Autism in Kindergarten Classroom

It has been 8 weeks since the new school year began. Everyone on campus works on the building once again in-person community, learning classroom procedures, and transitioning between places safely and independently. It is hard work and has been smooth.💕

One thing I noticed though…as many of our primary grade teachers may agree is that our kindergarten students are very different from any other year.

Why? Certainly, not being able to attend in-person preschool last year due to the global pandemic seems to give an enormous impact on their learning of school readiness skills.

Kindergarten teachers have shared that many of his/her students display difficulties in:

Following simple orally given directions both in individual and group settings
Requesting for bathroom, water, etc. to meet basic needs
Sit on the carpet during a simple read-aloud activity up to 15 minutes
Sit on the chair to complete simple tasks such as free drawing, art activity
Cutting/tracing/glueing to complete a simple art activity due to lack of fine-motor skills

Besides these school readiness skills, many children with autism have trouble communicating their needs and desires. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that affects communication skills and social interactions. It usually begins before age three and continues throughout life. Many of these students missed out on natural social interactive learning opportunities in the past due to the global pandemic, I can’t imagine the number of struggles that students and parents have to encounter at school now.

Kindergarten teachers may feel the same way. Teaching a group of students who just started learning in a big school requires a great deal of patience and planning. Some highly experienced teachers try so hard to support our students with autism who go through the same challenges during transitions. If you notice your child has difficulty expressing his feelings, ask him what he wants. You might say something like “I noticed you were upset when I asked you to do the dishes. What did you need me to do instead?” Or “When we go out to eat, how would you like us to order our food?”

We should not forget that it takes a village to raise a child. For our students with autism or other special needs, this is even more true.