All Things CLASS

We have a student on the Autism spectrum who is making progress in the structured PK classroom environment. However outside of the classroom, whenever there are any transitions, he still has some major struggles. During recess, there have been multiple incidents where he has pushed other kids off the top of the playground equipment. We do not see this as him being mean it seems more related to his unawareness and one tracked mind of getting what he wants when he wants it.  When my teachers have tried to talk to him about it, he will run away and/or refuse to engage at all. He will at times kick and try to hit the teacher when she is trying to talk to him about something also. The last time an issue on the playground happened, he was brought back to the classroom. After he had a chance to calm down, my teacher tried to read a social story about keeping hands to self and could not hold his attention at all.  The transition from recess into the building is a struggle every day.  She has tried using picture cues to get him to line up, giving him extra reminders, and counting down with a timer to try to help but so far nothing has worked.

We have a student on the Autism spectrum who is making progress in the structured PK classroom environment. However outside of the classroom, whenever there are any transitions, he still has some major struggles. During recess, there have been multiple incidents where he has pushed other kids off the top of the playground equipment. We do not see this as him being mean it seems more related to his unawareness and one tracked mind of getting what he wants when he wants it.  When my teachers have tried to talk to him about it, he will run away and/or refuse to engage at all. He will at times kick and try to hit the teacher when she is trying to talk to him about something also. The last time an issue on the playground happened, he was brought back to the classroom. After he had a chance to calm down, my teacher tried to read a social story about keeping hands to self and could not hold his attention at all.  The transition from recess into the building is a struggle every day.  She has tried using picture cues to get him to line up, giving him extra reminders, and counting down with a timer to try to help but so far nothing has worked.

We have a student on the Autism spectrum who is making progress in the structured PK classroom environment. However outside of the classroom, whenever there are any transitions, he still has some major struggles. During recess, there have been multiple incidents where he has pushed other kids off the top of the playground equipment. We do not see this as him being mean it seems more related to his unawareness and one tracked mind of getting what he wants when he wants it.  When my teachers have tried to talk to him about it, he will run away and/or refuse to engage at all. He will at times kick and try to hit the teacher when she is trying to talk to him about something also. The last time an issue on the playground happened, he was brought back to the classroom. After he had a chance to calm down, my teacher tried to read a social story about keeping hands to self and could not hold his attention at all.  The transition from recess into the building is a struggle every day.  She has tried using picture cues to get him to line up, giving him extra reminders, and counting down with a timer to try to help but so far nothing has worked.

We have a student on the Autism spectrum who is making progress in the structured PK classroom environment. However outside of the classroom, whenever there are any transitions, he still has some major struggles. During recess, there have been multiple incidents where he has pushed other kids off the top of the playground equipment. We do not see this as him being mean it seems more related to his unawareness and one tracked mind of getting what he wants when he wants it.  When my teachers have tried to talk to him about it, he will run away and/or refuse to engage at all. He will at times kick and try to hit the teacher when she is trying to talk to him about something also. The last time an issue on the playground happened, he was brought back to the classroom. After he had a chance to calm down, my teacher tried to read a social story about keeping hands to self and could not hold his attention at all.  The transition from recess into the building is a struggle every day.  She has tried using picture cues to get him to line up, giving him extra reminders, and counting down with a timer to try to help but so far nothing has worked.

We have a student on the Autism spectrum who is making progress in the structured PK classroom environment. However outside of the classroom, whenever there are any transitions, he still has some major struggles. During recess, there have been multiple incidents where he has pushed other kids off the top of the playground equipment. We do not see this as him being mean it seems more related to his unawareness and one tracked mind of getting what he wants when he wants it.  When my teachers have tried to talk to him about it, he will run away and/or refuse to engage at all. He will at times kick and try to hit the teacher when she is trying to talk to him about something also. The last time an issue on the playground happened, he was brought back to the classroom. After he had a chance to calm down, my teacher tried to read a social story about keeping hands to self and could not hold his attention at all.  The transition from recess into the building is a struggle every day.  She has tried using picture cues to get him to line up, giving him extra reminders, and counting down with a timer to try to help but so far nothing has worked.

Hi Juliet,

This is hard, and I commend you and your team on trying lots of proactive strategies and understanding the child's perspectives. (I say this as a mom of a kid on the spectrum.) I have more questions than answers right now, but hopefully this will lead to some solutions that work for the child and the teachers.

1. Have the teachers had a chance to observe what happens right before the pushing? 

2. How verbal is the child? Does the child have a hard time telling other children things like "I want to slide"?

3. Is it that the child doesn't want to come inside? Or doesn't want to line up? Was the child involved in something when the pictures and timer were given? 

4. Is there another child that this child is close to that could be a buddy? 

I will say from experience with my own child, trying to talk in the moment is really hard. I have to wait until she is calm, and even then I have to approach the subject very carefully. I usually try to ask questions to understand her perspective before I talk about alternate behaviors: Can you tell me about what you were thinking or feeling? What were you wanting? (But my kid is pretty verbal. You might have to use pictures of emotions and actions with a less verbal child.)  

I hope we can keep the conversation going. Thanks, Vicki 

We have a student on the Autism spectrum who is making progress in the structured PK classroom environment. However outside of the classroom, whenever there are any transitions, he still has some major struggles. During recess, there have been multiple incidents where he has pushed other kids off the top of the playground equipment. We do not see this as him being mean it seems more related to his unawareness and one tracked mind of getting what he wants when he wants it.  When my teachers have tried to talk to him about it, he will run away and/or refuse to engage at all. He will at times kick and try to hit the teacher when she is trying to talk to him about something also. The last time an issue on the playground happened, he was brought back to the classroom. After he had a chance to calm down, my teacher tried to read a social story about keeping hands to self and could not hold his attention at all.  The transition from recess into the building is a struggle every day.  She has tried using picture cues to get him to line up, giving him extra reminders, and counting down with a timer to try to help but so far nothing has worked.

We have a student on the Autism spectrum who is making progress in the structured PK classroom environment. However outside of the classroom, whenever there are any transitions, he still has some major struggles. During recess, there have been multiple incidents where he has pushed other kids off the top of the playground equipment. We do not see this as him being mean it seems more related to his unawareness and one tracked mind of getting what he wants when he wants it.  When my teachers have tried to talk to him about it, he will run away and/or refuse to engage at all. He will at times kick and try to hit the teacher when she is trying to talk to him about something also. The last time an issue on the playground happened, he was brought back to the classroom. After he had a chance to calm down, my teacher tried to read a social story about keeping hands to self and could not hold his attention at all.  The transition from recess into the building is a struggle every day.  She has tried using picture cues to get him to line up, giving him extra reminders, and counting down with a timer to try to help but so far nothing has worked.