Conversation

Hello #Disability and #Autism Mastodonians. I am a ballet teacher and I am looking for some advice to help one of my autistic students succeed in class. She is both very visual and tactile and easily overstimulated, and one of the things she does to self-soothe is touch stuff. Unfortunately for me, the things she wants to touch are my laptop, the stereo, the light switches, and the air purifiers, all of which really shouldn't be messed with as they will interrupt class. Would it be beneficial if I provided her with something she was allowed to touch instead, like a boom box not hooked up to anything - something with buttons and switches but which won't cause any disruption to the flow of class? I ran this question by her mother as well, and I'll talk to her about it when I next see her in class, but she is only 7 and is still learning what works for her so I was hoping some other #ActuallyAutistic folks could provide me with some insight.