Resources to Support the Mental Health of Autistic Students at School

 

 

Infographics

Strategies to Support Executive Function in Autistic Students: Planning

Recent prevalence estimates indicate that 1 in 36 school-age children have autism. Autistic students are much more likely than non-autistic students to experience mental health challenges, including difficulty with aspects of executive function such as planning.  This infographic provides information about strategies that can be used by educators to help autistic students build their planning skills in a manner that is inclusive and neurodiversity affirming.

 

Strategies to Support Executive Function in Autistic Students: Flexibility 

Recent prevalence estimates indicate that 1 in 36 school-age children have autism. Autistic students are much more likely than non-autistic students to experience mental health challenges, including difficulty with flexibility.  This infographic provides information about strategies that can be used by educators to help autistic students navigate situations that differ from their expectations. This infographic includes how to teach these flexibility strategies in a manner that is inclusive and neurodiversity affirming.

 

Strategies to Support Executive Function in Autistic Students: Emotion Regulation 

Recent prevalence estimates indicate that 1 in 36 school-age children have autism. Autistic students are much more likely than non-autistic students to experience mental health challenges, including difficulty with emotion regulation.  This infographic provides information about strategies educators can use to support autistic students that experience emotion regulation challenges in a manner that is inclusive and neurodiversity affirming.

 

Common Executive Function Differences in Autistic Students and Why They Matter at School 

1 in 36 school-age children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autistic students are much more likely than non-autistic students to experience mental health challenges, including difficulty with executive functioning.  This infographic provides an overview of common executive function differences in autistic students and why these differences matter for school.

 

Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Mental Health Challenges in Autistic Students

In the U.S., approximately 2% of youth have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Mental health challenges are much more common among autistic youth. This infographic explores the relationship between autism and mental health risk in school-age youth. 

 

Identifying Anxiety in Autistic Students: Common Symptoms and Considerations 

In the U.S., approximately 2% of youth have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Anxiety disorders are much more common among autistic youth. This infographic displays anxiety symptoms that are commonly experienced by autistic students.

 

Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to Support the Mental Health of Autistic Students: An Overview

As many as 50 percent of autistic youth experience anxiety. This brief report discusses best practices in supporting the mental health of autistic students, with an emphasis on school-based treatments for anxiety. 

 

Supporting the Mental Health of Autistic Students

In the U.S., approximately 2% of youth have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Mental health challenges are much more common among autistic youth. This infographic displays how anxiety symptoms make school participation difficult for autistic youth, and evidence-based practices to support anxiety symptoms.

 

Webinars

Supporting the Executive Function of Autistic Students in the Classroom: Your Questions Answered (November 2023)

1 in 36 school-age children have autism. Autistic students are much more likely than non-autistic students to experience mental health challenges, including difficulty with emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression that may be exacerbated by experiences of bullying, victimization, and segregation within schools. There is an urgent need to support the mental and behavioral health of autistic students. In the past year, the SEMHTTC team has disseminated resources related to identifying and supporting mental health challenges in this population, including anxiety and, more recently, executive function. The purpose of this two-part series is to build on the didactic content covered in our earlier learning sessions on executive function [Part 1, Part 2] and provide more opportunity to cover a case example, engage in discussion, and have ample time for Q&A.  In each session, we will provide a very brief overview of the prior content we covered (15 minutes), have an in-depth discussion of one case example (15 minutes), and ample time for questions and open conversation related to the mental health of autistic students (25 minutes).

 

Part I: Supporting the Executive Function of Autistic Students in the Classroom: Your Questions Answered (November 2023)

The first learning session will be devoted to common executive functioning differences in autistic students.

 

Understanding and Supporting the Executive Functioning of Autistic Students (February-March 2023)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common co-occurring diagnosis for autistic youth. However, the substantial overlap between autism and ADHD can pose challenges in identifying and supporting students with autism, ADHD, or both. The goal of this webinar series is to provide information about executive functioning differences that are common in autistic students and how these challenges relate to and are distinct from ADHD.

 

Part I: Understanding executive functioning differences among autistic students with and without co-occurring ADHD (February 2023)

Part 1 will help participants to understand common executive functioning differences in autistic students and how these differences relate to ADHD.

 

Part II: Evidence-based approaches to support the executive functioning of autistic students (March 2023)

Part 2 will provide an overview of evidence-based approaches that can be used to support the executive functioning of autistic students, including those with co-occurring ADHD.

 

Supporting Autistic Students in the Classroom and other Mental Health Challenges: Your Questions Answered (September-October 2022)

1 in 44 school-age children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autistic students are much more likely than non-autistic students to experience mental health challenges, including difficulty with emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression that may be exacerbated by experiences of bullying, victimization, and segregation within schools. There is an urgent need to support the mental and behavioral health of autistic students. In the past year, the SEMHTTC team has disseminated resources related to identifying and supporting mental health challenges in this population, with a specific emphasis on anxiety here. The purpose of this two-part series is to build on the didactic content covered in our earlier learning sessions (learning session 1, learning session 2) and provide more opportunity to cover a case example, engage in discussion, and have ample time for Q&A. In each session, we will provide a very brief overview of the prior content we covered, have an in-depth discussion of one case example, and ample time for questions and open conversation related to the mental health of autistic students.

 

Part I: Supporting Autistic Students in the Classroom and other Mental Health Challenges: Your Questions Answered (September 2022)

 

Part II: Supporting Autistic Students in the Classroom and other Mental Health Challenges: Your Questions Answered (October 2022)

 

Understanding and Supporting the Behavior of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (April 2022)

This webinar provides an overview of the reasons that challenging behavior may occur in students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It also provides an overview of strategies that can be used to prevent challenging behaviors in these students, and resources that can provide additional information related to managing challenging behaviors. The two presenters have expertise in supporting students with ASD and behavioral health challenges within school settings.

 

Supporting the Mental Health of Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (September 2021)

 

Part I (September 2021)

This webinar is the first in a two-part series Supporting the Mental Health of Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Part I of this series defines intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) and describes signs of mental health challenges in students with IDDs.

 

Part II (September 2021)

This webinar is the second in a two-part series Supporting the Mental Health of Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Part II of this series provides an overview of evidence-based approaches and practices that can be used within schools to support the mental health of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It also describes challenges and solutions when implementing these practices in schools.

 

In our products, we choose to use identity first language (i.e., autistic students) in response to the preference of many autistic individuals and in an effort to avoid ableist ideologies. We recognize that this is not the language preference of every individual. For more information on the rationale for our language choice, please see the Bottema-Beutel et al., 2021.

 

The Southeast MHTTC created a comprehensive product catalogue of the resources and information they have published. Click here to view the full product catalogue. Additionally, these products are presented on the following pages of our website: 

 

Key Resources

Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems: Foundations 

Mental Health Services and Supports in Schools 

Funding, Sustainability, and Impact 

Diverse Populations, Equity, and Inclusion