups did not significantly differ in IQ, although trends were observed for mean differences in VIQ ( P = 0.089) and, to a lesser extent, FSIQ ( P = 0.098) between HFA and TD participants specifically. While HFA and TD participants were age matched, the HFA group was significantly older than the group of AS participants (HFA > AS, t (28) = 2.157, P = 0.040) 3 ( Table 1 ).

Age and IQ Scores for ASD and TD Participants

AS, Asperger syndrome; HFA, high-functioning autism; n.s., not significant; SD, standard deviation; TD, typically developing.

Materials and Procedure

The first task attempted was the TQT. The task was presented on a board containing pictures of 24 everyday items, displayed in hinged frames (allowing for participants to eliminate items after each question). Participants completed three trials of Twenty Questions: the first two trials allowed item elimination during search by knocking down pictures that were no longer needed. On the last trial, elimination was prohibited, increasing the memory demands of the task. Alongside the game board, a 15” laptop was used to provide a “random selector” animation and audiovisual feedback during the game [for a full explanation of the TQT procedure, see Alderson-Day, 2011 ].

The primary outcome for the TQT was question quality (QQ), defined as the minimum proportion of items eliminated per question. For example, in a set of 10 items including five animals, “Is it an animal?” would eliminate at least half of the items irrespective of the answer, providing a score of 0.5. A direct guess (“Is it the dog?”) would only be guaranteed to eliminate one item out of 10, scoring 0.1. For comparison with previous studies, the number of questions used per trial and percentages of grouping questions and guesses were also recorded.

Following the TQT, participants attempted the QD and PC tasks from Alderson-Day [2011] . For QD, participants were presented with 10 hypothetical scenarios from Twenty Questions and asked to select which of two questions would be the best to ask first in each scenario. Five 12-item scenarios and five 24-item scenarios were presented using a stimulus book. The task was scored for the number of correct answers out of 10.

For PC, participants were presented with an array of 32 possible questions and asked to select five questions that would be useful to use “if we were to play the game again in a moment.” Once five questions were selected, participants were asked to order them in terms of which question they would ask first, second and so on. Responses were scored based on the mean QQ for the five questions selected, assuming a 24-item TQT set. For example, a sequence asking about living things, animals and pets would be guaranteed to eliminate 12, 6 and 3 items on average from the set, and would be allocated scores of 0.5, 0.25 and 0.125. Greater scores indicate greater efficiency of plans.

Verbal fluency

To assess verbal fluency abilities, the letter and semantic fluency subtests from the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination—Revised [ACE-R; Mioshi, et al., 2006 ] were administered. Raw scores for letter fluency (words beginning with “P”) and semantic fluency (animals) were used.

The SDT was based on semantic association measures used by Gaffrey et al. [2007] and Marschark et al. [2004] , and presented on a laptop using E-Prime [ Schneider, Eschman, & Zuccolotto, 2002 ]. Participants viewed a target word (e.g. ANIMAL) and were then asked to judge whether a series of cue words was associated with the target (e.g. DOG, HAMMER, HORSE). In the category condition, the target word was a superordinate category term (such as ANIMAL or TOOL), and the cue words were all basic exemplars, only some of which belonged to the target category. In the exemplar condition, a basic exemplar was the target (e.g. DOG), and the cue words were all superordinate category terms (e.g. ANIMAL, PET, FRUIT). Participants completed three blocks of 10 trials in each condition. Each trial consisted of a target word (2-sec presentation), a 500-msec interval and a cue word, which would remain on screen until the participant responded. Responses were followed by a feedback page (showing “Correct!” or “Incorrect”). Based on prior evidence of intact category identification in ASD [ Minshew et al., 2002 ], the reaction times for accurate responses (indicating semantic association) were used as the primary outcome of the task. In addition, accuracy scores were collected for each condition. 4

Language questionnaire

Parents were asked to indicate (a) age of first word, (b) age of first phrase of two or more words and (c) language ratings at age 3, 5, 7 and current age in relation to other children of the same age. Ratings were made on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (“Much worse than other children of the same age”) to 5 (“Much better than other children”). Items (a) and (b) were chosen based on their standard use in the ADI-R [ Lord et al., 1994 ]. Language ratings beyond age 3 were included to reflect the possibility of later language abilities also having important predictive value [see, e.g. Bennett et al., 2008 ].

Unless otherwise stated, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the three groups on the main task outcomes. Covariate analysis, using age and VIQ as covariates, was used to account for potential influences of age and general ability. VIQ but not full-scale IQ was included as a covariate because of (a) strong collinearity between scores for both and (b) the greater relevance of VIQ to verbal problem solving. Where dependent variables were nonnormal, nonparametric tests were used (specifically, Kruskal–Wallis tests with Mann–Whitney post-hoc tests when assessing group differences and Spearman’s Rho for correlational analysis).

ANCOVA was first of all applied to performance on the TQT to test the hypothesis that HFA but not AS participants would be less efficient than TD participants in their problem solving. Second, ANCOVAs and Kruskall–Wallis tests were used to assess group differences in QD, planning, fluency and semantic decision. To test their effect on problem solving, they were then also included as covariates in a reanalysis of TQT performance. Finally, correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were used to test for potential predictors of problem-solving performance across all three groups combined.

P -values were not corrected across different tasks because there were deemed to be testing separate questions (namely do the groups differ in problem solving, is that because of clear confounds in other relevant skills, and is it because of a difference in semantic abilities?). Within each task, post hoc comparisons were made using P -values Bonferroni-corrected for the number of pairwise tests between groups.

Comparing Problem-Solving Skills

Table 2 displays the main task outcomes for the TQT. To test overall problem-solving efficiency, an ANCOVA was run comparing mean QQ scores in the three groups. This indicated a main effect of group ( F (2, 40) = 5.303, P = 0.009, eta p 2 = 0.210), alongside covariate effects of VIQ ( F (1, 40) = 4.092, P = 0.001, eta p 2 = 0.244) and age ( F (1, 40) = 5.262, P = 0.027, eta p 2 = 0.116). As hypothesized, pairwise comparisons indicated that HFA participants’ questions were significantly less efficient than those of AS participants ( P = 0.016) and TD participants ( P = 0.029). No difference was observed between AS and TD participants ( P = 1.0).

Mean Task Scores in AS, HFA and TD Participants

AS, Asperger syndrome; HFA, high-functioning autism; n.s., not significant; QQ, question quality; SD, standard deviation; TD, typically developing.

For the secondary outcomes of the TQT, similar group differences were evident for the number of questions on each trial (group main effect: F (2, 40) = 4.056, P = 0.025, eta p 2 = 0.169), although only the HFA vs. TD contrast was significant ( P = 0.032). Use of grouping was high in all groups (60–65%), and on average guesses were used twice as much by ASD participants, but Kruskal–Wallis ANOVAs (used because of skew in the rates of grouping and guessing) indicated no significant group differences (all P > 0.400). A mixed ANCOVA was also used to check for any changes in efficiency across the three task trials. Despite the switch from allowing (trials 1 and 2) to prohibiting elimination (trial 3), no significant trial effects or interactions were evident for QQ (all P > 0.05, all eta p 2 < 0.1), suggesting that overall group differences on these variables were consistent across trials.

Explanations of Problem-Solving Differences

ANCOVA indicated no significant Group effect or any covariate effects on QD (all P > 0.05, all eta p 2 < 0.06). For PC, plan efficiency was significantly influenced by VIQ ( F (1, 40) = 6.658, P = 0.014, eta p 2 = 0.164), but no effects of group or age were observed (all P > 0.05, all eta p 2 < 0.06).

All verbal fluency scores were nonnormal, necessitating the use of nonparametric tests. Kruskal–Wallis tests indicated a trend on letter fluency score ( X 2 (2) = 5.175, N = 45, P = 0.075) and a significant difference on semantic fluency score ( X 2 (2) = 6.33, N = 45, P = 0.042) between the groups. In general, performance was best in TD participants and worst in AS participants (see Table 2 ), but no pairwise differences survived correction for multiple comparisons. To test for potential effects of fluency performance on problem solving, letter and semantic fluency scores were then added separately as covariates to ANCOVAs of TQT QQ. Neither significantly contributed to TQT performance, and all original main effects remained the same (all P > 0.600, all eta p 2 < 0.02).

A 3 × 2 (group × condition) mixed ANCOVA was used to compare reaction times in each group on the SDT. Significant contributions of age ( F (1, 40) = 10.774, P = 0.002, eta p 2 = 0.212) and VIQ ( F (1, 40) = 5.388, P = 0.025, eta p 2 = 0.119) were observed, but no significant effect of group. Nominally, mean reaction times were slower for exemplar-to-category associations than the reverse (see Table 2 ), but no significant difference was observed between the two conditions ( P = 0.154, eta p 2 = 0.050) nor any group × condition interactions.

