What is the best way to organize a classroom to benefit students with autism spectrum disorder?

From my experience with my two autistic children, and their placements in various classrooms, what has been most beneficial is getting rid of extraneous items. Most classrooms are full of visual clutter, which makes it hard for children with autism to focus, and allows them to stim and not pay attention. Limit posters and decorations on the wall, keep them down to large blocks of colors and visual schedules. Each child (or center, based on how you are working) should have their own space that is divided either by partitions or medium height shelving. Some classrooms have each child an assigned area in which they work, and the shelves contain bins with that childs work. Other classrooms will have areas in which a particular skill is taught, and the shelves will hold the bins for each child's particular skills/worksheets, etc. Part of that depends on the ability of the children to move around, their stress levels, and their skill differentiation. Having four children will make it quite nice, our last classroom had ten and it was insanity. Do they each have aides to help with one-on-one? Oh, and what age, because it would be different depending on if they are elementary, high school, what have you. Personally with four children, I would have assigned spaces that the children stay at, preferably one in each corner with shelves that kind of isolate. In the middle I would have a group area, which is very important for kids to practice with, so calendar time, story time, turn taking, etc. snack time would be good for them to have together too. At each individual spot I would have visual schedules on the wall in front of them, reward charts as well. The shelves would have their bins, with the goal being that they would eventually be able to access their own work (my daughter has folders red for math, blue for science, green for english, etc) and the visual schedule has velcro dots that I could adjust to have her work at different times. I would also definitely have an area where the kids can self regulate, they need the opportunity to destress, so I'd have one area with a bean bag, boxes of stims, and a timer so that you can set it and redirect back to work. Working towards independently accessing and leaving stim area of course. There's so much, it's obviously a passion of mine. kid with autism learn so much better when they have supports in place, and the argument that the supports become a crutch is so not true! My kids have been able to move away from those. Sorry for the long post!!

If you Google: 'Autism classroom modifications', there are a number of very helpful sites and tons of recommendations. Much more efficient than my trying to list them Good luck!

Wow... only 4 kids and 3 adults. Should be a breeze... as you know, Students with autism are on a spectrum, so there disabilities are very different. I would first go to the teacher who had them last year and ask what worked or didn't work. Additionally, in reading about this diffusing area that people are describing in their responses-- that sounds rediculous to me. So, you will put them in a spot with pillows and beanbags when they start acting bad. Doesn't that seem like it may, potentially, reinforce their problem behavior? Behaviorally, stickers and candy and little comfortable time out areas are awful ideas... You need to curtail your treatment to the individual. Your behavioral interventions should be based on the function of your students behavior. First off, if you put kids in this time out area, they are escaping work, getting access to potential tangible reinforcers and attention. If you know the function of their behavior, you can intervene prior to the occurance of problem behavior. Example--Instead of putting them in this area contingent on problem behavior, put them in this area either based on good behavior or noncontingently throughout the day (e.g., every hour). Doing this may decrease problem behaviors because they won't have to engage in problem behaviors to get access to this--- it will just be in their schedule. The function of their behavior is either tangible, attention, escape from task, or sensory/automatic. Read Toward a functional anaylysis of self-injury, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Iwata, et. al, 1994 for in-depth study on the functional analysis. Yes, i mean, in general it is good to have structure and decrease distractions, but putting in a blanket plan for autistic kids is not the way to go... Get to know your kids and design instruction and behavioral interventions accordingly.

Picture schedules for what to expect during the day Label every thing An area that has no distraction i.e. busy pictures on the wall, bright colors can really distract. Autistic learners really like visuals and music typically. Books on tape with headphones are a huge help, as well as a learning lab with a computer/headphones. He/She definately will need the assitance of your 'aids'. They may need the freedom to take him her to a 'safe' place where he/she can learn without distractions. Also, chewing gum and wearing hats, which typically aren't exceptable in schools, help them to focus. Deep pressure on the head can calm (the hats help), and chewing gum keeps something moving on their body when they have to sit down. Not good for recess and gym obviously, but was a huge help for my son.

Make sure you have air-conditioning. Use room-darkening shades and keep the lights turned down. Keep "self-stimming" items like fans, CD players, and other items with buttons up high out of reach (can sometimes be very hard). Plain walls, large fonts, labels on everything, cabinets with doors so you can close up items. A dedicated sensory area for calming and one for stimulation. That's all I can think of off the top of my head - that I've seen with my DD's classrooms.

If they are not mentally retarded, don't treat them like little kids. Being on the autistic spectrum does not make one stupid. I absolutely hate it when I get treated like I'm five simply because I'm special needs. The best way to organize the class room would be to let the students have the option of being in a somewhat confined space like with seperaters between the desks. I know that I prefer smaller spaces and all of the autistic spectrum people I know do as well. However, some autistics probably don't like them so you should give them the option of not having a confined space. Try to minimize noise and smells. Even white noise (that stuff drives me and many of the ASD people I know insane, how can anyone find that comforting?) Please don't play classical music in the classroom. You may think it's soothing and stuff but most ASD people hate noise when working. Don't use a vacuum cleaner when the students are in the room. The noise of a vacuum cleaner is agonizing, it feels like someones drilling into your skull. Avoid stuff that has a scent. Talk to the students to find out what textures they can and cannot tolerate, and respect that. They can't help not being able to deal with certain textures. Again, we are not little kids, so don't treat us that way.