Intervention in School and Clinic, Ahead of Print.
The likelihood of teaching a student with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has steadily increased over the past two decades. However, the practical information about working with students with ASD has not increased at a similar rate. Teachers may therefore be unaware of simple modifications they can make to their classrooms to meet the needs of students with ASD. This article is based on a review of empirical studies about environmental factors that influence the way individuals with ASD attend to and process information. Findings from these studies indicate that individuals with ASD rely on vision to gather information more than any other sense. Based on these findings, the authors outline simple physical adjustments teachers can make to the visual displays, physical layout, and lighting in the classroom.