Accuracy scores for the same task were nonnormally distributed. Kruskal–Wallis tests indicated no significant differences in accuracy on the exemplar condition ( X 2 (2) = 4.295, N = 45, P = 0.117), but a significant contrast for the category condition ( X 2 (2) = 8.462, N = 45, P = 0.012). Mann–Whitney U -tests indicated that AS participants were less accurate than TD participants ( U = 49.50, N = 30, P = 0.042) in their identification of exemplars when provided with a superordinate category (e.g. Does it go with TOOL?). No other pairwise comparisons reached significance (all P > 0.05).

When SDT outcomes were included as covariates in the TQT analysis, no significant covariate effects were observed (all P > 0.300, all eta p 2 < 0.03), suggesting that they could not explain group differences in problem-solving efficiency.

Early language ratings

Language milestones and parent ratings are displayed in Table 3 . Spearman’s correlations were used to assess the validity of language ratings for ages 3 and up, showing moderate correlations with full-scale ( r = 0.26–0.29) and verbal IQ ( r = 0.19–0.30). A hierarchical regression analysis was used to explore potential predictors of problem-solving performance, using mean QQ as the dependent variable. Block 1 included age and gender (as control variables), block 2 added ages of first word and first phrase, and block 3 added language ratings for 3, 5, 7 and current age. The only individual predictor to reach significance in any model was age of first phrase (stan. beta = −0.532, P = 0.029), and while block 2 showed a significant R 2 change over block 1 ( ΔR 2 = 0.145, F (2,44) = 3.492, P = 0.043), none of the resulting models significantly predicted mean QQ (all P > 0.110).

Early Language Milestones and Parent Ratings

AS, Asperger syndrome; HFA, high-functioning autism; SD, standard deviation; TD, typically developing.

The main finding of the study was that HFA participants, but not AS participants, adopted less efficient strategies than TD children during verbal problem solving. As was hypothesized, HFA participants asked questions that eliminated fewer items each time, whereas AS participants performed at a similar level to TD children. This suggests that atypical language development may be important to explaining inefficiencies in the task performance of ASD participants and that prior evidence of problems on the TQT in ASD samples [ Alderson-Day & McGonigle-Chalmers, 2011 ; Minshew et al., 1994 , 2002 ] may only apply to those with experience of language delay. There was also tentative evidence to suggest that age of first phrase acquisition was related to problem-solving performance, although in general early language milestones and ratings from parents did not significantly predict success on the TQT.

Alongside this, AS and HFA participants displayed a very similar profile on a range of other measures. No differences between ASD participants were observed in question understanding, planning and verbal fluency, in support of the hypothesis that such skills would not explain group differences in problem solving. This is consistent with prior reports of comparable EF and fluency skills in autism and AS [ Manjiviona & Prior, 1999 ; Miller & Ozonoff, 2000 ; Verté, Geurts, Roeyers, Oosterlaan, & Sergeant, 2006 ; cf. Spek et al., 2009 ]. It may have been expected that AS participants would be generally be more fluent than HFA participants and thus able to generate questions on the task, but the direction of results indicated the opposite. Furthermore, performance on the task was unrelated to problem-solving efficiency on the TQT.

These results add to the prior findings of Alderson-Day [2011] and Alderson-Day and McGonigle-Chalmers [2011] by suggesting that verbal problem solving might be a specific problem for HFA children, rather than ASD as a whole. Moreover, while those studies identified specific executive demands posed by the TQT, the present study suggests that language background may be more important to understanding why children with ASD struggle to use the most effective questions.

The final hypothesis—that differences on the TQT would map on to underlying differences in semantic skill—was not supported: performance on a SDT was unrelated to success on the TQT. Contrary to predictions, AS rather than HFA participants showed the most atypical performance on this task, scoring lowest for the identification of exemplars for specific superordinate categories. This is consistent with prior evidence of atypical semantic skills in AS compared with TD children ( Kamio et al., 2007 ) but hard to explain in relation to HFA participants. Very few studies have directly compared categorization or other related lexico-semantic skills in AS and HFA, and those that have usually find HFA to be more atypical in profile than AS [e.g. Speirs, Yelland, Rinehart, & Tonge, 2011 ]. In any case, there is little evidence here to suggest that semantic skills provide the link between language history and later problem solving for children with HFA.

One process that could be implicated instead is inner speech (also known as silent speech or internal monologue). Inner speech is often argued to be developmental in origin and has been historically associated with problem solving and self-regulation [ Vygotsky, 1987 ]. Problems with early communicative interaction would in theory impact upon inner speech and its developmental precursor, private speech [ Fernyhough, 1996 ]. Intriguingly, use of private speech appears to be intact in children with ASD and can even enhance their performance on cognitive tasks relative to when they are silent [ Winsler, Abar, Feder, Schunn, & Rubio, 2007 ]. However, a range of studies have indicated that inner speech is less likely to be utilized by people with ASD [ Holland & Low, 2010 ; Wallace, Silvers, Martin, & Kenworthy, 2009 ; Whitehouse, Maybery, & Durkin, 2006 ], and this seems to be particularly the case for more complex planning and problem-solving tasks [ Williams, Bowler, & Jarrold, 2012 ]. If the development and internalization of inner speech was more likely to be disrupted in HFA compared with AS, then this could have long-term consequences for activities like verbal problem solving.

Such an explanation is speculative, but it has specific implications that are testable. One prediction is that there would be differences in inner speech use within the autism spectrum according to language history, at its simplest varying as a function of language delay, or varying with the degree of early communicative impairment in some other way. Another implication is that we should expect similar problem-solving profiles in other children with a history of language difficulties, such as those with a SLI. There is initial evidence to suggest that children with SLI show intact use of inner speech but less internalized use of private speech during planning tasks, implying a delayed development of verbal strategy skills [ Lidstone, Meins, & Fernyhough, 2012 ]. It may be that similar delays in the internalization of self-directed language skills affects ASD as well: a question for future research would be to examine how the relative proportions of private and inner speech use vary for ASD children in relation to their degree of language delay.

Another possibility, not mutually exclusive to the first, is that participants with HFA were more likely than AS or TD participants to adopt other, nonverbal strategies in their approach to the TQT. Anecdotally, there are many accounts of people with ASD preferring to “think in pictures” rather than speech [ Grandin, 1995 ; Kunda & Goel, 2011 ]. Direct experimental comparisons are few, but there is some evidence to suggest HFA but not AS participants respond faster to visuospatial rather than verbal matrix reasoning puzzles [ Sahyoun, Soulières, Belliveau, Mottron, & Mody, 2009 ]. If this were to explain differences in problem-solving skill, the implication would be that ASD individuals with language delay would be more likely to adopt visual strategies than those with more typical language development. As the TQT involves a visual array, visualizing potential groupings or basing questions on concrete and perceptual similarities represent possible ways of attempting the task, but also ones that may not identify the most abstract categories for questioning (such as organic vs. nonorganic entities). Dependence on visual or verbal strategies could be investigated by manipulating levels of perceptual similarity and abstractness in the test materials [for a preliminary example, see Alderson-Day & McGonigle-Chalmers, 2011 ].

It is of course possible that AS and HFA participants were differing in other ways on the task. Given its visual presentation, it could be that HFA participants were narrowly focusing on small groupings at the expense of more global categories, as would be typical of a “local-biased” processing style [ Happé & Frith, 2006 ]. However, signs of local bias are generally evident across the autistic spectrum [e.g. Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1997 ]. It is also not clear why, developmentally, the two groups would be more likely to differ in this regard, but not differ in other ways more closely related to language.

Before discussing the practical implications of these findings, some caveats must be acknowledged. First, the sample size tested here is small, and it was not possible to closely match the participant groups in age and IQ abilities. The analytic method used here to compensate for this (ANCOVA) adjusts for the effects of age and IQ, but it should not be interpreted as fully “controlling” for their influence [ Miller & Chapman, 2001 ]. This is perhaps less of a concern regarding age, as HFA participants were significantly older than AS participants and yet still performed worse on the TQT. That being said, the relatively wide age range may have also obscured important differences in ability, given that executive skills and overall problem-solving competence can change considerably for ASD participants in adolescence [ Van den Bergh, Scheeren, Begeer, Koot, & Geurts, 2014 ]. The inequivalence of the groups is more important regarding VIQ, as theoretically this could have driven group differences in performance despite the statistical correction of using ANCOVA. In mitigation, it is worth noting that group differences between HFA and TD participants have previously been observed in samples closely matched for IQ [ Alderson-Day, 2011 ; Minshew et al., 1994 ] and that HFA participants in the present study performed comparably on almost every other task. Nevertheless, these findings need to be replicated in a larger, more closely matched sample before the potential contributions of age and IQ to group differences in problem solving can be clearly ruled out.

