The TEACCH Autism Programme was developed in the 1960’s by Dr Eric Schopler. It is now a comprehensive clinical and psychoeducational programme for supporting people with autism. It is based in the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and has Centres throughout the state. The programme is adopted worldwide. I have written about my interest in the TEACCH programme on my blog before, and my last assignment for my masters was about critically analysing the TEACCH method. I just find it really easy to use in the classroom, particularly with younger children. It is highly structured and allows the children to know what they need to do at their work stations. We just have regular desks, and were due our brand new work stations with the compartments and everything the week we closed! So I am really looking forward to getting those once we get back.
TEACCH facilitates visual learners too, as almost all children with autism learn visually.
The structured nature of TEACCH works because:
- It helps the student with autism to understand expectations.
- It helps students with autism to be calm.
- It suits their learning style.
- It promotes flexible thinking
The following needs to be in place for TEACCH to work:
Structured Teaching Elements
- Physical structure
- Visual Schedules
- Activity systems
- Structured activities
- Incorporating students strengths and interest when using structured teaching
*all images used are from pinterest*
Obviously the nature of the task will depend on the individual child and their abilities.
If you will be teaching children with autism in September, I would recommend you research or do a course on TEACCH! The NCSE run one every year and a longer one run over a few days which is meant to be amazing, but who knows if these will go ahead this year.