A high school teacher shares her experiences on the collaboration between teachers and the school psychological service SePAS in supporting autistic students. She describes best practices, challenges and concrete recommendations for successful inclusion in daily school life.
The Challenge: Taking the Right Action
As a high school teacher, I find that the greatest challenge is being certain whether I’m doing everything right in dealing with autistic students. While we receive important information from our SePAS team, consisting of educators, psychologists, and social workers who have studied various relevant aspects, as teachers who couldn’t receive specific training in this area and only received information, the concern about doing something wrong or saying something inappropriate that could harm the student is always present.
Recommendations for New Teachers
From my experience of teaching , I can only strongly recommend that new colleagues seek support from experienced colleagues from the start. It always proves very effective when I personally accompany new teachers to SePAS and handle the first introduction. This personal accompaniment is significantly more effective than merely suggesting contacting SePAS when needed. Such general advice often gets lost in the hectic school day, ultimately helping neither the teacher nor the student.
From this point on, the teacher knows who in the SePAS team takes care of this class and informs the teacher if a student with an autism diagnosis is in their class. The teacher then receives a short briefing, and an appointment is set for more detailed information and techniques. Additionally, training sessions that the teacher can attend are recommended.
Collaboration between Teachers and SePAS
The cooperation at our school works excellently. As teachers of a class with an autistic student, we are called together at the beginning of the school year and receive important information about the student.
This confidential information must not only be kept to ourselves but also be implemented practically. This might mean, for example, that a student with a certain form of autism receives more time for tests or may use technical aids. As class teachers, we can contact SePAS anytime if we need more information or help. However, many colleagues forget over time or due to stress that they can turn to SePAS with questions, which sometimes leads to improvised actions in individual subjects.
It’s particularly important as a teacher to always remember that it’s not the autistic students who must adapt to the school system – even though this view unfortunately still persists among some colleagues – but rather it’s our task to adapt the system and our teaching methods to their needs. Continuous training and regular exchange with the SePAS team are important building blocks for successful inclusion.