Second, the study did not include a standardized measure of language skills, such as the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) test [ Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 1995 ]. To allow for other experimental tasks to be used in the time allowed, it was not possible to deploy an in-depth language battery in this instance: a larger study with an existing database of ASD participants should be able to achieve this. However, while a standardized language measure was not deployed here, the tasks used covered a range of relevant skills, including lexical knowledge (WASI vocabulary), category knowledge (SDT) and word fluency (ACE-R letter and semantic fluency). Thus, a number of language-dependent skills were accounted for, even if a standardized battery was absent.

Finally, the use of parent’s retrospective reports of early language abilities—which may have occurred over 10 years ago—at best only offer a rough proxy for language skills at the time, and without additional data it is unknown how reliable those ratings truly are. The data provided by families generally fitted existing diagnoses, but only longitudinal data could fully demonstrate relationships between early language and later cognitive skills. Such data would also be important in assessing how problem-solving abilities may change with language skills over time for people with ASD.

Notwithstanding those limitations, the study has a range of potential implications for methods and practice. First, if the TQT and other measures of verbal problem-solving are used with ASD groups [as it is in the Delis Kaplan Executive Function System; Delis, Kaplan, & Kramer, 2001 ], then task performance needs to be considered in the context of current and past language skills. The TQT is not a simple measure of problem solving or concept formation: it is a complex task with considerable executive and linguistic demands. Other cognitive tasks where the most effective strategies are language dependent, and the executive load is high—such as certain types of free recall or counterfactual reasoning—are also likely to create similar problems for HFA individuals.

Second, although the recent changes to diagnostic criteria have eliminated the diagnosis of Asperger disorder [ American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ], these data act as a reminder that variation in language skills and development across the spectrum are important and can impact upon cognition in subtle ways for people with ASD, even if the large majority of cognitive outcomes appear similar. This is likely to be particularly important in educational contexts for understanding what kinds of strategies are going to be most useful for facilitating verbal problem-solving skills in ASD individuals. In social problem-solving training [ Solomon, Goodlin-Jones, & Anders, 2004 ], for example, young people with HFA who have good structural language skills but a history of language delay may still need considerable support for use of new verbal strategies. Alternatively, they may be more likely to benefit from use of visual materials such as decision trees, Venn diagrams or other graphical techniques that can be used to support decision making [ Davies, Stock, & Wehmeyer, 2003 ; Dexter & Hughes, 2011 ]. AS individuals, in contrast, may be better placed to handle the language demands of such training, while still struggling with the social-cognitive aspects of its core content.

Any problem-solving task presents a range of complex demands: verbal problem solving often requires generating linguistic strategies and applying them flexibly to a new situation. The results presented here suggest that even a simple, game-based example of problem solving could be affected by an individual’s developmental background. A replication of this result, with more closely matched groups and a wider age range, would test this more idea more comprehensively. Understanding how language development can selectively affect performance in a range of problem-solving contexts is crucial to developing better educational tools and better support for people with an ASD.

Acknowledgments

This research was completed as part of a doctoral degree by the author at the University of Edinburgh and supported by a University of Edinburgh College of Humanities and Social Sciences Studentship. Margaret McGonigle-Chalmers and Robert Logie are thanked for their help and support for the research. Thanks are also due to Charles Fernyhough for comments on the manuscript. The author declares no conflicts of interest.

The author is currently supported by Wellcome Trust grant WT098455.

1 “Problem solving” is a term that has been applied to a wide range of tasks that can sometimes vary considerably [c.f. Rumsey, 1985 ; Soulieres et al., 2009 ]. Broadly, it is used to refer to tasks or puzzles where the solution is not made apparent in the task materials. More specifically, problem-solving tasks often require (a) the generation of a strategy to achieve success and (b) working through a series of moves or steps towards a solution [ Newell & Simon, 1972 ].

2 One HFA participant had also previously received a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Because of the high comorbidity of ASD and ADHD [ Leyfer et al., 2006 ], this participant was not excluded, but the data weremarked for later analysis in case of potential outliers in performance. However, all of the participant’s data fell well within range for their group.

3 Parents were also asked to complete a version of the Autism Quotient [AQ-Adolescent; Baron-Cohen, Hoekstra, Knickmeyer, & Wheelwright, 2006 ] about their child as a further means of matching the groups. Questionnaires were available for all but one HFA participant. Both HFA and ASD participants scored higher than TD participants ( P < 0.05). No difference was observed between the ASD groups ( P = 0.596).

4 Participants also initially completed a practice round of identifying four-, six- and eight-letter words without a semantic decision component, but that is not reported here.

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Life Skills in Children with Autism

The Importance of Life Skills for Children with Autism

Developing life skills is of paramount importance for children with autism. These skills empower them to navigate their daily lives, foster independence, and enhance their overall quality of life. In this section, we will explore the significance of life skills for children with autism, including the understanding of autism and the benefits of life skills development.

Understanding Autism and Life Skills Development

Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a developmental disorder that affects communication, social interaction, and behavior. Individuals with autism often face challenges in various areas, including communication, social skills, and adaptive behavior. However, with the right support and guidance, these challenges can be overcome through life skills development.

Life skills encompass a wide range of capabilities that enable individuals to function independently and effectively in their daily lives. For children with autism, life skills development involves focusing on essential areas such as communication, social skills, self-care, emotional regulation, and cognitive abilities.

How Life Skills Benefit Children with Autism?

The development of life skills has a profound impact on the lives of children with autism. Here are some key benefits:

• Improved Communication : Enhancing communication skills is crucial for individuals with autism. By honing their communication abilities, children with autism can express their needs, thoughts, and emotions more effectively.
• Enhanced Social Interaction : Building social skills allows children with autism to engage in meaningful interactions and establish connections with others. These skills enable them to navigate social situations, make friends, and develop valuable relationships.
• Greater Independence : Life skills training empowers children with autism to become more self-reliant and independent in their daily lives. By acquiring essential self-care skills and adaptive behaviors, they gain the confidence and competence to perform tasks independently.
• Emotional Regulation : Cultivating emotional regulation skills helps children with autism manage their emotions and cope with stress and anxiety. These skills provide them with effective strategies to regulate their emotional responses and promote their overall emotional well-being.
• Enhanced Cognitive Abilities : Developing cognitive skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, and cognitive flexibility, equips children with autism with the tools to navigate challenges and adapt to new situations. These skills assist in their cognitive and intellectual growth.

By focusing on life skills development, parents, caregivers, and therapists play a vital role in supporting children with autism to reach their full potential. The acquisition of these skills equips them with the tools necessary to lead fulfilling and independent lives.

Developing Communication Skills

Effective communication skills are essential for children with autism to navigate their daily lives and form meaningful connections with others. In this section, we will explore communication strategies specifically designed for children with autism, as well as methods to enhance both verbal and nonverbal communication.

Communication Strategies for Children with Autism

Children with autism often face challenges in expressing their thoughts, emotions, and needs. Implementing the right communication strategies can help them overcome these obstacles and improve their ability to communicate effectively. Here are some strategies that can be beneficial:

• Visual Supports : Visual aids, such as picture schedules, social stories, and visual cues, can assist children with autism in understanding and following instructions. These visual supports provide a concrete representation of concepts and help foster comprehension and communication.
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) : For individuals with limited verbal abilities, AAC systems can be invaluable. These systems include tools like communication boards, sign language, and electronic devices that allow individuals to express themselves using symbols, pictures, or text.
• Social Skills Training : Social skills training focuses on teaching children with autism the necessary skills to engage in social interactions. This training helps them understand social cues, take turns, initiate conversations, and maintain eye contact, ultimately facilitating more meaningful connections with others.

Enhancing Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

Improving both verbal and nonverbal communication skills is crucial for children with autism. Here are some strategies to enhance communication in these areas:

• Speech Therapy : Speech therapy plays a vital role in supporting children with autism in developing their verbal communication skills. Speech therapists use various techniques, such as articulation exercises, language modeling, and auditory training, to improve speech clarity, vocabulary, and sentence formation.
• Pictorial Communication : Using visual supports, such as PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System), can assist children with autism in communicating their wants, needs, and thoughts. PECS involves using pictures or symbols to help individuals initiate and engage in conversations.
• Body Language and Gestures : Nonverbal communication, including body language and gestures, is an essential aspect of communication. Teaching children to recognize and interpret facial expressions, gestures, and body postures can enhance their ability to understand others and express themselves nonverbally.

By implementing effective communication strategies and focusing on both verbal and nonverbal communication, parents and caregivers can support children with autism in developing their communication skills.

Remember that each child is unique, and it's important to tailor these strategies to meet their specific needs and abilities. With patience, practice, and consistent support, children with autism can make significant progress in their communication abilities, leading to improved interactions and a greater sense of connection with the world around them.

Building Social Skills

Developing social skills is a vital aspect of life skills development in children with autism. By focusing on teaching social interaction skills and encouraging social engagement and play, parents and caregivers can support the social development of children with autism.

Teaching Social Interaction Skills

Teaching social interaction skills involves providing children with autism the tools and strategies they need to navigate social situations effectively. Some key strategies that can be helpful include:

• Visual supports : Visual supports, such as social stories or visual schedules, can help children with autism understand social expectations and routines. These visual aids provide a concrete and visual representation of social situations, helping children understand appropriate behaviors and responses.
• Social scripts : Social scripts provide children with autism with predetermined phrases or sentences they can use in social situations. These scripts help children initiate and maintain conversations, ask for help, or express their feelings appropriately.
• Role-playing : Role-playing is an effective technique that allows children with autism to practice social skills in a safe and controlled environment. Through role-playing, children can learn turn-taking, active listening, and other important social skills.
• Structured social activities : Structured social activities, such as group games or cooperative projects, can provide opportunities for children with autism to interact with their peers. These activities can be designed to target specific social skills, such as sharing, taking turns, and following rules.

Encouraging Social Engagement and Play

Encouraging social engagement and play is essential for fostering social skills in children with autism. Here are some strategies to promote social interaction and play:

• Peer modeling : Peer modeling involves pairing a child with autism with a peer who demonstrates appropriate social behaviors. By observing and imitating their peers, children with autism can learn social skills and engage in meaningful play.
• Structured playdates : Organizing structured playdates with peers who are understanding and accepting can provide opportunities for children with autism to practice social skills in a supportive environment. These playdates can be facilitated by parents or caregivers to ensure successful interactions and promote positive social experiences.
• Community programs and support groups : Participating in community programs or joining support groups specifically designed for children with autism can provide opportunities for social interaction and play. These programs often incorporate structured activities and socialization opportunities that cater to the unique needs of individuals with autism.
• Social skills training programs : Enrolling children in social skills training programs can provide systematic and comprehensive instruction in various social skills areas. These programs, often led by professionals with expertise in autism, focus on teaching specific social skills through structured lessons and practice opportunities.

By implementing these strategies and providing children with autism ample opportunities for social interaction and play, parents and caregivers can help them develop and enhance their social skills. Remember, every child with autism is unique, so it's important to tailor the approach to their individual needs and abilities.

Fostering Independence and Self-Care Skills

For children with autism, developing independence and self-care skills is essential for their overall growth and well-being. These skills empower them to navigate daily life with confidence and autonomy. In this section, we will explore two key aspects of fostering independence and self-care skills in children with autism: daily living skills and promoting self-care and personal hygiene.

Daily Living Skills for Autistic Children

Daily living skills encompass a wide range of activities that are important for children with autism to learn and master. These skills enable them to become more self-reliant and participate actively in their daily routines. Some common daily living skills that can be taught to children with autism include:

By incorporating these daily living skills into their routine, children with autism can develop a greater sense of independence and actively contribute to their daily lives.

Promoting Self-Care and Personal Hygiene

Promoting self-care and personal hygiene is crucial for children with autism to maintain good health and well-being. Teaching them self-care skills not only fosters independence but also helps build confidence and self-esteem. Here are some strategies to promote self-care and personal hygiene in children with autism:

• Visual supports: Utilize visual schedules, social stories, and visual cues to help children understand and follow the steps involved in personal hygiene routines, such as brushing teeth, washing hands, and taking a shower.
• Break tasks into smaller steps: Break down self-care tasks into smaller, manageable steps to make it easier for children with autism to learn and follow. For example, breaking down toothbrushing into wetting the toothbrush, applying toothpaste, brushing each tooth, and rinsing.
• Model and practice: Demonstrate the desired self-care behaviors and provide opportunities for children to practice these skills in a supportive and structured environment. Offer praise and positive reinforcement for their efforts and progress.
• Sensory considerations: Recognize and accommodate sensory sensitivities that may impact a child's willingness or ability to engage in self-care activities. Modify the environment, such as using soft towels or adjusting water temperature, to create a more comfortable experience.
• Consistency and routine: Establish consistent daily routines for self-care activities to help children develop a sense of predictability and comfort. Use visual schedules to provide a clear sequence of tasks and reinforce the importance of maintaining personal hygiene.

By focusing on these strategies, parents and caregivers can support children with autism in developing essential self-care and personal hygiene skills, promoting their independence and overall well-being.

As we continue our exploration of developing life skills in children with autism, the next section will delve into the importance of cultivating emotional regulation and strategies to support emotional well-being.

Cultivating Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation is a vital life skill for children with autism as it helps them manage and express their emotions in a healthy and appropriate manner. Cultivating emotional regulation involves teaching strategies for emotional regulation and providing support for emotional well-being.

Strategies for Emotional Regulation

Children with autism often face challenges in understanding, identifying, and expressing their emotions. Implementing strategies for emotional regulation can greatly assist them in navigating their emotions more effectively. Here are some strategies that can be beneficial:

• Visual Supports : Visual aids, such as emotion charts or visual schedules, can help children with autism recognize and label their emotions. These supports provide a visual representation of different emotions and can aid in developing emotional awareness.
• Social Stories : Social stories are short narratives that describe social situations and appropriate emotional responses. They help children with autism understand various emotions and provide guidance on how to respond in specific scenarios.
• Deep Breathing and Relaxation Techniques : Teaching deep breathing exercises and relaxation techniques can help children with autism manage their emotions. These techniques promote self-calming and provide a sense of control during moments of emotional distress.
• Sensory Strategies : Sensory experiences can significantly impact emotions in children with autism. Implementing sensory strategies, such as providing sensory breaks or using sensory tools like fidget toys, can help regulate emotions by providing sensory input and reducing sensory overload.

Supporting Emotional Well-being

In addition to teaching strategies for emotional regulation, providing ongoing support for the emotional well-being of children with autism is crucial. Here are some ways to support their emotional well-being:

• Emotional Validation : Validating the emotions of children with autism is essential. Acknowledge their feelings and let them know that their emotions are valid and understood. This helps build trust and a sense of emotional security.
• Establishing Routines : Consistent routines provide a sense of predictability and stability, which can contribute to emotional well-being. Establishing daily routines can help children with autism feel more secure and reduce anxiety.
• Encouraging Self-expression : Provide opportunities for children with autism to express their emotions in a safe and supportive environment. Encourage them to use alternative forms of communication, such as visual aids, writing, or drawing, to express their feelings.
• Promoting Positive Relationships : Foster positive relationships and social connections for children with autism. Encourage interactions with peers, siblings, and family members to help them develop social skills and emotional bonds.

By implementing strategies for emotional regulation and providing support for emotional well-being, parents and caregivers can help children with autism develop essential life skills to navigate their emotions more effectively. Remember, each child is unique, so it's important to tailor strategies and support to their individual needs.

Enhancing Cognitive and Problem-Solving Skills

In addition to communication, social, and self-care skills, developing cognitive and problem-solving abilities is crucial for children with autism. These skills play a vital role in their overall development and independence. Let's explore two key aspects of enhancing cognitive and problem-solving skills in children with autism: developing critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, and promoting cognitive flexibility and adaptability.

Developing Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Abilities

Critical thinking and problem-solving skills enable children with autism to navigate various situations and challenges they may encounter in their daily lives. These skills empower them to analyze information, make informed decisions, and find effective solutions.

To develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, parents and caregivers can employ various strategies. One effective approach is using visual supports, such as visual schedules and task analysis, to break down complex tasks into manageable steps. This helps children understand the process and identify potential solutions. Additionally, incorporating problem-solving activities and games into their routines can enhance their analytical thinking and decision-making skills.

Encouraging open-ended questions and providing opportunities for children to express their thoughts and opinions also fosters critical thinking. Engaging in activities that require logical reasoning, such as puzzles and riddles, can further strengthen their problem-solving abilities.

Promoting Cognitive Flexibility and Adaptability

Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to shift one's thinking, adapt to new situations, and consider alternative perspectives. For children with autism, developing cognitive flexibility is essential as it helps them navigate changes, transitions, and unexpected events.

To promote cognitive flexibility and adaptability, parents and caregivers can incorporate structured activities that introduce new concepts, encourage creative thinking, and provide opportunities for flexible problem-solving. Engaging in pretend play, where children take on different roles and scenarios, can enhance their ability to adapt and think flexibly.

Providing a supportive and predictable environment is also crucial for children with autism to build cognitive flexibility. Establishing routines and gradually introducing changes can help them develop the skills needed to adapt to new situations. It's important to offer guidance and reassurance during transitions, allowing them to adjust at their own pace.

By focusing on developing critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, as well as promoting cognitive flexibility and adaptability, parents and caregivers can empower children with autism to face challenges and navigate their world with confidence. These skills, along with effective communication, social, and self-care skills, contribute to their overall growth and independence. Seeking professional guidance through autism life skills training can provide further support in nurturing these essential skills.

