• Academic Supports for College Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Advice from Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Teachers Regarding Literacy Instruction
• Advice for Peer Tutors
• Applying the Ziggurat and CAPS Model in Your School District
• Aspects of Support for Learning
• A Young Adult's Guide to Deep Breathing as a Relaxation Technique: A Personalized Fact Sheet
• Can Schedule Usage Training Include Elements of Literacy Instruction?
• Clean Up Your Act! Creating an Organized Classroom Environment for Students on the Spectrum.
• Change is Good! Supporting Students on the Autism Spectrum when Introducing Novelty
• Classroom Choreography: The Art of Scheduling Staff and Students
• Complexities of Instructional Support
• Creating a Circle of Support
• Critical Features of Early Intervention: Merging Best Practices
• Developing Long Term Relationships Between School and Parents
• Early Intervention for Young Children on the Autism spectrum: Parent’s Perspective
• Educating Students with Autism: Are There Differences in Placement?
• Establishing Long Term Goals: What Are We Hoping to Achieve
• For General Education Teachers: Helpful Questions to Ask About Students with ASD
• Get Engaged: Designing Instructional Activities to Help Students Stay On-Task
• "Ham It Up and Get It Cookin!!" Thoughts From Dr. Greenspan
• Home-School Communication
• "I Can Do It Myself!" Using Work Systems to Build Independence in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
• “I Wake Up for MY Dream!” Personal Futures Planning Circles of Support, MAPS and PATH
• Life After High School...So Now What
• Literacy Resources
• Lovaas Revisited: Should We Have Ever Left?
• Making the Most of Morning Meeting
• Motivating Students Who Have Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Moving from Preschool to Kindergarten: Planning for a Successful Transition and New Relationships
• Peer Support Programs
• Promoting the Educational Success of Students with Autism: The Role of the Parent-Staff Relationship
• Planning for Successful Transitions Across Grade Levels
• Practical Steps to Writing Individualized Education Program (IEP) Goals: And Writing Them Well
• Practical Recommendations for Utilizing a Range of Instructional Approaches in General Education Settings
• Recognizing Different Types of Readers with ASD
• Reframing Our Thinking and Getting to Know the Child
• Restricted Repertoires in Autism and What We Can Do About It
• School Cultures that Support Students Across the Autism Spectrum
• Service Learning: Something to Think About
• Supporting Staff Using Coaching Model
• Supporting Students with Asperger's Syndrome
• Teaching Students Who Are Low-Functioning: Who Are They and What Should We Teach?
• Theory of Mind in Autism: Development, Implications, and Intervention
• There is No Place Called Inclusion
• The Road to Post-Secondary Education: Questions to Consider
• Tips for Teaching High-Functioning People with Autism
• Tips to Consider When Including a Student with ASD in Art, Music, or Physical Education
• Transition: Preparing for a Lifetime
• Transition to Middle School
• Transition Time: Helping Individuals on the Autism Spectrum Move Successfully from One Activity to Another
• Understanding the Design and Power of a Personal Schedule
• Using Visual Schedules: A Guide for Parents
• Who Are We Working for Anyway? Avoiding Personal Agendas at Meetings to Better Support Individuals Across the Autism Spectrum
• Structured Teaching Strategies: A Series
• Growing Up Together
• How to Open A Combination Lock/Locker
• Supporting Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders Through Postsecondary Transition
  • Predictors of Positive Transition
  • Tips for Writing Transition IEP Goals
  • Employment or College?
  • Timeline for Supporting an Individual with ASD Through Transition

Advice for Peer Tutors

Contributed By Susan J. Moreno, M.A. and Cathy Pratt, Ph.D.

When you do not know how to help, ask a teacher, a program assistant, the parents or a sibling of the student with autism, or another peer tutor who has known the person longer. Know to whom you may turn for help or advice for your classmate with autism before you start working with him/her.

Treat classmates with autism like people first. People with autism are just that: people who happen to have the disability of autism. Please avoid references to "the autistic" or "the disabled." Rather say, "the person with autism" or better yet, use their name. These individuals have the same feelings and personalities as you. They just cannot always show it as clearly.

Be consistent in how you refer to your classmate with autism. Use whatever name he/she prefers. Avoid calling him/her by their given name one time and by a nickname like "pal" or "buddy" the next.

Be specific when discussing plans or directions. For example, do not say, "I'll meet you near the room after class." Instead say, "I'll meet you at locker number 220 at 12:05 p.m."

DO NOT BE LATE! Many people with autism have a hard time understanding the concepts of time and waiting. Therefore, when you are late, they are not able to figure out on their own that an emergency or some other event may have delayed you. The result is that they may feel confused, upset, and insulted. If necessary, plan to be early and wait for him/her.

Remember that taking a little extra time or trouble to include your classmate with autism in your social plans could be very important to him or her. They need and want friends and social opportunities, and do not always know how to show that need to others.

Do not tease or be sarcastic with the person with autism. In order to understand the humor in teasing or sarcasm, people must be able to detect double-meanings. The person with autism may not have that knowledge. Teasing has probably already been a very unpleasant part of that person's life.

If you see others teasing, laughing at or making fun of a person with autism, try explaining a little about the person to them. They may only be laughing because they do not understand the person or the disability.

Do not make promises that you cannot keep. Avoid phrases like, "maybe we'll go to the show together someday." This may be interpreted as a promise. They seldom process all of the qualifiers, such as "maybe" or "someday."

Do not borrow things from the person with autism. Having others borrow items can be frustrating for any person—mainly because people seldom return what they have borrowed on time and/or in the same condition that it was before it was borrowed. The person with autism already handles too many frustrations in daily life. This is one frustration which easily can be avoided.

Remember that you can play an important role and make a wonderful difference in the life of a person with autism.

For more information, contact: Susan Moreno, MAAP Services, Inc., P.O. Box 524, Crown Point, IN 46307.

Moreno, S. J. & Pratt, C. (1994). Advice for peer tutors. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Resource Center for Autism.