IEP Goals for Autistic Children

IEP goals for autistic children help to keep children learning. IEP goals are developed through the combined effort of special education teachers and parents. A plan like this can help ensure a child receives the type of education he or she needs.

Learn about the environment for autistic kids.

Developing Effective IEP Goals for Autistic Children

Developing goals for your autistic child can seem intimidating but there are strategies to that can help. Work with your behavior specialists and special education teacher to design goals that reflect the areas in which your child needs help. IEP plans can be used for a number of different aspects.

IEP Goals for Social Skills

Depending on where your child is now, you may wish to focus on improving their social skills. Social skills are one area many parents wish to focus on because of its direct impact on daily life.

• Affective: Your goals may include improving your child's ability to understand emotions, body language and facial expressions.

• Behavioral: For behavior, your child's goals may include improving initiating, maintaining and responding. Initiating often occurs in social situations. Maintaining often is related to conversations and through friendship. Responding relates to responding to someone else's initiation.

• Cognitive: IEP goals for cognitive improvement including improving the perspective the child takes and the theory of mind. In addition, this area also focuses on problem solving skill development, including thinking through social interactions.

IEP Goals for Communication

Developing goals for the way your child communications is also important. Most children can work toward some level of improvement.

For communication improvement, one of the key developmental needs is understanding and using nonverbal communication. Teaching the child to use verbalizations for expression is also important. Pragmatic language such as improving beginning and ending conversations can be improved upon. If the autistic child is nonverbal, one goal often needed is the development and mastery of a form of nonverbal communication.

IEP Goals for Organization and Self Regulation

Some children will have IEP goals that focus on organizational skill development and self-regulation. This may include improving some work skills as well.

• Work to improve the amount of attention a task is given.
• Improve ability to finish tasks and to work on them independently.
• Aid in understanding methods to help relax in stressful situations.
• Develop ability to ask for help or a break.
• Using words or other forms of communication to express feelings in an appropriate manner.
• Learn to plan a project over a longer period of time
• Develop better problem solving skills.

In addition to this, some children will need to work to open up to more interests and to be more flexible in their routine. Others need to improve the amount of time they are willing to put into activities they do not like. Many need to develop the skills to accept mistakes they may make or mistakes others may make.

IEP Goals for Sensory and Motor Skill Improvement

Children may need to improve their ability to use adaptive equipment properly. It may be necessary to teach them how to use the tools they have to communicate well. Goals may include mastery of these adaptive tools or just marked improvement. In addition, the child may need to develop better sensory strategies.

Making Goals Actionable

While working with an IEP plan is effective, each goals needs to be actionable and accountable. When creating these goals, it is critical for the child's success that specifics are laid out.

• Which teaching methods will be used to reach these goals?
• Who is responsible for teaching the methods needed to accomplish these IEP goals?
• What measurement of improvement should be seen? For example, if a child needs to improve the amount of attention given to projects they do not like to do, the measurement may be in the form of minutes. Developing the ability to initiate conversations may be more difficult to measure in terms of numbers.
• What is the timeline for developing these goals?
• When will goals be reassessed?

As you work to develop IEP goals for autistic children, it is important to hold accountable those in the child's life helping them to achieve these goals.

For more information on school related IEP goals, visit IEP goals for autistic students.

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