What are some common challenges that children with ASD face when learning life skills?

Children with ASD may face challenges such as difficulty with communication, social interaction, and self-care. Some children may struggle to understand social cues or have difficulty expressing themselves verbally. Others may have sensory issues that make self-care tasks, such as grooming or dressing, challenging.

How can parents and caregivers help teach life skills to children with ASD?

Parents and caregivers can help teach life skills to children with ASD by using visual aids, role-playing activities, and breaking down tasks into smaller steps. Visual aids can help children understand daily routines or social rules, while role-playing activities allow them to practice social skills in a safe environment. Breaking down tasks into smaller steps can also make learning self-care skills more manageable.

Is it possible for children with ASD to learn life skills at their own pace?

Yes! It is important to remember that every child is unique and learns at their own pace. Some children may pick up certain life skills quickly while others may need more time and practice. It is important to be patient and supportive of your child's learning process.

Are there any resources available for parents and caregivers who want to teach life skills to their child with ASD?

Yes! There are many resources available for parents and caregivers who want to teach life skills to their child with ASD. Occupational therapists or speech-language pathologists may be able to provide guidance on teaching specific skills. Additionally, there are many books, websites, and support groups available online that offer tips and strategies for teaching life skills to children with ASD.

In conclusion, teaching life skills to children with ASD is a critical part of their development. By focusing on communication, social interaction, and self-care skills, you can help your child build a foundation for their future success. With patience, persistence, and a willingness to learn, you can help your child with ASD develop the life skills they need to thrive.

• https://www.autismspeaks.org/life-skills-and-autism
• https://www.sarahdooleycenter.org/life-skills-for-autism-education/
• https://tacanow.org/family-resources/life-skills/

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Autism and Puzzle Solving: Building Skills for Life

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects individuals in various ways. Puzzle solving has been found to be a beneficial activity for individuals with autism, as it helps develop cognitive skills, problem-solving abilities, and visual-spatial abilities. In this article, we will explore the importance of puzzle solving for individuals with autism, the types of puzzles that are suitable for them, and the numerous benefits of incorporating puzzle solving into their daily lives. We will also discuss strategies for introducing puzzle solving to individuals with autism and how to support them in this activity. Finally, we will share success stories of how puzzle solving has positively impacted individuals with autism, highlighting their improved cognitive abilities, enhanced problem-solving skills, increased social interaction, and greater sense of achievement.

Key Takeaways

• Puzzle solving can promote cognitive development and improve problem-solving skills in individuals with autism.
• It enhances visual-spatial abilities and helps develop attention and focus.
• Jigsaw puzzles, logic puzzles, pattern recognition puzzles, and maze puzzles are suitable for individuals with autism.
• Puzzle solving can improve fine motor skills and enhance social skills.
• Introducing puzzle solving in structured environments with visual supports and using reinforcement and rewards can be effective strategies.

Understanding Autism

What is Autism?

Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communication challenges and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. It is important to understand that autism is not a disease or a result of bad parenting. Autism is a unique way of experiencing the world, and individuals with autism have diverse strengths and abilities.

• Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that it affects individuals differently and to varying degrees.
• Common signs of autism include difficulties in social interaction, communication, and engaging in repetitive behaviors.
• Autism is a lifelong condition, but with the right support and interventions, individuals with autism can lead fulfilling and meaningful lives.

Tip: Embrace the strengths and talents of individuals with autism, and create an inclusive and supportive environment that celebrates their unique abilities.

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communication challenges and restricted , repetitive patterns of behavior. It encompasses previous separate diagnoses such as Autistic disorder, Asperger Syndrome, and PDD-NOS. The DSM-5 criteria for diagnosing ASD include persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction, as well as restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Diagnosing ASD involves a complex process of assessment and observation, often requiring the expertise of multiple professionals.

Causes of Autism

The exact causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are still unknown. However, experts believe that a combination of genetic and environmental factors play a role in its development. Research suggests that certain genes, brain structure abnormalities, and chemical imbalances in the brain may contribute to the development of ASD. While the exact cause may be unclear, it is important to note that autism is not caused by vaccines or parenting styles.

Signs and Symptoms

Autism is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts. Individuals with autism may have difficulty understanding and responding to social cues, maintaining eye contact, and expressing or understanding emotions. They may also exhibit repetitive behaviors, insistence on routine, intense or focused interests, and sensory sensitivities . These characteristics must cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. It's important to note that autism is not solely due to developmental delay. Diagnostic criteria for autism include persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction, as well as restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.

The Importance of Puzzle Solving

Cognitive Benefits of Puzzle Solving

Engaging in puzzle activities can enhance cognitive function, improve memory, and promote overall mental well-being. Puzzle solving stimulates critical thinking and problem-solving skills, allowing individuals with autism to exercise their cognitive abilities. It also provides a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when a puzzle is successfully completed. Additionally, puzzle solving can help individuals with autism develop patience, perseverance, and attention to detail. By engaging in puzzle solving, individuals with autism can strengthen their cognitive skills and build a foundation for lifelong learning and success.

Improving Problem-Solving Skills

Developing problem-solving skills is crucial for individuals with autism. By engaging in puzzle solving activities, they can enhance their ability to think critically, analyze information, and find creative solutions. Puzzle solving provides a structured and engaging way to practice problem-solving skills, allowing individuals with autism to develop and strengthen this important cognitive ability. Additionally, puzzle solving can help individuals with autism improve their attention to detail, spatial reasoning, and logical thinking. It is a fun and effective way to promote cognitive development and boost confidence.

Enhancing Visual-Spatial Abilities

Developing strong visual-spatial abilities is crucial for individuals with autism. These skills involve understanding and interpreting visual information, such as shapes, patterns, and spatial relationships. Visual-spatial abilities play a significant role in problem-solving, decision-making, and navigation. They are essential for activities like assembling puzzles, reading maps, and recognizing objects in the environment.

To enhance visual-spatial abilities in individuals with autism, various strategies can be implemented:

• Engage in activities that involve visual-spatial processing, such as jigsaw puzzles and pattern recognition puzzles.
• Provide visual supports, such as visual cues and diagrams, to help individuals understand and interpret visual information.
• Create a structured environment that promotes organization and orderliness.

Tip : When introducing puzzles, start with simpler ones and gradually increase the complexity to match the individual's skill level.

Developing Attention and Focus

Developing attention and focus is crucial for individuals with autism. It allows them to stay engaged and complete tasks effectively. Here are some strategies to help improve attention and focus:

• Create a structured environment that minimizes distractions.
• Use visual supports, such as schedules and visual timers, to provide clear expectations.
• Break tasks into smaller, manageable steps.
• Provide positive reinforcement and rewards for staying focused.

Remember, developing attention and focus is a skill that can be cultivated over time with patience and support.

Types of Puzzles for Individuals with Autism

Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles are a popular choice for individuals with autism. These puzzles provide a tactile and visual experience, allowing individuals to engage their fine motor skills and spatial awareness. The process of fitting the pieces together can be both challenging and rewarding, promoting problem-solving abilities and a sense of accomplishment. Jigsaw puzzles come in a variety of themes and difficulty levels, allowing individuals to choose puzzles that match their interests and abilities. Whether it's a puzzle featuring animals, landscapes, or characters from their favorite movies, jigsaw puzzles offer a fun and engaging activity for individuals with autism.

Logic Puzzles

Logic puzzles are a fantastic way to challenge the mind and develop critical thinking skills in individuals with autism. These puzzles require analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities , allowing individuals to exercise their cognitive abilities while having fun. By engaging in logic puzzles, individuals with autism can enhance their logical reasoning and decision-making skills . Additionally, logic puzzles provide a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when solved, boosting self-esteem and confidence. Incorporating logic puzzles into daily life can be a stimulating and enjoyable activity for individuals with autism, promoting cognitive development and fostering a love for problem-solving.

Pattern Recognition Puzzles

Pattern recognition puzzles are a valuable tool for individuals with autism. These puzzles challenge the brain to identify and understand patterns, which can improve cognitive skills and problem-solving abilities. By engaging in pattern recognition puzzles, individuals with autism can enhance their visual-spatial abilities and develop attention and focus. These puzzles provide a structured and engaging activity that celebrates the unique strengths of autistic individuals. Whether it's finding the missing piece or deciphering a complex pattern, pattern recognition puzzles offer a fun and rewarding experience for individuals with autism.

Maze Puzzles

Maze puzzles are a captivating and stimulating activity for individuals with autism. These puzzles provide a unique opportunity to enhance problem-solving skills and promote cognitive development. By navigating through the twists and turns of a maze, individuals with autism can improve their visual-spatial abilities and develop attention and focus. Maze puzzles also offer a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when successfully completed. Incorporating maze puzzles into daily life can be a fun and engaging way to build skills for individuals with autism.

