http://www.fridayschildmontessori.com/blog/understanding-autism/ Nobody really knows what causes the mild mental disorder known as autism. Autism is characterised by problems interacting socially, language problems and by obsessive behaviour, insistence on strict routine and sensitivity to certain nonverbal sensory stimuli.

1. Is Montessori Education
Suitable for Children with
Autism?
www.fridayschildmontessori.com

2. The big question for those reading this
is whether Montessori education is
suitable for children with autism.

3. I can just about hear Maria Montessori
shouting “Of course it is!” While
children with autism will need a bit of
extra support no matter where they go
for their early childhood education, the
Montessori method is particularly
suitable.

4. In fact, many of the children who
Maria Montessori originally worked
with as she developed her teaching
methods could very well have been
autistic, as she first worked with
children with severe learning
difficulties.

5. There are a number of features of
Montessori education that make it
particularly suitable for a child
with autism (or for any child, as Maria
Montessori proved).

6. Montessori education allows children to
work and develop at their own pace
rather than expecting them to fit into a
set developmental timetable.

7. Children in a Montessori classroom can
work on their own if they wish but they
will still interact to some degree with
others, although autistic children may
need a bit of help with this.

8. The use of sensory materials and
hands-on activities are also very
suitable for children with autism, as
they are very sensitive to non-language
sensory stimuli.

9. The order of the classroom, with
everything having a “right” place also
helps maintain the regularity and
predictability that children with autism
need to feel secure and safe.

10. It has to be acknowledged that if your
child has autism, he or she will need
extra help and support compared to the
other children in a Montessori
classroom.

11. However,
Montessori learning and teaching blend
extremely well with the methods used
by behavioural specialists.

12. On the home front, one thing that you
can do to help a child with autism learn
to interact with others is to get a pet.

13. Pet therapy is often used to help these
children learn how to interact with
others, as playing with animals doesn’t
demand the same level of language
and eye contact as interacting with
humans does.

14. Many people with autism end up
working with animals later in life,
including farm work, pet grooming and
veterinary assistants.

15. And what else can children with
autism do when they grow up?

16. There are plenty of jobs where their
detachment, obsessive tendencies and
insistence on strict routine can be
assets, although they will need some
help overcoming the hurdle of the job
interview.

17. Work in a factory on an assembly line
is a very common career choice for
people with autism, but other people
have done well as computer
programmers and technicians,

18. as journalists (reporting the bare facts
in a detached and unbiased manner
comes naturally for those with autism)
and as laboratory assistants – and
even leading research scientists.

19. This is brought to you by
Fridays Child Montessori