1. The Basics of Autism
Spectrum Disorders
Training Series
Regional Autism Advisory Council of
Southwest Ohio (RAAC-SWO)
RAAC Training Committee 2011

2. Training Series Modules
 Module One: Autism Defined, Autism Prevalence
and Primary Characteristics
 Module Two: Physical Characteristics of Autism
 Module Three: Cognition and Learning in Autism
 Module Four: Getting the Student Ready to Learn
 Module Five: Structuring the Classroom
Environment
 Module Six: Using Reinforcement in the Classroom

3. Training Series Modules
 Module Seven: Autism and Sensory Differences
 Module Eight: Sensory in the Classroom
 Module Nine: Communication and Autism
 Module Ten: Communication in the Classroom
 Module Eleven: Behavior Challenges and Autism
 Module Twelve: Understanding Behavior in
Students with Autism

4. Training Series Modules
 Module Thirteen: Social Skills in the School
Environment
 Module Fourteen: Functional Behavior Assessment
 Module Fifteen: Working Together as a Team
 Module Sixteen: Autism and Leisure Skills to
Teach
 Module Seventeen: Special Issues of Adolescence
 Module Eighteen: Safety and Autism
 Module Nineteen: Special Issues: High School,
Transition, and Job Readiness

5. Training Series Modules
 Module Twenty: Asperger Syndrome: Managing
and Organizing the Environment
 Module Twenty-One: Asperger Syndrome:
Addressing Social Skills

6. Social Skills and Asperger
Syndrome
 Social skills deficits is the one characteristic that
we will see in all students that have a diagnosis of
Asperger Syndrome.
 This is an area that has to be addressed at every
level and every age.
 Social skills must be specifically taught, these
students are just not going to get it through
observations and repeated experiences.

7. Big Idea
When talking about social skills and
students with Asperger Syndrome, it
is more about the WHAT to teach
then the how to teach.

8. The Hidden Curriculum
the “WHAT” to teach
 The Hidden Curriculum was developed by Brenda
Smith Myles (2004).
 The Hidden Curriculum is a set of rules or guidelines
that are often not directly taught but are assumed to be
known.
 The Hidden Curriculum contains items that have an
effect on social interactions, school performance, and
safety.
 There are things that most students “just pick up” or
learn through observation.

9. The Hidden Curriculum
 The Hidden Curriculum differs across gender.
 Girls and boys interact with each other in vary different
manners.
 The Hidden Curriculum differs across age.
 The Hidden Curriculum for a 9-year-old is different from
that for a 16-year-old or a 25-year old.
 The Hidden Curriculum differs depending on who you
are with.
 Students use different language based on whether they
are with their peers or with the adults in their lives.

10. Big Idea
Never assume that a student knows
even the most basic social skills.
These must be taught, sometimes
over and over again and in multiple
locations.