The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

As colleges and universities add online components to courses, those of us with autism spectrum disorders need to master online participation skills. Online interactions are challenging enough, but college courses require special awareness of social norms. Instructors also struggle to understand how our literal natures can contribute to misunderstandings. This presentation focuses on ways to succeed in online courses, including the value of self-advocacy when communicating with instructors. Online courses are both an opportunity and a challenge. Overall Content

The content of this presentation will focus on skills students on the spectrum can utilize to work successfully in online classrooms. Special attention will be paid to language cues, self-mediation, and self-advocacy.

All courses involve debates and discussions. A student on the spectrum might confuse some messages for personal attacks. The online medium is difficult regardless of who we are, but for autistic students it is even more complicated.

A discussion of language cues will benefit parents, educators, and students as they learn how to avoid online conflicts. Learning to ask for clarifications from other students and the instructor is a skill we will particularly stress during the session. Asking questions often diffuses situations and leads to a positive interaction.

Self-mediation includes learning not to respond to every comment or posting made by other students. The impulse to respond seems common among those of us on the autism spectrum. When we know something, we want to share our knowledge or correct the mistakes of others. Self-mediation can reduce the negative images others might develop based solely on our online personas.

Finally, it is extremely valuable to communicate with an instructor before a course begins and to continue communicating throughout the course. An instructor should be expected to help moderate online forums and to guide discussions in a manner than helps all students avoid unnecessary conflicts.

Online Environments and ASD

This presentation will also explore how students with autism spectrum disorders experience online education. Based on research to date, I will address following questions:
• Does online education increase or decrease the ASD student's sense of alienation?
• How can online settings be improved to assist ASD students, especially when they must communicate with others?
• Does online success translate into successful interactions in the traditional classroom?
• Should the “hybrid” model be explored?

The answers to these questions might help formulate ways to ease students on the spectrum into the traditional classroom setting successfully. If online courses are more comfortable for the students, we can work to develop ways to migrate these students, if they so desire, into traditional settings.

Admittedly, if some ASD students prefer online environments, they might not see a benefit to traditional settings. From an advocacy perspective, the goal would be to build confidence online and then assist students as they move towards more social settings.

General Online Education

Some have claimed the literalness of students on the spectrum and their concrete thinking process mimics the language of non-native speakers. Like non-native speakers, these students struggle with idioms, metaphors, and symbolic relationships. Some “high-functioning” students cannot synthesize information to form new ideas in most disciplines. As a result, the computer interface must be as standardized and predictable as possible.

Student needs and preferences cannot be predicted, but some general concerns are anticipated:
• ASD students can be color sensitive, so they might want complete control over the colors presented via a Web-based couse.
• These students are sensitive to distractions, so pop-up windows, alert boxes, and visual elements that are animated might be eliminated.
• Confusion when discussions use figurative language and sarcasm emphasize the need for instructor monitoring of most exchanges.
• Instructions must be clear and concise, especially online help systems.

The experiences of students on the spectrum will help designers consider the use of metaphors and visual cues in application design. Also, the study might highlight the need for a streamlined, less complex interface for all students.

Learning Objectives: