1. Communication EA worker, Autism
As there is such a broad spectrum of Autism. You may also encounter people with
autism that may also have another disability or mental challenges, along with verbal or non-
verbal. Also you may never suspect a person may have autism. As an Education Assistants we
must know at least a bit of what type of Autism or what we are able to do for this child. Also
doing your research is good to know. As a mother to an autistic child I have had my challenges
and done my research to help my son, through life.
What is Autism, it is a brain disorder that has limit ability to communication and related to
struggle to speak. Or may function in life, as a person like you and me. Some signs of Autism
are reparative motions. Avoid eye contact, repeating words or phrases, delayed speech, don’t
always like physical touch, and may get upset by minor changes, and may have extreme
resistance to change. They have struggles communicating with others.
Some signs start around the age 18-24 months. They may stop or lose skills they have
learned. They may not turn to a mother’s voice, their own name, no babbling or pointing to
something by the age of one. They tend to have no smile, or have common response to social
cues. They also tend not to like wearing certain items of clothing. They don’t tend to play
pretend games, or produce two word phrases by the age 2.
They tend to have digestive or constipation problems. ASD children tend to have large heads.
As Thomas has a big head and his bone structure is a few years old then his age. Where he is 12
years of age and already in puberty. This is only found if the child has a hand x-ray. So now he is
13 and a half, however his body is as old as my oldest son Matthew, who is 16 years old.
Thomas was always bigger in height and weight then his peers, his nickname is "the friendly
giant". To this day Thomas is a big young man.
Screening for Autism can be done at the age of nine months, as a health nurse can do
mild stones on a child to check for any delays in their basic skills. A child could have speech
delay or hearing problems. A third of Autistic children are prone to having seizures.
Autistic children can have poor social skills, tendencies of avoiding or ignoring others. They
tend to be in their own world at times, and they don’t do well with reading facial expressions and
gestures of others. They usually have a stimming that they seem to do. My son flicks his fingers
in a downward way, some may also do what they call "hand flapping". This is a cue that they
may be happy at times. They may have rituals like things need to be in a straight line, an
example would be what Thomas did he likes lining his Thomas the tank engines in a line. They
also tend to be blunt on things. They don’t have a filter to say things. They will tell you straight
on how they will feel. They are however are smart in areas where you and I aren’t.
There is different types of Autism such as Asperger’s, which is the highest function or
mild to serve. I have a friend and her son is a lower function than Thomas. The child can have
another disability or behavior attached to autism. Autism differs from person to
person. Example would be Thomas has ASD and ADHD. Where I have worked with adult
people that also have autism with Downs Syndrome.
Asperger’s Syndrome children tend have low intelligence and language problems.

2. For communication, a Speech and language pathologist need to assess the child to see
where they are for communication to other children their age. Does the child have an
understanding of direction, can he answer Yes and No answers? Does the child have a range of
expressive vocabulary, how does a child talk in a classroom or at home? Are there any hearing
problems? Does the child understand what you are asking them? How much does the child
understand what are you talking about? Does the child need extra time to answer what you are
asking? I can say something to Thomas and ask him to repeat what I have said and most time he
can’t. When it comes to finding something on YouTube or something that happened 4 years ago
he’ll remember.
Personal space can also be an issue. Thomas will tell you if you are too close, or I have
to sneak a hug, but I can get a glare at times. I have to remind him at times to remember that if he
wants to hug his sister, not to squeeze too hard, as he has great strength, and doesn't realize it.
So the best strategies for a child in a classroom where you know the child may be
aggressive at time, or when a child is having a meltdown, is to try and get the child out before
they escalate, or have the other students leave the class. A child without a disability having a
meltdown, is different from a child with autism having a meltdown. The child with Autism have
great strength, and they have a hard time controlling themselves as they are not able to control
their emotions. Having a card that the teacher can give a student if the autistic child gets out of
control. This card goes to the principal and the principal knows that there is a problem. The card
is a simple card mostly would be red and mostly use in case of an emergency that indicates that
the teacher and EA worker are needing help with a child that is has escalated to a point that a
person is needing more help with the child, usually when the behavior is uncontrollable. Another
is that if the child is a runner an EA worker and office would have radios so if the child runs the
school can be locked down, and everyone is keeping their eyes open for the child. What I mean
by “lock down", is that the entrances are locked down, not the classroom. The child may find a
person or student they can trust. The best way if you are noticing that the child is getting
frustrated or seems to be in a bad mood just talk to them, they will let you know at times, just
read their body language and give them time. You can try different things if you feel you can.
If there is a fire drill that day, the child is usually told ahead of time. They may have ear phones
for their ears that they put on when it is too loud for their ears, as this is a sensory issue. Or they
may learn to put their hands over their ears. The EA worker is with the child when they go
outside.
Another way you can communicate with an autistic child is through pictures. These can be
used with verbal and non-verbal children. You have the pictures that can be used to communicate
with the child. They can show what the child will be doing during the day, what is next as it is
hard for the child to know what comes next during the day. Using pictures is a good way of
visual for the child. It also can work when a child is shy. You can have various different types of
pictures, it can also be creative way to communicate with a child or a child can communicate
with other students. You can use electronic or paper pictures. It depends on the EA workers
preferences.
In middle school the child may get reminders in their behavior. In high school they just talk to
the student as a regular person. The goal is to be able just to have the student talk things out and

