Organization and ASD

We all spend our days using a set of skills that are rarely explicitly taught to us. Daily we are asked to plan, prioritize, shift attention from one task to the next, manage time, be flexible with our thoughts and emotions, control our emotions, and more. These executive functions (EF) skills are vital.  They are given support based on age and not ability in schools and usually at home too if we don’t understand to very real struggle. Since they develop naturally for most we assume that everyone has them.

These skills are life skills; everyone needs to develop them but they cause a specific challenge for students with High Functioning Autism/Aspergers. Homework (or school) work can be a struggle; for the whole family, not just the student. Nothing can bring down a home faster than a frustrated middle or high school student trying to do homework that needed some more planning and probably more time too.

By the time students are in middle school, they are being asked to use a dynamic organizational system. This system requires students to be able to make adjustments as needed to time frames, amount of homework and other activities, priorities, tasks, and places. In early grades they are asked to use a static organizational system; think of a kindergarten classroom with its areas for specific tasks in specific areas at specific times. These dynamic organizational demands only increase with age from middle school to adulthood.

To help, we can assist children and teen in breaking down dynamic organizational systems into static ones. Not just for homework either. Cleaning a room or doing the laundry can be overwhelming.

Starting at a young age is helpful. Including the very young child in household chores helps to hone EF skills. However, we should be realistic children and teens with ASD are going to need support at all ages. Work with their ability and not their age.

Here are some steps that may help:

1. Be clear about expectations. In other words don’t assume, spell it out. Show them if you need to, to make sure there is understanding about what you expect from them.
2. Motivate. Children and teens with weak organizational skills are not motivated to be organized. It is hard work for him/her. Just because a student might be smart doesn’t mean he is also organized. A bright child or teen may get all A’s but still forget to bring his lunch to school, a pencil to class or his homework home to do. These aren’t the same set of skills. In younger years, charts work great in older years they don’t. Find what works. Some high schoolers just need to feel appreciated for all of their hard work.
3. Environment – At home their needs to be a specific location where work is done. This space should be stocked with supplies, and technology needed to be homework. If you can it should be a location where you can prove oversight if needed.
4. Break in down and use a timer – Break assignments (or chores) down to their most basic steps. Write them out. Use a timer or keep track of time to see how long it will take if the student has weak time skills. Developing these are essential.  
5. Use visual cues- They should be able to look at something to know what is coming up. For younger ages, a picture chart of the day is great. For a teen, something like a Gantt chart can give them a long-range plan, a year plan or a weekly plan. They are designed for students but you can make it work.
6. Prioritizing and planning the day – Talking about this in advance is helpful. Having a set of decisions made in advance can be helpful. Do I work on my homework for a class that I have an A in or do I study of a test in another class? It may seem like a no-brainer but at the moment this can be a struggle to prioritize. What do I do if my plan doesn’t go as planned?  It’s something to discuss too. Make a plan for how to adjust. Plan breaks.
7. Planning the planning- When does all this planning and breaking down tasks happen. Schedule that time, too. It may be the day before or the morning or during study hall.
8. Perspectives – Learning to consider other perspectives will help homework to be completed when and how it should be. Thinking about what the teacher’s perspective is can help decide what and how homework needs to be completed. And also by the due date. Thinking about parents perspective may homework go be done when it needs to be done (i.e. before playing games or other enjoyable activities). Again what is the expectation either of the parent or teacher?
9. Self-advocating – Most of us don’t like to ask for help but it can be truly difficult for students with organizational weaknesses. Don’t assume children or teens who don’t ask for help understand. Instead make a plan for when help should be asked for, how it should be asked for and from whom it should be asked. Role play if needed.
10. Done! Be sure that children and teens understand what being finished means. Homework is not finished until it is turned in. With technology entering the classroom that might mean sharing an assignment in Google Classroom or on Schoology, it might be taking it to school to hand it in or show it to the teacher. Make sure your student understands what that means for each class. Don’t forget about responsibilities at home. Clarify what a finished chore looks like.

While these steps work together, I would suggest not teaching them together. Review them often and check for understanding by asking questions. It can be a lot to take in. Some or all of the steps could be a struggle to learn and master.