Low Tech
Visual schedules are a great low technology tool to use for students with autism. These schedules can help students understand how their day is planned and they won't be as uncomfortable with transitions. Visual schedules can help keep students with autism organized and prepared. Transitions can be overwhelming for these students so it is important to make sure that they are prepared. Visual schedules may be ineffective if students are not able to keep track of time or fail to pay attention to their schedule.
Mid Tech
Timers are a good mid tech resource for teachers to use. Students with autism can use timers to help them prepare for an upcoming transition. If they have 30 minutes to work on an assignment, they may set the timer in order to watch the time and prepare for change. When they need a break from work, they can use a timer to independently enjoy an activity before returning to class work. Timers may be distracting to students if they decide to watch the timer instead of focus on their work and it may be too hard for younger students to manipulate. If the timer makes a lot of noise after time is up, it may cause sensory issues for students with autism.
High Tech
Above are two screenshots of Proloquo2go, which is an app available in the app store on mobile devices. This app is a symbol-based communication system where students can choose an image with a word below it to produce a sentence and the sentence will then be spoken through the device. Communication is one of the biggest issues for students with autism and this app can make the task simpler and students will not feel as limited. Proloquo2go gives students with autism a voice and can be personalized for each individual. This app is expensive which may make it inaccessible to some students and families. The screen may also be very overwhelming for some students due to the number of images shown on the screen at one time (as shown in the image above).