PE at KS3 and autism spectrum disorder

The National Curriculum for Physical Education is statutory in all maintained, mainstream schools up to and including key stage 4. An appropriate version of the curriculum is used in maintained special schools. Key Stage 3 (KS3) covers years 7-9, children aged 12-14 years.

At KS3 pupils are taking control of their own physical development, improving their own performance and setting goals. They are identifying how they will use activity as part of a healthy lifestyle. They are increasingly working across the curriculum, which is a challenge to the autistic child’s flexibility. There’s an increased emphasis on self-monitoring which will need support. Pupils with autism spectrum disorder may not co-operate in anything they don’t see the relevant to them. Also they often find it hard to lose at games.

You can

• Focus on a professional athlete in a sport of interest to the pupil. They will see the determination and discipline that is needed to achieve and learn more about technique.
• Develop team skills - they may find individual working easier to cope with but teamwork skills will benefit them enormously in the long term.
• Help them evaluate their own performance, and that of others look at why it’s important to improve.
• Develop strategies which can help them remember physical movement in a sequence stressful – such as a mnemonic or diagram.
• Introduce a favourite topic as a basis for creativity, for example tractors, birds or kites.

Read in conjunction with the main challenges for children with autism spectrum disorders across subject areas, and some suggestions to help them.