Teaching Methods

Natural and Contextual Learning

Keeping learning natural and contextual is essential when working with autistic children. This begins right from how goals are conceived: every goal should be rooted in the child’s real context and add something meaningful to their everyday life.

Goals rooted in the child’s world

When choosing a goal (for example, identifying colours or understanding size words), ask how it connects to the child’s own routines, interests, and environments. A meaningful goal will feel relevant to the child and will be easier to embed into daily experiences rather than existing only as an abstract task.

Natural Environment Teaching

Natural Environment Teaching involves noticing and using stimuli that occur naturally in the child’s environment and building learning opportunities around them.

Example: The child is playing in a ball pool and has a goal related to identifying or distinguishing colours.

Instead of waiting for a table-top session, the adult can design small activities in the ball pool that involve sorting, finding, or naming colours within that play.

There is still a place for table-top activities such as leisure games or board games that must be done at a table. However, many goals—like following instructions, imitation, adjectives (short/long), colours, animal sounds, and even number concepts—can be taught in natural environments.

Creating learning opportunities in everyday environments

Therapists can look for opportunities in the environment, however small or large, to connect goals with lived experiences. This often makes learning more meaningful, especially for autistic learners, because the mind also learns through experience, not only through spoken explanation.

Example: Teaching the colour green.

  • Have a plant right in front of the learner and examine the leaves together; this becomes a rich sensory experience.
  • Name the colour: “The leaf is green.”
  • Then show other green items (toys, cards, objects) so that the learner does not confuse “leaf” itself with the word “green”.

In this way, using natural environments and real objects supports understanding, generalisation, and sensory engagement, making learning more connected to the child’s world and less like a separate “therapy-only” activity.

Using the Natural Environment for Teaching

Before the session

  • Is the goal clearly linked to the child’s real context and daily life?
  • Where in the child’s day does this naturally show up (play, snack, walks, routines)?
  • What materials or spaces already available can I use (ball pool, playground, classroom, home items)?

During the session

  • Am I noticing and using what the child is already doing or interested in (e.g., ball pool, plants, toys)?
  • Can I teach this concept (colours, size, numbers, adjectives, sounds) in this natural activity instead of only at the table?
  • Am I creating small learning opportunities within play and daily routines rather than stopping play to “do work”?

After the session

  • Did the activity feel meaningful and connected to the child’s world?
  • Did I see understanding show up in more than one natural context (not only at the table)?
  • What other everyday situations could I use next time for this same goal?

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