Teachings assistant job with child who has Aspergers. Advice anyone?

[Slinkysista]

Hi
I am going for an interview for a job as a TA, I would be working one on one with a child who has Aspergers Syndrome. I know all children with AS are different but I was just wondering if you had any advice or have seen any strategies used either with your child or another AS child which proved useful.

I really want this job so any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Slinky

They might ask you what you'll do if he is endangering the rest of the class (ie about to throw a chair or something) - correct answer is to get the rest of the class out to safety.

He might need lots of time out from the classroom because of stress - one good strategy is to take him for a run round the field if he's stressed and agitated. In fact I use exercise to calm my DS down a lot.

Another thing is for him to have some kind of discreet signal to tell you he needs to get out of the classroom.

I think you have to get to know the child, because whatever you can read up will teach you less than observing this child. See if you can learn how to anticipate any anxiety/meltdowns, ie through observing and recording any incidents you will learn how to avoid the triggers. Good luck.

Also always listern to the parents sending your sn child to school can be worrying and they may need reasurance

Good luck

Only tip I have is to remember that should the child have a meltdown. It is not their fault, they cant help what they are doing. They need guidence and patience. Always start a school day with a clean slate and a fresh start. Praise time in rather than emphasising the time outs.

And there is always a reason for the meltdown. Part of your job is to work out what the reason was and to stop the trigger happening again if possible.

Thanks so much for the advice, it really makes sense, I really want to help this child and make their time at school as easy as possible.

Get the classroom checked out for sensory hazards - flickering overhead lighting, background noise from computer fans whirring/ohp whirring overhead for whiteboards, etc. Should be possible to 'borrow' someone like me via a local charity etc to see what we can sense that you might not be able to.
And make sure your pupil has regular quiet breaks so they can let their brain wiring 'cool down' again.
Watch out for 'free time', e.g. before school, breaks, lunch etc. We find such things intensely frightening because of the noise, chaos, social interaction etc. Work on finding a quiet corner or a definite activity for us to do in such times and we'll be a lot happier and calmer (generalising).