Federal and state laws require that educational programs for individuals with special needs including autism be designed to meet the unique needs of each student. Educational approaches are not one size fits all. What works for one child with ASD may have little of no impact on another.

The key to designing an appropriate program for an individual with ASD is to assess the individual’s current skill levels, identify current and future needs, and design a comprehensive intervention program to support skill acquisition using a variety of strategies that are considered best practices for individuals with ASD. Often the program includes techniques from a variety of educational approaches, various instructional strategies, and treatment methods. The following are examples of educational approaches for individuals on the spectrum.

• TEACCH – or Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children was developed at the University of North Carolina in the 1970’s. TEACCH is the first educational approach to be adopted by an entire state (NC). It focuses on maintenance of a highly structure learning environment and the use of schedules and other visual supports to assist the child to understand expectations and to function within the classroom.
• Floor Time – developed by Dr, Stanley Greenspan this approach focuses on the development of interaction skills through play. The approach is similar to play therapy in that it emphasizes the emotional development of the child within the context of play situations. Individuals who use Floor Time techniques when working with children on the spectrum follow the child’s lead and build on the child’s current skill levels.
• ABA – Applied Behavior Analysis has its root in the early work of B. F. Skinner who experimented with animals to demonstrate that rewards would increase the occurrence of behaviors. While ABA is actually a theory of behavior, not an educational technique, the acronym is frequently used to describe a treatment approach for ASD. Sometimes ABA is also referred to as Lovaas therapy or discrete trial training. Whether the technique is called ABA, Lovaas, or discrete trial training, the approach relies on the “stimulus, response, consequence” sequence for teaching skills to learners on the spectrum.
• Miller Method – was created in Boston during the 1990’s by Arnold Miller, Ph.D. and his wife Eileen Eller-Miller, M. A., CCC-SLP. The method is a cognitive-developmental systems approach for children on the autism spectrum. The Miller Method addresses body organization, social interaction, communication, and representation issues in both clinical and classroom settings.
• PECS – the Picture Exchange Communication System was developed in Delaware to facilitate the acquisition of communication skills in child and adults with ASD. Individuals are taught to exchange pictures of items or activities to gain assess to the something that they want or need.
• Social Stories – were developed by Carol Gray in the early 1990’s. This technique uses stories specifically written to teach social skills to individuals with ASD. Each story is designed to meet the unique needs of the learner and includes specific types of sentences to describe situations, teach emotions related to a situation, and teach appropriate responding.What Educational Methods are Effective for ASD?