what is autism?
The National autism society defines autism as a lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them. the nhs states how autism is a spectrum meaning everyone with autism is different. some require no support, whereas others may need help from a parent or a carrer everyday.
common misconceptions
autism is not caused by....
> bad parenting
> by vacinnes, such as the MMR vacinne
> linked by diet
> an infection that you can spread to others
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the medical name.
Asperger's ( or Asperger syndrome) describes Autisic people with an average or above average inteligance.
- NHS
common traits
> ADHD
> Dyslexia
> Anxiety
> Depression
> Epilepsy
autism in children
autistic children may :
- find it hard to make friends or prefering to be on their own
- taking thing very literal ( for example "break a leg")
- having a very keen interest in certain subjects or activities
- they may aviod eye contact when talking to them
- liking a very strict daily routine and getting very angry at changes.
- take longer when prosessing information
- find things such as, bright lights and loud noises overwhelming, stressfull, or uncomfortable.
social communication and interaction
- non-verbal comunication differences: making little or inconsistent eye contact. or using facial experesions and body language differently than neurotypical people.
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- social reciprocy challenges: finding it difficult to engage in the "back and forth of a typical conversation, such as knowing when to speak or listen.
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- literal language interpretation: struggling with sarcasm, idioms. or abstract jokes, and prefering direct, clear communication.
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- relationship building: finding it hard to maintain friends or needing extra energy to navigate social rules that others seem to follow instinctivly
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-Non-verbal communication differences: peers and teachers may misinterpret this body language for lack of interest or "not trying". This creates a social barrier where the student is unfairly labelled as uncooperative rather than them just trying to process the sensory input of bouncing balls/ blowing of whistle.
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- literal language interpretation: "great job superstar" if delivered sarcasiticaly after a mistake, the students may hear great job and believe they performed corectly, reinforcing a bad habbbit, alternativly they may detect the tone does not match the words and become deeply confused by the "lying adult".
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- relationship building: if a student with autism misses the micro expressions, they are inadvertently left out of the inside jokes and the group flow. Over time, this leads to social peripheralisation, where the student is physically present but emotionally disconnected from the team.
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- social reciprocy challenges: reciprocy requires a student to listen, acknoledge the plan and offer conformation. if a student with autism doesnt provide that social confirmation the teammates might assume they didnt listen or they dont carre. This will cause the team to stop including them in the planning and the student may end up in a position having no idea what the play is, futher isolating them.
How this acts as a barrier in pe
characteristics and their definitions:
- NHS
how autism may present in the classroom:
during lesson- pressure to perform due to feer of judgment from peers (avoidence to competition)
during team games- fear of choosing groups based on ability (unsertainty)
the changing rooms- pe uniform may cause distress and discomfort.
restricted and repetitive behaviours
- repetitive movements (stimming): actions like hand flapping, rocking, spinning, or repeating certain words or phrases
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- need for predictability: A strong preference for strict routines and experencing significant anxiety or distress if those routines are changed
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- focused interest: developing intence, highly specific passions for certain subjects, hobbies, or objects often acquiring expert-level
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- sensory prosessing differences: being hyper- sensitive or hypo-sensitive to lights, sounds, textures, tastes or smells.
Repetitive movements: when learning a new skill, such as a layup in basketball, a student might get stuck on a part of the movement- perhaps bouncing the ball repeatedly instead of transitioning into the shot. because their brains find comfort in repetition, and breaking that cycle to add a new step can be physically and mentally tiring.
- need for predictability: each transition is a moment of unpredictability; without a visual schedule, a student may freeze or have a mental breakdown because they were not mentally prepared to end the current task. They might feel like the task they were doing was 'stolen' from them if the stop wasn't signalled beforehand.
- sensory processing differences- a blow of a whistle or the thumps of the basketballs in a hall alongside 30 screaming children can be physically painful. A student in sensory pain cannot focus on instructions, they may cover their ears, hum to drown out the noise, or experience a meltdown as their brain fuse blose from the noise level.
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- focused interests- if the interest is, for example, aerodynamics, the student might feel fascinated by how a frisbee flies but have zero interest in the social game of ultimate frisbee. They may wander off to test the frisbee's flight path on their own. which the teacher might misinterpret as uncooperation/disengagement.
stratagey 1:
visual and structural support.
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Visual support for autism plays a crucial role in helping children navigate daily life, communicate effectively, and build essential skills. from pictured schedules to visual cues, these tools provide structure and clarity, reducing anxiety and enhancing understanding. Incorporating visual supports has become a transformative strategy for fostering growth and independence. It is an effective way to communicate by relying on visuals rather than auditory information. Processing spoken language quickly can be a challenge for autistic children, which is why repetition is needed. Visual aids, however, provide a constant reference, allowing children to take the time they need to understand and prosess the information presented. katherine G, Hobbs AA (2025)
stratagey 2:
social and instructual adaptation.
adaptive teaching is a new approach to learning that focuses on providing all students with the same learning objectives, but teachers will provide different levels of support as needed. pe schollar (2023)
Autistic children may Benefit From Peer-Mediated interventions as they rely on carefully and Consistently Selecting the appropriate peers. this is critical because peers ought to Demonstrate behaviours That autistic children can effortlessly observe and imitate choosing and identifying peers who are empathatic, Consistent, and socially competent this results in positive relations and engagment, reciprical learning, genralization of the aquired skill and a reduction of problimatic behaviours such as isolation. mona F. Sulaimaly (2026).
Fun fact!
autistic individuals make up around 2% of the population
strategy 3
sensory and environmental modifications
for students with autism, physical education enviroments can be overwhelming due to high noise levels, unpredictable movements, and bright lighting effective modifications focus on, increasing predictibility, reducing sensory triggers, and providing alternitive ways to participate. to help manage the noise you can allow the student to use ear deffender in the classroom during loud activivtys or a high pitched area with a less noisy alternative. offer exuipment with different textures or weights such as a soft foam ball rather then a heard lether one, to accomodate tactile sensitivities. you can identify a "quiet space" or a specific mat where the student can go for a short sensory break if they feel overstimulated. national autistic society (2025)