Special Needs

[ManicMechanic]

Originally Posted by robotkayleigh

I have an autistic kid on my FLL team and I'm not really sure what to do with him. The kids don't really like to work with him because he doesn't listen very well and he has a stuttering kind of thing, which makes it really hard for the kids to want to listen to him.

I was thinking of coming up with a project just for him, but that would isolate him from the rest of the team and I don't really want that.

I want to keep him involved I just don't know how. If anyone has any experience with these sorts of dilemmas your help would be greatly appreciated.

In a robotics class I taught, one of the students had autism, and his ability to do the work spoke for itself and earned the respect of his classmates. They may not have been close or chummy, but they treated him respectfully and kindly.

Has the student demonstrated any ability in any area so far (even working alone)? You could explore his ability in traditional roles like building & programming, but also check out some other auxiliary roles like artwork, photography, internet exploration, computer design or other abilities related to the project, team t-shirts, and banner. It might help to ask his parents what he likes to do, what he's good at, and why he joined the team.

Regarding the other members, handling them will depend a lot on their ages, as 9-year-olds will respond very differently than 14-year-olds to attempts to have them reach out to the student.