Benefits of Puzzle Solving for Individuals with Autism

Promoting Cognitive Development

Promoting cognitive development is crucial for individuals with autism. By providing appropriate stimulation and support, we can help enhance their cognitive abilities. Here are some strategies to promote cognitive development:

• Create a structured environment that fosters learning and exploration.
• Choose puzzles that are challenging yet achievable.
• Provide visual supports such as visual schedules and visual cues.
• Use reinforcement and rewards to motivate and reinforce learning.

Remember, each individual with autism is unique, so it's important to tailor the strategies to their specific needs and abilities.

Improving Fine Motor Skills

Engaging in fine motor skills activities is essential for individuals with autism to enhance their motor coordination, hand dexterity, and overall independence. These activities can include tasks such as manipulating small objects, using scissors, and practicing handwriting. By regularly engaging in fine motor skills activities, individuals with autism can improve their ability to perform everyday tasks and gain a sense of accomplishment. It is important to provide a supportive and structured environment to facilitate their progress. Additionally, incorporating sensory elements, such as tactile materials or fidget toys, can further enhance their engagement and sensory integration.

Enhancing Social Skills

Improving social skills is a crucial aspect of supporting individuals with autism . People with autism often face challenges in social situations and forming meaningful relationships. ABA therapy incorporates social skills training to address these difficulties. Therapists employ various strategies to help individuals with autism initiate conversations, understand body language, and develop appropriate social behaviors. By enhancing social skills, individuals with autism can build stronger connections with their peers and feel more confident in social settings.

Boosting Self-Esteem and Confidence

Boosting self-esteem and confidence is crucial for individuals with autism. It reinforces their belief in their abilities and encourages them to undertake and persevere through challenges. Building self-esteem can be achieved through various strategies, such as:

• Providing positive reinforcement and praise for accomplishments
• Encouraging independence and autonomy
• Fostering a supportive and inclusive environment
• Celebrating individual strengths and achievements

By implementing these strategies, individuals with autism can develop a strong sense of self-worth and confidence, leading to greater overall well-being and success in various aspects of life.

Strategies for Introducing Puzzle Solving to Individuals with Autism

Creating a Structured Environment

For individuals with autism, creating a structured environment is crucial. It promotes a sense of stability and reduces anxiety . By establishing routines and utilizing visual supports, individuals with autism can navigate their daily lives with more ease and confidence. A structured environment provides a predictable and organized space that helps individuals with autism feel secure and supported. It allows them to focus on tasks and activities, improving their attention and concentration. Creating a structured environment is an essential step in introducing puzzle solving to individuals with autism.

Choosing Appropriate Puzzles

When selecting puzzles for individuals with autism, it's important to consider their unique needs and abilities. Tailor the difficulty level to match their cognitive skills, ensuring that the puzzle is challenging but not overwhelming. Choose puzzles with clear visual cues and minimal distractions to help them stay focused. Additionally, select puzzles that align with their interests to keep them engaged and motivated. Remember, the goal is to provide a positive and enjoyable puzzle-solving experience that promotes skill development and boosts self-esteem.

Providing Visual Supports

Visual supports are essential for individuals with autism, as they provide structure and predictability. Consistency with rules is key, and visual schedules, reminders, or written rules can help them understand expectations. These supports can be tailored to the individual's needs and can be created in collaboration with their ABA therapist . By incorporating visual demonstrations and cues, individuals with autism can better navigate their daily routines and tasks. Remember, every individual is unique, so it's important to find strategies that work best for them.

Using Reinforcement and Rewards

Utilize positive reinforcement by providing rewards, praise, or privileges when your teen displays desired behaviors. This encourages them to repeat those behaviors in the future. Operant extinction can be implemented by withholding attention or rewards for unwanted behaviors, decreasing their occurrence over time. Offer prompts to help your teen learn and perform desired behaviors, using verbal, visual, or physical cues. Gradually fade the prompts as they become more independent. Parental involvement is crucial for reinforcing skills and promoting progress in ABA therapy at home.

Incorporating Puzzle Solving into Daily Life

Puzzle Solving as a Leisure Activity

Puzzle solving is not just a leisure activity; it's a gateway to relaxation and mindfulness . As we immerse ourselves in the process of solving puzzles, we can experience a sense of calm and focus. It's a chance to escape from the busyness of everyday life and engage in a soothing and meditative activity. Whether it's a jigsaw puzzle, a logic puzzle, or a pattern recognition puzzle, the act of solving puzzles can provide a much-needed break and a moment of tranquility.

Puzzle Solving in Educational Settings

Incorporating puzzle solving into educational settings can have a profound impact on individuals with autism. Puzzle solving provides a unique opportunity for cognitive development and problem-solving skills enhancement. It helps individuals improve their visual-spatial abilities and develop attention and focus . Here are some strategies for incorporating puzzle solving in educational settings:

• Create a structured environment that promotes engagement and concentration.
• Choose puzzles that are appropriate for the individual's skill level.
• Provide visual supports, such as visual cues or step-by-step instructions.
• Use reinforcement and rewards to motivate and encourage participation.

By integrating puzzle solving into educational settings, we can create an inclusive and stimulating learning environment for individuals with autism.

Puzzle Solving in Therapy

Therapy is an essential component of autism treatment, focusing on improving behavior and social skills. Positive reinforcement is used to encourage desired behaviors and reduce unwanted ones. Speech and Language Therapy helps improve communication skills, while Occupational Therapy focuses on daily living skills. Behavioral Therapy uses positive reinforcement to improve behavior and social skills. Puzzle solving can be incorporated into therapy sessions to enhance problem-solving abilities and promote cognitive development. It provides a structured and engaging activity that celebrates autistic identities and encourages skill building.

Puzzle Solving for Skill Building

Puzzle solving is more than just a leisure activity for individuals with autism. It is a powerful tool for skill building and personal growth. By engaging in puzzles, individuals with autism can develop important cognitive abilities, such as problem-solving skills and attention to detail. Puzzle solving also helps improve fine motor skills and enhances visual-spatial abilities. It provides a structured and engaging way to build skills that can be applied in various aspects of life.

Supporting Individuals with Autism in Puzzle Solving

Understanding Individual Needs

When it comes to individuals with autism, understanding their unique needs is crucial. Each person on the autism spectrum is different, and their support should be tailored to their specific requirements. By recognizing and addressing these needs, we can enhance their skills and promote their growth and development. Diagnosis of Autism and Intellectual Disability involves a complex process of assessment and observation, often requiring the expertise of multiple professionals. It's important to increase awareness and knowledge of these conditions to improve outcomes for individuals affected by them. Additionally, individuals with both autism and intellectual disability may require a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach to support their unique needs.

Providing Guidance and Assistance

When supporting individuals with autism in puzzle solving, it is crucial to provide guidance and assistance tailored to their unique needs. Here are some strategies to consider:

• Use prompts: Guide individuals with verbal, visual, or physical cues to help them find the correct response.
• Model tasks: Show them how to perform tasks, engage in social interactions, or follow routines through visual demonstrations.
• Establish clear rules: Create visual schedules, reminders, or written rules to provide structure and predictability.

Remember, consistency and individualized support are key to fostering success in puzzle solving for individuals with autism.

Encouraging Independence

Encouraging independence is crucial for individuals with autism to develop essential life skills. Here are some strategies to promote independence:

Provide clear and consistent rules at home, using visual schedules and reminders to help them understand expectations.

Gradually fade prompts and cues as they become more independent in executing tasks and behaviors.

Model tasks and social interactions to show them how to perform them.

Reinforce positive actions with praise and incentives to encourage repetition.

Give opportunities for learning new skills, tailored specifically for teenagers.

Remember, consistency and support are key in fostering independence and empowering individuals with autism to thrive.

Adapting Puzzles for Different Abilities

When it comes to puzzle solving, it's important to consider the diverse abilities of individuals with autism. Adapting puzzles can make them more accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Here are some strategies to ensure inclusivity:

• Provide puzzle options with varying difficulty levels
• Use visual supports, such as color-coding or picture cues
• Break down complex puzzles into smaller, manageable parts
• Modify puzzle pieces for easier manipulation

Remember, the goal is to create a positive and empowering puzzle-solving experience for individuals with autism.

Success Stories: How Puzzle Solving has Impacted Individuals with Autism

Improved Cognitive Abilities

Enhancing cognitive abilities is a key benefit of puzzle solving for individuals with autism. Cognitive abilities refer to the mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge, understanding, and problem-solving. By engaging in puzzle solving, individuals with autism can improve their critical thinking and reasoning skills , as well as memory and attention . Puzzle solving also stimulates visual-spatial processing , which is important for tasks such as reading maps or solving complex puzzles. Additionally, puzzle solving can enhance creativity and flexible thinking , allowing individuals with autism to approach challenges from different perspectives.

