TESOL Spain Convention 2025 , Burgos: Agnieszka Dzieciol-Pedich - Classroom Management and Materials Development for Autistic Students

 TESOL Spain Convention 2025, Burgos

Agnieszka Dzieciol-Pedich

Classroom Management and Materials Development for Autistic Students

On the final morning of the TESOL Spain Convention in Burgos, Agnieszka Dzieciol-Pedich gave a simple yet powerful presentation on working with autistic students in ELT.

Autism is now included under the umbrella term ‘neurodiversity’ first coined by the Australian sociologist Judy Springer in 1997, which acknowledges that there is natural variation in how people's brains work.

Agnieszka’s talk didn’t make any great promises and was devoid of bells and (technological) whistles, but offered some plain, solid advice, thoroughly grounded in personal and professional experience. One of the first things she mentioned was the now-common desire to reframe autism as a gift or the power to see things differently. As tempting as it is to look for the positive, we also need to recognise that it can be a burden. Let’s be honest and call it a difference. 

Sensory overload

People with autism are highly sensitive to sensory stimuli, and find most busy social situations (including classrooms) too hot, too noisy etc. They prefer highly structured social interactions (e.g. online gaming) with pre-defined rules and roles. Making eye-contact can actually be physically painful. Often, they can only manage to listen or make eye-contact. As an interlocutor, we need to recognise that this person is not showing disrespect by avoiding eye-contact. In fact, it’s quite the opposite – they are trying to listen carefully to what we are saying. 

Additionally, this sensory stress can result in unusual intonation patterns and a mismatch between the person’s words and body language. All of this can be disconcerting for the listener and makes it more difficult to understand what they say. Hypersensitivity to smells, sounds etc. can cause the student to feel overwhelmed. At the same time, they can find pleasure in and seek sensory experiences, such as rubbing their legs, moving hands around or using different tones of voice, all of which can become disruptive in extreme cases.

Agnieszka asked us to put a hand on our heads – and imagine we had to keep it there until the end of the session. This is similar to the discomfort autistic students can experience when senses are overstimulated.

Practical advice

- Reduce sensory disturbances

- Switch projector/computer/board off when you’re not using it

- Turn down the brightness and volume of videos

Intense interests and repetitive behaviour

Autistic people often develop very specific interests. They can ‘info dump’ (describing minute details about their interest at length). This is actually a sign of trust. They take pleasure in repetitive behaviour, which is also a coping mechanism.

Agnieszka recommends following people like ‘Purple Ella’ on social media, who provide accessible explanations of living with autism and ADHD.

Autistic students thrive in structured and predictable environments. They take instructions literally (so 5 minutes must be exactly 5 minutes). Disruptions and unpredictability can be extremely upsetting. Dependence on routine can increase during times of illness, change or stress.

This requires effort from the teacher to plan in advance and keep the students informed of any future changes. It does not allow much room for spontaneity, ‘surprise’ activities or working with emergent language.

Practical advice

When you need to talk to an autistic student, arrange private meetings. Always send an email beforehand to explain what the meeting is about and how long it will last.

Activities such as a Classroom Contract can be very useful. However, Agnieszka used an example (from the British Council, below) to show how this needs to be much more explicit for autistic learners.

Autistic people are extremely literal, so if you say ‘Get to class on time’, you need to specify the exact time. For each rule, you need to give a reason, e.g. 

Get to class at 9am, because if you are late this creates noise, which disturbs other students.

Outline the class structure at the beginning of the course.

Class structures

- Introduce the routine in the first class

- Be explicit, e.g. every class will start with 5 conversation questions and you will have to work with a different student each time (explain why)

- If possible, send an email describing the routine to the student beforehand.

- Cooperate with the parents whenever possible: Send an email to parents explaining routines and/or changes

Classroom routines

- Start the lesson with an outline and stick to it

- Always write the outline on the board in the same place and keep it on the board throughout the lesson.

- Be concise

- Use the same visuals and/or gestures consistently, e.g. Hand held up palm facing the students and say ‘Stop talking’. One finger pointing up and say ‘One minute left’ etc.

- Tick items off the outline as they are covered, and draw students’ attention to it.

- Divide the board, e.g. 

and draw arrows linking what has been done to the outline. Be consistent with colours, e.g. Blue – vocabulary; Red – language; Green – pronunciation, etc.

- Be precise with timing: Autistic students will treat 5 minutes literally, so use visual timers if possible, e.g Online Stopwatch: 

- Alert autistic students to a change in the routine, e.g. a game, well in advance (min. 1-2 weeks), give them a chance to ask questions and explain the good things about the change. Example ‘In two weeks, we are going to play a different ‘good morning’ song’. Before you start using it, play the song at the end of the class so everybody can hear it and/or send it to the parents so they can play it at home. 

- Mark the change on a calendar.

Classroom materials

Similar to classroom routines, autistic students will need advance notice of what is going to be used in class. Lessons should be so predictable that students will know what to do even without instructions.

Practical advice

- Send handouts and/or materials to the student in advance.

- Read the handouts and/or the materials to the student in advance (e.g. at the end of the previous lesson). They don’t do the tasks before the class, but they can ask for definitions or translations of any unknown words.

- The reasons why they can’t do the tasks in advance should be established in the classroom contract at the beginning of the course.

Handouts need to have clear, specific instructions which cover everything (provide more information than you might think necessary).

Example instructions

Design handouts and materials so there is a clear, sequential order of activities (you have to do number 1 before you can do number 2, etc.

Other considerations

Autistic students might benefit from…

- Earplugs

- Noise-cancelling headphones

- Fidget spinners (as long as they don’t make noise)

- Hoodies

- Sunglasses

- Gum

Sitting on a chair can be physically painful for students who have sensory overload. Allow them to sit on the floor.

For more practical advice, visit the IATEFL Inclusive Practice and Special Educational Needs SIG, IPSEN SIG resources site.