What kind of next steps can you give a child with autism??

[NotInTheMood]

He is three years old and has delays in language etc. I have put him on a IEP and we are concentrating on naming items/objects. He is just beginning to express some needs using single words such as saying 'apron' when he wants the apron or 'off' when he wants to get down. He has began screaming recently when another child annoys him or takes a toy off him. He also has difficulty waiting for a turn etc. physical skills seem fine but obviously struggles with managing feelings and behaviour and expressing himself. I'm still new to this and want to keep it simple. My colleagues tend to take the next steps from the eyfs eg to select and identify an object when asked. This was a next step given before. I want to mangage some of his behaviour but not sure where to start!!!

He will need to go at little steps at a time, does he have Portage come in to help the family? As they will give you an idea of what to achieve next. Also have a look on the National Autistic Society website they have some really useful information sheets, although you might have to hunt arund to find them.

Thank you. No portage family didn't want them involved. I work in a pre school but not getting much support or ideas tbh. The advisory teacher hasn't been in contact due to cut backs and I have no SEN experience. I've only been in the job a few months :-/

IHi, who is responsibld for sen, there should be a senco as part of the team.
Please try to have a word with the parents re portage as early intervention is crucial at this age.

Is he on school action plus?

He's on an IEP as at pre school. Parents had portage didn't get along with it. He does attend the development clinic who work with him. I am just trying to think of a general next step for him as we have to give a child one at the end of each term. His IEP is to name objects when given and we also do intensive play. He gets so frustrated and angry and does not enjoy adult led activities and often refuses to sit on the carpet. He finds sharing and taking turns difficult. And screams when a child annoys him.

I was thinking of something like: with adult support and encouragement child A to use some simple expressive language or gestures to communicate some basic needs. For example when a child does something to annoy him I've been trying to teach him to say no with a stop hand gesture instead of screaming. Do you think this is appropriate or worded correctly.

Does he have a speech and language therapist? If not, you need to speak to parents about making a referral. They will be able to help you set IPPs around communication.

How do the parents feel about pecs? Speech and language are quite keen on it and it did help our delayed three year old, who had a lot of the same frustration issues.

are you the setting senco? as this is what they should be doing
has the child been referred to speech and language because it sounds like he needs to be?
is the area senco (inclusion teacher in some areas) involved?
has there been a request for guidance?
I feel that the area senco really should be giving you more help if they are involved
I agree about PECS, it really does help.
I work as the SENCO in a pre-school and we have a child with autism. We have a lot of involvement from the SALT and the area senco. We also received funding to enable us to employ another member of staff to free up his key-person to work with him and her other key children who were missing out.

I think the suggestion you have made is good. Remembering that the aims are meant to be SMART (specific, measurable, etc), I would perhaps insert something along the lines of 'in one out of three instances of .....' and thus giving room to boost this to 2 out of 3 instances or whatever? Just think that baby steps are more realistic, and it's encouraging when you can feel some goal has been met, given that there are often so many challenges.
I agree with you that setting targets is a difficult task! HTH

There are some really good social skills books for young children out there - Amazon sell them (sharing/friends etc etc)