3. communicate with others in the school. You must remember to praise the child. You can use
rewards like a break or a favorite game they like.
With the social part of school. Trying to get the child involved with things, to get them
socializing with other students in the school, and participate in school functions. Having a child
be responsible for little jobs in the school, so that feel like they are taking part is one way you
can achieve this. Some job examples are... Having the child help with recycling gathering the
papers from the class room. Thomas started with his morning routine by going to his class and
saying Hi to his peers and teacher, then he would go and feed the fish that were in a pond at the
school. He would go out into the community with the CAST worker in the district to club Aviva.
When I had gone to visit him one day, he was going to art class, I noticed that he was not the
only student in the class but he was with his peers. Thomas showed me what he was doing in art,
and I was proud to see him in a class. As an EA worker some students may be one on one. Some
children may just have a worker that just pops in from time to time. With Thomas he has a one-
on-one worker. There was also a resource room that had other EA worker.
If a student is allowed to bring their electronics to school it should be in a different case, so
the student is only having one for their school activities and another for play. So when the child
is in school, they are able to use it but they need to know the difference between work and play.
How a worker could do this is having time limits. Depends on the child on how their frustration
level and their mood that day is. It could be 10 mins work, 10 mins play, and the EA worker can
increase the time for school work and decrease the time for play at any time. Having a routine for
a child is a must as they don’t do well to change, if you must change a child’s routine having
minor changes is better to do.
Sitting down with a team [which consist with case worker, parents, and other workers} and
coming up with ideas for an IEP (Induvial Education Plan) to see where the child has their
strengths and weakness. Where everyone fits into this child’s life. Taking into past history of the
child. It depends if this is the child’s first year of school, is the child transitioning into the next
school level. Or transitioning into adulthood. Also having an opening dialogue with parents so
everyone is on the same page. The child may have a communication book that goes from school
to home and back to school
There is another way a child works with an EA, but not in a school setting. As there are
some students that are homeschooled and cannot be in a school, for certain reasons. So the EA
will go to the child's home to teach them.
The worker is assigned to a family, the district at times would provide a list of EA workers, and
however they need to meet all the regular requirements as an EA worker working in the district.
What these EA workers do for the child. They provide supervision in social skills. Speech and
O.T they also ensure that the child has sensory breaks, snack breaks, social stories and using task
strips {routine}. They can be supporting a child in a group satiation.
EA form academics in self-regulation, reciprocal conversion skills, the basic academics for

4. school, building self-confidence and communication. Were a parent or a caregiver may have
trouble with the student an EA can get a different response and may have a better communication
with the. EA’s can also help the caregiver with academics or technology that they are have
trouble with.
As an Education Assistant I would try what I know from teaching my child. From what I learn
day to day. What research is out there, and trying different things however what may work today,
may not work tomorrow. You are always thinking what can I do for this child, what can I teach,
You may have to try a few different things before you get it right, but as the child learns you also
do to.
I hope you enjoyed what you read. Thank you