Facing the front in class

[jenjen73]

Hello, can anyone shed some light on why an autistic child (or possibly not necessarily autistic) might really struggle to face the front when seated as a group on the floor in a classroom. My DS is in Y4 now and it’s something the teacher has been struggling with as he seems intent on sitting almost at right angles to the teacher and is causing disruption to the class. Does this have anything to do with proprioception? Or is it more likely a visual stimulus thing? For what it’s worth, my DS likes to touch things (usually glides his hands along the table or wall) as he talks and often glances around the room when he’s listening.

A|re you in the process of having him assessed?

This is the sort of thing that would be flagged up, noted and interventions would be suggested.

My nephew did something similar. He was eventually able to explain that he was usually sat towards the front of the class, facing forward meant he had most of the class behind him. He was very uncomfortable with that, imagined all sorts of things were happening behind him, so turned sideways so he could see everyone.

Allowing him to sit at the back sounded good, but then the teacher couldn't watch him closely enough to intervene if he got anxious about the work.

It took a lot of discussion to work out an acceptable compromise. I believe he sat at one side of the room, halfway back, sideways on, and woe betide anyone who tried to get in his eyeline.

Interesting. Sorry my post wasn’t very clear, my son is autistic.

Being able to see the children who sit behind him would make sense, not sure why I didn’t think of that. Maybe it’s nothing as fancy as proprioception after all!

maybe it is more comfortable and less threatening to him. feeling like the teacher is staring at him could be unpleasant . surely the teacher can sit him at the edge and make it a reasonable adjustment. it ain't going to kill anyone.

(ex teacher)

Well quite.

Visual stim issue?

My sons classroom is set up so that the children aren't all facing the front (think several blocks of desks with the children facing inwards so some may be facing the front and some a window or wall but can all see the others in their block). My son was struggling to concentrate and feeling anxious. He commented that there was too much colour and too many pictures etc and he just wanted to be in a black& white room. His teacher is very accomodating so she switched him to a seat where he could see the child opposite and the wall behind them only and cleared the area so the wall was empty. Its made an amazing difference to how he feels when hes sat in class