Distal Supports to Promote Classroom Engagement

Autistic children are increasingly educated in general education classrooms, alongside classmates who do not receive special education services. When autistic children are enrolled in general education classes, they are often accompanied by support aides (e.g.,  behavioral therapists, paraprofessionals, paraeducators, instructional assistants, teacher aides, or classroom aides) to support their learning. However, having a support aide means that autistic students are near an adult for the majority of their time in class. This can have unintended consequences, like making it less likely autistic children will interact with the general education teacher, or with their classmates. In previous research, general educators have reported that they need support to increase the classroom engagement of their autistic students in ways that do not rely on the sustained and close contact of a support aide.

We are working with educators in Newton Public Schools to develop resources for educators that will help autistic students (especially those that are assigned a 1:1 aide) become more engaged with the classroom teacher, instructional activities, and their classroom peers. These materials include a professional development workshop designed to help educators better support the autistic students in their classrooms, and a manual that describes specific strategies and activities educators might use.  The classroom practices that we encourage are called distal supports, which are strategies to promote academic and peer engagement without the close proximity of an adult.  Specifically, distal supports include environmental arrangements, visual supports, and curricular/instructional adaptations to foster student engagement. 

We would like to continue to talk to and observe educators and students as they use distal support strategies. By doing this, we are hoping to develop more tools that teams of school professionals can use that will make it easier for autistic students to be engaged in the classroom.  We also hope to learn more about the needs of particular schools and students, so that we can help educators individualize these strategies.