Enhanced Problem-Solving Skills

Developing problem-solving skills is a crucial benefit of puzzle solving for individuals with autism. Problem-solving is an essential skill that empowers individuals to overcome challenges and find creative solutions. By engaging in puzzle solving, individuals with autism can enhance their ability to think critically, analyze information, and make decisions. This skill is not only valuable in daily life but also in educational and professional settings. Puzzle solving provides a fun and engaging way for individuals with autism to develop and strengthen their problem-solving skills.

Increased Social Interaction

Improving social skills is a crucial aspect of puzzle solving for individuals with autism. Puzzle solving activities provide opportunities for social interaction and collaboration, allowing individuals to practice communication, turn-taking, and teamwork. Engaging in puzzles with others can help individuals with autism develop and strengthen their social skills, fostering meaningful connections and relationships. Through puzzle solving, individuals with autism can enhance their ability to initiate conversations, understand non-verbal cues, and engage in cooperative play. By promoting social interaction, puzzle solving empowers individuals with autism to integrate into society, establish meaningful relationships, and gain independence.

Greater Sense of Achievement

Individuals with autism who engage in puzzle solving often experience a greater sense of achievement. Completing a puzzle, whether it's a jigsaw puzzle, logic puzzle, pattern recognition puzzle, or maze puzzle, provides a tangible result that can boost self-esteem and confidence. The feeling of accomplishment that comes from solving a puzzle can be especially empowering for individuals with autism, as it showcases their problem-solving abilities and showcases their unique strengths. Puzzle solving allows individuals with autism to showcase their intelligence and creativity, and it can be a source of pride and joy. It's a reminder that they are capable of overcoming challenges and achieving success.

Success Stories: How Puzzle Solving has Impacted Individuals with Autism. Puzzle solving has been proven to have a positive impact on individuals with autism. It helps improve cognitive skills, problem-solving abilities , and social interaction. Many individuals with autism have found solace and joy in solving puzzles, as it provides a sense of accomplishment and boosts self-esteem. At Autism Store, we understand the importance of puzzle solving for individuals with autism. That's why we offer a wide range of autism-themed puzzles, including jigsaw puzzles, 3D puzzles, and more. Visit our website to explore our collection and find the perfect puzzle for yourself or your loved ones. Join the puzzle-solving community and experience the benefits it brings to individuals with autism.

In conclusion, the journey of understanding and appreciating individual differences and strengths is crucial in supporting individuals with autism. Embracing these differences can lead to remarkable growth and connection, enabling individuals to build essential life skills and contribute meaningfully to society. It is imperative to focus on remediating all the things that are not going well, and instead, put autistic students in jobs that play to their strengths. This approach fosters independence, social integration, and personal growth, ultimately leading to a more inclusive and supportive environment for individuals with autism.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is autism.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects communication, social interaction, and behavior.

What are autism spectrum disorders?

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, and communication difficulties.

What are the causes of autism?

The exact causes of autism are not known, but it is believed to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

What are the signs and symptoms of autism?

Signs and symptoms of autism can vary, but common ones include difficulties with social interaction, repetitive behaviors, and challenges with communication.

What are the cognitive benefits of puzzle solving?

Puzzle solving can improve cognitive skills such as problem-solving, attention, and visual-spatial abilities.

How does puzzle solving improve problem-solving skills?

Puzzle solving requires individuals to think critically, analyze patterns, and find solutions, which enhances problem-solving skills.

What types of puzzles are suitable for individuals with autism?

Suitable puzzles for individuals with autism include jigsaw puzzles, logic puzzles, pattern recognition puzzles, and maze puzzles.

How does puzzle solving enhance social skills?

Puzzle solving can promote social interaction, cooperation, and communication when done in a group setting or with a partner.

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Restricted and repetitive behavior patterns in autism spectrum disorder

Repetitive and restricted behaviors (RRBs), a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder, are a broad category that can include unusual motor manners as well as one or more patterns of interest. Some interests, such as toy cars or vacuum cleaners, help individuals with ASD cope but could interfere with social relationships or self-care. However, scientists have increasingly adopted the view that taking away restrictive behaviors can do more harm than good. 1

Consider the case of Raya Shields, who is on the autism spectrum and has Tourette syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Now 28, she recalls rocking back and forth in school to cope with noisy environments—and still does. 2 When teachers scolded her for being disruptive, she began suppressing these behaviors (also called “stimming” or “self-stimulatory”). 2 With no alternative, she resorted to snapping her fingers—to the point where it became too painful to write. As a result, her schoolwork suffered. 2

When individuals like Raya experience stigma due to their RRBs, this can result in increased loneliness, poor academic outcomes, and the masking of autistic traits to fit into a neurotypical world—all of which can negatively impact their mental health. 3 With an estimated 256,000 individuals on the autism spectrum in U.S. high schools, there is a call to provide them with more inclusive and supportive environments. 4,5

This post explores types of RRBs and their impact on quality of life, effective interventions at home and in school, and better ways to support individuals with ASD.

Types of RRBs

Repetitive behaviors and fixed interests constitute one of two criteria that define autism in the Diagnostic Manual for Psychiatry (DSM). Simply preferring a strict routine is not enough for an autism diagnosis. 6

According to the DSM, the behavior must be “abnormal in intensity or focus,” and changes to these behaviors must cause "extreme distress.” 6

Repetitive behaviors may include: 6,7

• Motor: Repetitive movements of the body or objects, hand-flapping, body rocking, spinning objects, or finger-flicking
• Fixated Interests: Intense focus or preoccupation with specific topics, objects, or activities, often to the exclusion of other interests
• Compulsions: Rituals performed to alleviate anxiety or distress, such as counting or arranging objects
• Self-Injury: Actions that result in physical harm to oneself, such as head-banging, biting, or scratching

Course Connection: SPED 743: FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT

This course provides a problem-solving approach and the framework for teaching and assessment strategies to develop pro-social behavior in students with disabilities and their typical peers in classrooms and whole school contexts. Students assess problem behavior, discover the functions of problem behavior, and learn pro-social alternatives in home, school, and community settings.

Course Connection: SPED 843: ADVANCED METHODS AND ASSESSMENT

This course is designed to introduce educators and related service professionals to prevention and intervention related to a broad range of antisocial, aggressive, and behavioral problems. Approaches focus on understanding and addressing the precipitating factors related to inappropriate behavior, short-term approaches for immediate crises, and problem-solving strategies for longer-term change.

Prevalence and variability

The CDC reports more boys are diagnosed on the autism spectrum than girls: four boys for every autistic girl. 8 Experts point to several factors to explain the gap.

ASD diagnosis criteria have been based on observations primarily made in boys, resulting in a skewed understanding of the disorder's presentation. 8 Second, many higher-functioning autistic girls are often overlooked or misdiagnosed because they tend to mask repetitive behaviors. 8

Here are some differences to look for:

• Girls: Present repetitive verbal behaviors, such as echolalia (or scripting), which involves repeating words or phrases from media or conversations. 8
• Boys: Display more overt and stereotypical repetitive behaviors, such as hand-flapping, rocking, or intense fixations on specific objects or topics. 8

Educators and clinicians need to consider diverse expressions of ASD in both girls and boys to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate support. When girls aren’t correctly diagnosed, they don’t have access to early interventions. Lack of support can increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem by the time they enter middle school or high school.

Understanding the function of RRBs

In 2014, journalist Ron Suskind published the book, “Life, Animated,” chronicling the struggles of his son, Owen, who was diagnosed with regressive autism at age three. The Suskinds chose to encourage their son’s special interest in Disney movies and characters, which helped him learn to speak and read again. 2 “Life, Animated” was later turned into a movie by the same name, shedding light on the positive side of RRBs.

Research studies are becoming more inclusive, focusing on the lived experiences of individuals with ASD. Many autistic adults report that pursuing their intense interests is rewarding and brings them happiness. 2 While these interests have been labeled restrictive, they provide a coping mechanism, enhance self-confidence, and sometimes facilitate connections with peers. 2

In light of these studies, there has been “a major paradigm shift in perceptions of special interests,” notes psychologist Rachel Grove of the University of Technology Sydney. 2 Autism advocates and scientists argue for treatment approaches that respect the dignity and independence of individuals with ASD, including the need to build on special interests, rather than discouraging them. 2

Course Connection: EPSY 715: UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH IN EDUCATION

This course introduces the concepts and skills involved in understanding and analyzing research in education and related areas. The course provides an overview of basic, general knowledge of various research methodologies used in the online master’s in autism spectrum disorder program.

Impact on daily functioning

While there are reported benefits of RRBs, individuals can also engage in disruptive or harmful behaviors. It’s important to pay attention to signs that these behaviors impair an individual’s daily functioning. Some parents may not know the severity of the repetitive behavior, such as hair pulling, until they find clumps of hair in the child’s bedroom. There are resources for parents and caregivers that may be helpful .

