Tutoring autistic students: Tips to support learning

Each autistic student is unique

“Once you have met one autistic person, you have met…one autistic person” is a commonly heard adage, and it’s a useful starting point for understanding and tutoring autistic students. Every single autistic or AuDHD student—a term used when someone is both autistic and has ADHD—that I have tutored has brought a uniqueness that I cherish.

Every student must be treated as an individual—something which is seemingly at odds with the banner of “autism” covering such a wide array of folks. Any online research into autism results in a dizzying array of tropes, strengths, foibles, aspects and terminology.

I use the terms “autistic” and “neurodivergent” somewhat interchangeably, even though one is a subset of the other. Although this may seem rather cavalier, in my experience, the decision about which word to use presents itself organically through conversation, and the most effective way to determine which words from the lexical quagmire apply to a particular student is simple: ask them.

Let students take the lead

The most important thing in tutoring all students is to ensure that their autonomy is put front and centre. This is particularly important for neurodivergent students. In my experience, as soon as a student is put into a proverbial box, a lack of drive to take charge of their own learning and an increasing disregard for wanting to reach their goals follows.

I have found in all cases that by putting the student’s goal first and the learning second, there is an increased determination on their part to succeed. This drive is already evident for students who have a clear aim in mind. For those students who are unsure of what they would like to achieve, by ensuring that they are at the centre of the process, you begin to see more of a spark and a yearning to learn.

Autism can be quite isolating at times, but I’ve found that once an autistic student finds themselves in a situation where they feel comfortable, it can become easier for them to establish a connection and for their learning to flourish. Valuing individuality is key.

Practical tips for tutoring autistic students

This individuality also brings challenges; there is no one-size-fits-all, no single method which fits all neurodivergent students.

As a starting point, I would recommend the National Autistic Society’s SPELL framework—a very useful approach to supporting people’s understanding of the autistic experience.

There are also some practical things I have found to be favoured by most of my neurodivergent students.

• Beginning with the questions they have brought along to the lesson
• Coloured backgrounds
• Topic lists with a traffic light system
• Independent research
• Time for special interests

1. Start the session with student questions

To reinforce to the student that this is their space, I always start with an open offer for them to bring along things they have been working on and wish to discuss. Whether it be homework questions, things from school or independent research.

2. Use coloured backgrounds

There is quite a lot of research on the best background colour to improve visual processing. I have found that most students favour a yellow background with blue or black text. Some hate it! The next most popular is a black background with white text, followed by a light blue background with dark blue text.

The point is that whilst research says one thing, autistic and AuDHD students have their own preferences. It’s important that you give students the option to choose. It was a student who first suggested I use coloured backgrounds. They associated school with distress and overstimulation, which in turn was linked to the whiteboard with a black pen. By changing to a different colour board for our lessons, we created a setting they described as “cosy”. It separated the process of learning from their experience in school, ultimately making them a much happier and more effective learner.

3. Organise topics with a traffic light system

Organisation is key when tutoring autistic folks; sometimes executive functioning can become extremely difficult, which may result in forgetfulness or brain fog. A simple way to help with this is to use some sort of editable traffic-light system that the student can use to keep track of their progress. I just use a spreadsheet with specification-specific topics and an extra column keyed to red, amber, green, and blue—the last one being for a topic they have yet to study.

4. Encourage independent research

The main aim of the independent research is to encourage the student to ask questions around their subject. Too often, I’ve found that a student can become disinterested in a subject when being constrained by the specification. Learning “what they have to” can become a chore, but adding in little snippets of extra content can spark curiosity and begin an exploration of new knowledge.

Independent research is very popular with my neurodivergent students. The concentration afforded by special interests or the hyperfocus of AuDHD makes for real powerhouses when it comes to delving into new topics. I tend to use books that are in common use but still appear novel and interesting.

To give some examples of texts I use for Physics students: Professor Povey’s Perplexing Problems and Irodov’s Problems in General Physics are a goldmine for thought-provoking questions; Thorne and Blandford’s Modern Classical Physics is a higher-level text, but I’ve still been able to use excerpts for A Level students.

5. Make time for special interests

I was told by a wonderful professor of mine at York that education is X% teaching and Y% psychology—the percentages are fluid and vary from person to person and moment to moment. Some lessons may be 90% teaching and 10% psychology; in others, it is completely the opposite. The moral being that the student is not just an information sponge, they are a person. People have off days, manic times and exciting things happening in their lives.

Autistic people often have special interests—specific hobbies or pursuits in which they find deep enjoyment. I believe it’s important to talk to a student about these interests because it develops a safe atmosphere and builds trust between tutor and student. I have learnt quite a lot over the years from students on tropical fish, arachnids, classic cars, snakes, 3D graphics, Taylor Swift, the Roman empire, Labubu dolls and the development of the motorway system in the UK, to name but a few.

This naturally has to come with a certain framework. I may have had to say something to the effect of “We can talk about the creation of the M25, but first, how about if Bob in Brentwood travels to Staines at 99.9% of the speed of light. How much longer does Alice in Acton observe Bob’s journey to take?”

(If you are at all interested: assuming a straight line journey of 60km, Alice would measure a time dilation of roughly 4 milliseconds).

A final note

Tutoring autistic students is a privilege. The tools and strategies which I have developed or gathered can help transform challenges into learning opportunities and difficulties into moments for expression.

As tutors, we can educate students to learn through a lens of individuality, and students can educate us to teach using the same perspective.

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