Group Work                                                    One yellow duckling following six black ducklings

 

Last year, one of our students with ASD told me about how miserable it was for him to be in a group for his biology lab.  He said the other three in the group worked together to help each other out, but totally ignored him.  Apparently, the instructor was too busy to notice.

 

  • Assign students to groups yourself.  If you allow them to select their own groups, no one is going to choose the weirdo with ASD.
     

  • Remain cognizant of the dynamics of the group and address difficulties as they arise.  Are they interacting with each other on an equal basis?  If they are meeting outside of the classroom, is everyone participating?  Are they dividing the work equally, or does the student with ASD get all the crummy parts?
     

  • Other types of problems with group work include perfectionism, inability to negotiate, and difficulty interacting with partners. 
     

  • If the student with ASD is consistently unable to insert his own ideas or contributions into a project or discussion, it will cause resentment by the other group members.  Consider allowing him to write his responses instead.

A skilled intervention can go a long way in turning an unfortunate experience into a rewarding and positive student interaction.