In addition, if an individual is neglecting self-care to the point of sacrificing sleep or forgetting to shower, then it’s time to seek support. 10

These questions can serve as a starting point for professional evaluation:

• Is the student approaching the special interest with such intensity that they cannot stop when they need to? 9
• Is the intense interest or repetitive behavior disrupting family life? 9
• Is it interfering with the student’s enjoyment of other activities? 9
• Is it resulting in the student harming themselves? 9
• Is it interfering with the student’s academic success or social development? 9

Before developing any treatment plan for a student with ASD, special education teachers and medical teams can use questionnaires and other assessments to evaluate the impact that RRBs have on academic success, socializing, and family dynamics . Then, they can include parents in critical decisions and recommend targeted interventions that can be implemented at home and in school.

Management and intervention

When repetitive behavior impairs an individual’s ability to function or poses a threat to family members, medication can seem like the only hope for managing problematic behaviors. Risperidone and Aripiprazole are the only FDA-approved drugs that can be prescribed to treat irritability in children with autism spectrum disorder, but they don’t work for all individuals with ASD. 10 Glen Eliot, medical director of the Children’s Health Council encourages families to first try behavioral interventions, especially with very young children. 11

One alternative to medication is a cognitive-behavioral approach, which teaches students to use other coping mechanisms, problem-solving skills, and relaxation techniques so that they have the tools to self-manage anxiety and distress that triggers RRBs.

Another option is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, which uses positive reinforcement. Some research shows it has been effective in teaching life skills and reducing harmful behaviors.

However, a 2018 study found that ABA therapy, which involves intense repetition, can be grueling and put individuals with ASD at higher risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder. 12

Parents and advocates are critical of it because of these negative experiences. 12,13 In school settings, structured teaching such as the use of visual schedules, can promote greater independence in students with ASD.

Supporting individuals with RRBs

Creating structured environments involves establishing routines and predictable schedules to help individuals with RRBs feel supported. If the student has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 plan, some accommodations could include allowing them to stim at their desk or leave the classroom and go to a quiet, calming space. 14

Another way to support students with ASD is to integrate their special interests into the curriculum. New York teacher Jenny Licata, who teaches autistic students in a mainstream classroom, has found this approach has academic and behavioral benefits. 2 For example, one 6-year-old girl, who has an intense interest in outer space, routinely struggled with transitions. 2 So, Licata turned her folder into a spaceship. Then, she cues the student to put work into the folder and switch activities by saying, “blast-off in 10,” which makes transitions less stressful. 2

Depending on the student’s school placement, effective supports might include:

• Modified environments: Reduce sensory overload with soft lighting, eliminate visual clutter, and provide quiet spaces 14
• Sensory-friendly strategies: Allow use of fidget toys, chewelry (jewelry designed for chewing), or stress balls 14
• Visual supports: Provide visual schedules to help reduce anxiety and promote predictability to ease transitions during the school day 14
• Social stories: Promote social skill development in settings, such as the supermarket, doctor’s surgery, and playground 14

By drawing on evidence-based best practices, special education teachers can develop personalized accommodations and integrate the special interests of students with autism spectrum disorder.

These measures can go a long way toward reducing the impact of challenging behaviors, while fostering a greater sense of belonging.

Collaborating with families of children with ASD

Families are vital in supporting children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs). Understanding these behaviors, like repetitive motor movements or ritualistic behavior, is crucial for effective home support.

Parents manage repetitive behaviors by creating supportive routines and advocating for services outlined in the diagnostic criteria. They offer emotional support, aiding their child's navigation of social and communication deficits.

Educators play an essential role as partners in the collaboration between schools, parents, and caregivers; they can help align strategies between home and school environments.

Through open communication channels, all stakeholders can share insights, enabling a holistic understanding of the child's needs, including those related to stereotyped behaviors, autism repetitive behaviors, and repetitive sensory motor behavior.

This collaborative approach ensures that interventions are tailored to the unique characteristics of children with ASD and autistic children, as outlined in the diagnostic criteria. Through this shared understanding, educators, parents, and caretakers can develop effective support plans that address the child's restricted interests and repetitive body movements, promoting success in both academic and social settings.

Gain the expertise to help transform ASD education with KU's Online Master’s in special education

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* Master of Science in Education (M.S.E.) in special education with an emphasis in autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

• Retrieved on March 18, 2024, from spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/the-benefits-of-special-interests-in-autism/
• Retrieved on March 18, 2024, from spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/rethinking-repetitive-behaviors-in-autism/
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April 19, 2024

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Solving the puzzle: Autism diagnosis often takes longer for girls, whose symptoms can differ from boys'

by Lauren J. Mapp, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder, characterized by difficulty with communication, social interactions and behavior, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

Some early signs of autism are when a child fails to make or keep eye contact or if they don't respond to their name by the time they're 9 months old. They may also seem unaware when someone speaks to them. At a year old, they might use few or no gestures—such as not waving goodbye—and they may not play simple games, like pat-a-cake.

The average age of diagnosis is 4½, according to the CDC—many other girls and women with the condition are not diagnosed until much later than their male counterparts. That latent diagnosis can impact when or if they receive support therapies, which experts says are key to improved long-term outcomes.

Gender-based differences in autism

The Organization for Autism Research reports that while 25% of boys with autism are diagnosed before age 6, only 8% of girls receive a diagnosis by that time. By 11 years old, about half of boys have been diagnosed, compared with 20% of girls.

UCLA Health reports that nearly 80% of autistic women are undiagnosed at age 18.

Why fewer girls and women get diagnosed early

There are several reasons that may cause a gender-based disparity.

Because a lot of autism research has historically focused on males, the diagnostic criteria has long been based on how they experience the condition. That has led to biases in screening practices, leading to girls and women being less likely to be identified.

"It's really in the last decade or so that we have been trying to get better at looking at some of the differences between girls and boys in terms of their presentation," Yanan Guo said.

She is a licensed clinical psychologist at the Developmental Evaluation Clinic with Rady Children's Hospital and board-certified behavior analyst who specialized in autism spectrum disorder before starting her doctorate.

One way autism can differ between genders is that autistic girls can sometimes present as being more social. They also might be quiet and less disruptive, meaning they might not be perceived as needing additional services, said Doris Trauner, Department of Neurosciences professor emerita at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

There are also cultural biases at play.

"If a 3- or 4-year-old girl doesn't want to talk to anybody else, kind of hides behind her mother or wants to look at books instead of talking to people, they are described as shy," Trauner said. "If a boy wants to do that, that's sometimes deemed to be more concerning because boys are supposed to be running around and playing with other kids."

Girls and women with autism are more likely to employ camouflaging strategies, masking their symptoms by imitating neurotypical social behaviors. This adaptive technique allows them to blend in with their peers, often leading to difficulties in receiving an accurate or early diagnosis.

"Even though they do these things, they're not necessarily understanding the nuance of the more subtle things that are included in these social relationships," Guo said.

This coping mechanism, aimed at fitting in, can also lead to increased mental health challenges for autistic girls and women.

"It's very stressful for somebody to do that because they're not being themselves, and so that may actually end up resulting in more behavior problems because of the stress and anxiety," Trauner said.

Camouflaging can also lead to someone being misdiagnosed. Some common diagnoses girls and women with autism receive include borderline personality disorder , eating disorders, Tourette syndrome, bipolar disorder, social anxiety disorder or generalized anxiety disorder, the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network reports.

"I'll see kids who come with a diagnosis of anxiety disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit disorder , obsessive compulsive disorder , one kid with four or five different diagnoses," Trauner said. "It turns out when you put it all together, they meet criteria for autism."

Getting connected to autism resources

Researchers say early diagnosis is imperative because the therapies to support children with autism are most effective when they receive those resources before they're 3 years old.

Speech therapy for children with autism focuses on improving communication skills , occupational therapy enhances everyday functional abilities and independence, and behavioral therapy helps manage behaviors, developing coping strategies for social interaction and emotional regulation.

All three can play important roles in supporting people with autism, fostering their communication skills, independence and emotional well-being.

These therapies provide tailored support, recognizing the unique strengths and challenges of each person, and empowering them to navigate the world with confidence and autonomy. By focusing on holistic approaches and respecting the diverse abilities of people with autism, these therapies promote inclusivity and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Having an early diagnosis helps families learn what support is available and can help them gain access to the services, especially if there are long wait lists for programs.

"You have to keep advocating for your children to make sure that they get what they need," Guo said.

The San Diego Regional Center— which reports that about 40% of clients have autism—supports individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families from birth throughout their lives. The center is the local coordinator of the California Early Start Program, which ensures that eligible infants and toddlers receive evaluation and support services.

Parents can also work with their child's school to start the process of receiving an Individualized Education Program, a personalized plan tailored to their unique strengths and challenges.

In some cases, parents may also qualify to be paid for the care they provide their children through the county's In-Home Supportive Services.

2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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