Teaching English to Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Challenges and Teaching Strategies

Abstract

The current study aims at shedding light on the challenges that might be confronted while teaching English to students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and providing remedial teaching strategies that can facilitate teaching English to these special learners. Helping students to achieve their highest potential requires both an understanding of ASD and its characteristics, and the elements of successful program planning required addressing them. Students with ASD are individuals who each has unique strengths and needs. Thus, via analysing the previous literature about the topic and administering a structured questionnaire to twelve (12) English teachers at the University of El-Oued, Algeria investigating the challenges and the teaching strategies that can be used to remedy these challenges, this study attempts to provide a broad lines for a special English syllabus that best meet the needs of students with ASD.