A few months ago I spoke with a mom around 3:15pm, her son’s “witching hour” when he returns from school. It wasn’t that he acted up or had a hard time but rather that school days are structured and the rest of the afternoon and evening are not. She wasn’t sure what to do with him after school and was looking for after school programs that would provide structure for her son until dinner time.
This is a very common scenario and I wish that there was more conversation about supporting kids with autism outside of school hours.
The gap nobody talks about
Schools are structured environments for children during the school day. For many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) this structure can be the anchor that holds them together during the school day, allowing them to behave within expected parameters. The structured environment of the school, with set times for arrival and departure, set transitions between lessons, and a consistent daily structure, helps the nervous system to function at its best. For some children with Autism Spectrum Disorders this structured environment is not enough to allow them to behave in expected ways outside of school.
Then school ends.
These after-school hours are a time when many children with autism are at a loss for what to do with themselves. They are hours when their structured and routine-based school day has held them together, only to collapse when the last bell rings. For many kids on the spectrum, after-school hours are unclear and ultimately confusing. Many kids are able to come up with something to do within a few minutes of arriving home, but this is not the case for many children with autism. After-school programs can be very, very good for kids like this.
What good after-school structure actually looks like
Here are some of the elements that need to be included in order to create a really good after school program for kids with autism: Structure – The structure can be a series of predictable events or a predictable sequence of activities. Within that structure, there should be opportunities for kids to make choices and complete activities of their own preference. There should also be opportunities for kids to express themselves and complete activities that allow for maximum expression.
- It signals transitions clearly, with verbal cues, visual schedules, or timers, so kids aren’t blindsided by change
- It rotates between higher-demand activities and lower-demand ones, giving the nervous system a chance to reset
- It builds routines that the child can actually anticipate, which reduces anxiety before it starts
- It offers some degree of choice within a structured container, so kids practice decision-making without being overwhelmed by it
This is another area that is very misunderstood and underused. Many autistic children with high levels of rigidity or very strong rituals in their lives have a lot of difficulty with unstructured free time. However, this does not mean that they cannot benefit from activities of interest. In reality, children with autism of all levels and needs can greatly benefit from activities of interest when they are surrounded by highly structured activities of interest and are able to make choices among 3-4 very structured activities of interest. For example, a child with autism who is very into cars could have a paint by numbers of red cars, blue cars, and yellow cars. The child would be able to choose which one to paint first, but then would be engaged in a very structured activity of interest. This can be very freeing for many children with autism.
Social learning happens between the lessons
Children with autism also need to be able to interpret social cues in order to participate in activities with their peers who are neurotypical and to behave in ways that are considered appropriate by adults who are also neurotypical. The interpretation of social cues and the interpretation of social behavior of children with autism can be very challenging for them in a variety of contexts. A child with autism may be able to interpret social cues and behave in appropriate ways in school, but outside of school it can be very difficult for them. Much of the social learning that children do is in everyday contexts of life such as in school, in after-school activities, in the neighborhood, in parks and playgrounds, in the home before school and after school, on the bus to and from school, in community centers, in places of worship, in scouts, in 4-H, in YMCA/YWCA after-school programs, in before and after school babysitting, and in a wide variety of other places. Children with autism need to be able to interpret social cues in all of these contexts in order to be able to have peers and to behave in appropriate ways. They need to be able to be part of a group of children in a variety of activities and to have friends. And they need to be able to behave in ways that are considered to be appropriate by the adults in their lives. Watching children with autism interact outside of school and outside of structured lessons within school is very valuable for several different reasons.
There are many opportunities for positive social learning outside of school in after-school hours, at home, and in activities that children with autism participate in with their peers in sports, clubs, and school-based programs. Such activities provide positive social learning opportunities when they have: 1) a supportive environment for children’s participation; 2) opportunities for children to have a variety of positive social interactions with peers (e.g., a range of conversations, sharing materials or activities, playing or completing tasks in close proximity to peers); 3) a variety of situations in which children can practice a range of social skills (e.g., reading social cues, asking and answering questions, engaging in shared activities with others, taking turns with others, expressing needs and wants to others, managing frustration and anger management); 4) situations in which children can practice recovering from a misunderstanding, responding to an unintentionally hurtful comment, and resolving a conflict with another; and 5) the presence of an adult who can support children’s social participation and learning in these situations.
These kinds of social learning moments occur informally in after-school settings when they are well-run. These settings are really rich for social learning because kids are in familiar environments with familiar peers, with a supportive adult present, and the kids are practicing social skills in real-life contexts. They are really practicing reading social cues, initiating conversations, managing frustration, recovering from moments when they have done something incorrectly and blundered in a social interaction. That kind of thing.
Skill development shouldn’t stop at 3 PM
After school hours are one of the best times for generalization of skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families. During after school hours the child with Autism can apply the skills he/she learned in ABA sessions in naturalistic settings of their life. This does not happen automatically; it takes many opportunities for the child to practice the skills he/she learned in ABA sessions outside of the ABA sessions. Some children can apply the skills they learned in ABA to other settings and situations, but for many children the ABA sessions are where they learn their skills.
Specialized after-school programs for children with autism utilizing ABA therapy offer an opportunity for children to generalize new skills that have been taught to them during school and clinical hours. These programs are not intended to replicate or increase the amount of drilling or one-on-one therapy that is taking place during the child’s school and clinical hours. Instead, these after-school programs allow children the opportunity to practice newly learned skills within a supportive, but general setting. It is within this type of setting that children are able to practice generalizing new skills in a variety of different situations, across various environments and with a variety of different people.
What families should look for
Just because a program calls itself “inclusive” doesn’t mean it is good for kids with autism. Inclusive means that kids with autism can participate with kids without autism, but that doesn’t mean that kids with autism will have a good time or thrive in an inclusive after-school program. Many after-school programs are not set up to meet the individual needs of kids with autism, and many of these programs can actually do more harm than good for these children. Families of children with autism should investigate after-school programs that are specifically designed for kids with autism, such as those providing specialized autism therapy in Bedford, MA.
- How are transitions handled and communicated?
- What’s the staff-to-child ratio?
- How does the program communicate with families about what’s working and what isn’t?
- Is there explicit social skills coaching, or is it assumed to happen organically?
So long as there are people operating programs for autistic children who do not understand that to communicate with the children, the adults are going to have to read the children’s behavior and respond to it as if it were a communication, then some programs for some kids are going to be better than others. And some will even work well for children who have really been suffering in less appropriate after school programs.
(Communication from the after school program to the family is as important as the work being done in the after school program. Simple daily reports of what took place and how the child is doing can have a profound impact on a family in the long run. Even a few minutes of daily reporting can have a cumulative impact on a family.)
School ends, and those are hours that can be so very good for a child’s development when they have the right after school support and program. In fact, after school can be some of the very best hours of development for children when done well. And with the right support, that transition from school to home could be a lot softer for kids and families.
