School readiness includes not only early academic skills in reading, writing and mathematics, but also motivation to learn, social and emotional development, language skills, and general knowledge, just to name a few. For children with Autism, because of their unique profiles of abilities and challenges, there are more critical skill sets they need to acquire to get ready to cope school life successfully:
Disruptive behaviors:
No matter a child is going to a nursery or primary school, the first and foremost criteria is that disruptive behaviors, such as stereotypical behaviors and temper tantrums, should be kept at a minimal level. If a child cannot cope with corrective feedback from teachers, or easily distracted by some decorations in the classroom, the child will have troubles learning effectively. And in a mainstream setting, most teachers are not expected to deal with a student’s problematic behaviors and their disruption to teaching. Aberrant behaviors also cause inevitable stigmatization, creating more challenges in socialization.
Self-help skills:
Besides regulating and replacing disruptive behaviors, close-to-perfect self-help skills is another critical skill set, as it determines the level of support a child needs in a school and, more importantly, his social appeal to peers. A child must be very fluent in all self-care routines, including changing clothes, eating with different utensils, and using the bathroom in order to be ready for primary school. On top of self-help routines, a child is expected to practice hygiene habits like sneezing or coughing discreetly, wiping nose with tissue efficiently, and keeping themselves clean while eating.
Learning-how-to-learn:
Children with Autism have unique learning styles that are not compatible with the traditional method of teaching, which is time-based, didactical, and not individualized. To minimize the need of assistance in learning, we must make sure that they have the necessary replacement skills and strategies to learn independently in a class. Learning-how-to-learn skills can be sub-categorized into behavioral regulation specific to group and school settings, motivation to learn, sustaining and self-directing attention, problem solving, learning from feedback, reasoning and making inferences.
Social skills:
To reduce the chance of being teased and bullied and to increase the likelihood of developing successful friendships at school, a child should possess social awareness including perspective-taking, understanding social concepts and norms, understanding of his own differences. Advanced social skills like seeking help effectively, being assertive, apologizing, solving social conflicts are crucial for a child to adapt to novel social situations in school.
One may wonder it would take years for a child with ASD to get ready for school. It may be very true as school or mainstream setting is a very complex social environment that does not do much favor to our children. And for many of them, mainstream schools are not necessary the best option as they may face prolonged period of failures both academically and socially. To help a child to get the most of their school-age years, school placements should be carefully chosen according to their abilities, learning styles, and interests.
Information provided by Autism Partnership
Autism Partnership (AP) is one of the most established Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) service providers for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in the world. Formed in 1994 in the United States, AP is run by professional clinicians and specializes in providing one-on-one therapy, group interventions and overseas consultation for children with ASD and their families.
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[:zh]入學的必備條件不僅包括閱讀，寫作和數學方面的早期學術能力，還包括學習動機，社交和情感發展，語言技能和常識。對於患有自閉症的兒童，由於他們獨特的能力和缺失，他們需要俱備更多重要的技巧才能成功應對學校生活：
滋擾性行為：
無論孩子是去幼兒園還是小學，首要的準則是滋擾性行為，如重複性的行為和發脾氣，應保持在最低水平。如果孩子無法應對教師的批評，或者很容易被教室裡的某些裝飾分散注意力，孩子不能很有效地學習。在主流環境中，大多數教師不希望花時間處理學生的問題行為及其引至對教學的干擾。異常行為也會不可避免地令同輩留意孩子的問題，從而在社交互動中產生更多挑戰。
自理能力：
除了規範和替代滋擾性行為外，接近完美的自理能力是另一項重要的技巧，因為它決定了孩子在學校所需要的協助，更重要的是，也影響了同輩對他的觀感。以便為小學做好準備，孩子必須非常流暢地進行所有自理程序，包括換衣服，用不同的餐具進食，以及使用洗手間。除了自理程序之外，孩子還應該有良好的衛生習慣，如咳嗽時要蓋著嘴巴，用紙巾有效地擦鼻子，並在進食時保持自己清潔。
學習能力：
自閉症兒童具有獨特的學習風格，但與傳統的教學方法不相容。傳統的教學方法是基於時間，已說教為主，及非個人化。為了最大限度地減少輔助學習的需要，我們必須確保他們擁有必要的替代技巧和策略，以便在課堂上獨立學習。學習能力可以細分為針對小組和學校環境的行為規範，學習動機，持續和自己主導的專注力，解決問題能力，從反饋中學習，和推理能力。
社交能力：
為了減少被取笑和欺凌的機會，及增加在學校建立成功友誼的可能性，孩子應該具備社交意識，包括能夠從別人的角度出發，理解社交概念和規範，理解自己跟別人的差異。高級的社交技巧，如有效地尋求幫助、敢言、道歉及解決社交衝突，對孩子適應學校多變的社交環境至關重要。
有人可能會懷疑患有ASD的孩子需要多年才能為上學做好準備。這可能是真的，因為學校或主流環境是一個非常複雜的社交環境，對我們的孩子並不容易。對許多孩子來說，主流學校並不是最好的選擇，因為他們可能在學業和社交方面都面臨長期的失敗。為了幫助孩子在學齡期充分地學習及過正面的學校生活，我們應根據學生的能力、學習方式和興趣謹慎選擇學校。
資訊由Autism Partnership提供
Autism Partnership （AP）於1994年在美國成立，是全球最具規模為自閉症患者提供『應用行為分析』(ABA) 治療的專業機構。AP是由多位專業臨床心理學家、應用行為分析治療顧問及治療師管理，為患有自閉症譜系障礙（ASD）的兒童及其家庭提供一對一治療、行為干預小組訓練及海外諮詢服務。
請分享，讓更多人了解自閉症及學習更多應用行為分析（ ABA）的治療技巧。
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