If Only People Could Understand What Children with Autism Want

If Only People Could Understand What Children with Autism Want

I get many questions from people who are frustrated. They are dealing with behavior problems that are not easy for them to solve.

Here’s the question I ask. “Why do you think he does that?” That question generally starts a discussion that reveals how well the person really knows the student.

The better we know our students, the more likely we will be able to discover why they do what they do.

Here are some thoughts. . .
If only people understood. . .

Autism can be a mystery. . .a puzzle. . .
It can leave us perplexed. . .bewildered. . . confused.

Here is our challenge.
We need to be detectives. Colombo and Sherlock Holmes were observers of details. And that is what we need to do. Watch. Pay attention. Look at the bigger picture.

And this is what I find
Those who really try to “learn” these students do. They figure out a lot about how individual students think and reason and understand.

Answering questions at a workshop
We were discussing how to deal with behavior problems. And we were talking about looking at the world from the student’s point of view. Answering questions like, “What could the student be thinking?” Or “What did the situation look like from the student’s point of view?” Good questions.

Then I asked one more question
I encouraged the participants to fill in the blank. They needed to think of a student they worked with and then finish the sentence from that student’s point of view.

The question: If only people understood ___________.

Here are some of the answers:
It takes me a long time to process what you are telling me
How exhausting it is for me to focus for any length of time
How hard I try to do my best
How sensitive I am to all sensory stimulation
I scream because I don’t know what else to do
I want to please you

I want something and I don’t know how to ask for it
I want something and I don’t know how to ask for it
How hard it is to sit still & attend
How I learn best
That I am trying my best

How I feel when I can’t tell you something
Why I act the way I do
What I want
Why I don’t get off the bus
Why I hit subs and teachers
How stressful life is
That I need breaks
I don’t want to do that

I know if you like me
I know if you are afraid of me
I am standing right here when you are talking about me


So here’s another question
Trying to understand what other people are thinking is a skill that students with Autism Spectrum Disorders are likely to have difficulty with. Do those of us who live with them and teach them have the ability to understand what they are thinking?

And one last question. . .
If we understand what our students think, how do we respond?

© 2009 Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
www.AutismFamilyOnline.com