Prevention of absenteeism and school failure in students with ASD: Improving the transition from primary to secondary school

Circle of trust

It is an activity to teach in an explicit and personalized way the different types of personal relationships that one has. It is important to do it visually for your better understanding, and thus be able to work with examples of excessive behaviours, or overly conservative behaviours, or even appropriate and inappropriate behaviours in public or private.

For example, to help identify who you should tell about health problems and who you shouldn't. In this way, different levels of support and intimacy can be established.

Social stories are a very effective working tool with students with ASD, for example, when we observe that they do not understand a situation. The thought that usually comes to mind is that it is a wake-up call or that they do not want to carry out what has been commanded, but there is usually a more accurate interpretation and that is that they have not understood something, and not having the ability to ask for internalized help, they find it difficult to resolve the doubts that have arisen and for this reason, they sometimes show this behaviour.

Social scripts or social stories are short narratives, accompanied by visual support, which explain information from the context and rules of conduct of a specific social situation. They include important information about why it occurs, who is related to it, and exactly how its protagonist should act.

Teach basic rules to the student with ASD

Every year when the school year begins, it can be difficult to manage the amount of important and new information that has to be attended to: names of new teachers, people of reference, important or reference places in the school, important dates, instructions, rules behaviour....

Therefore, in the transitions between primary and secondary school, it is even more important to consider strategies that can help to manage the anxiety that excess information can cause to students with ASD.