Research to Practice: How to Recognize and Support ASD Students’ Anxiety

By: Jeff Sabo

We’ve already written about anxiety in students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how it can affect their learning in music lessons. In this article, we’ll follow up on that with some common anxiety triggers and behavioural responses for children with ASD. The info here is based on the findings from a research study, where 48 parents of ASD children were asked about their child’s anxiety (1). It’s been adapted to focus on the ways this is most likely to come up in music lessons (including some examples I’ve added from teaching experience). After we cover what’s in the article, we’ll talk about some ways that music teachers can set up their studio environment to reduce anxiety for ASD students.

Anxiety Triggers:

In the study, parents described many situations that could trigger anxiety for their child with ASD. Here are some that may be important for us as music teachers:

• Change of routine/lack of structure: getting off schedule, others not following rules, uncertainty, feeling out of control
• Transitions: things like switching tasks, starting or ending the lesson, etc. If these happen too quickly, they could be anxiety provoking for your student.
• Sensory overload: loud sounds, strong smells, bright lights, or other intense stimuli could lead a student to feel anxious. This is especially likely for students who are hypersensitive in at least one way
• Academic demands: feeling overwhelmed by difficult tasks or requirements
• Unwanted social attention: feeling like they stand out or being put on the spot. This happens a lot in music learning, whether in a formal performance or just when playing for the teacher during a lesson.
• Unexpected environmental change: for example, when furniture gets rearranged or when lessons happen in a different room than the student is used to
• Anticipation of impending events: like starting lessons, upcoming performances, or even anticipating a difficult activity later in the lesson.
• Making mistakes: not doing something perfectly or up to their own high standards 

Anxiety-related Behaviours:

Parents said they see many different types of behaviour that tells them their child is feeling anxious. These included:

• Facial expressions: the student may appear panicked, fearful, or have a blank expression
• Bodily discomfort: the student may tell you that they have a stomach ache or headache
• Self-injury: this can include things like skin picking, nail biting, hair pulling, and others
• Self-deprecation the student may talk about themselves or their performance negatively
• Overwhelm: the student may cry or show other signs of frustration
• Acting out: they may refuse to do a task, throw things, or engage in other behaviours that interrupt the lesson

Parents also discussed some behaviours that their kids use cope with anxiety

• Withdrawing from situation: this can be physical, like trying to leave, or mental, like losing focus
• Comfort seeking: for example, from a caregiver or favorite object
• Increase in repetitive behaviors: such as rocking, verbalizations, pacing, etc.
• Dwelling on past unpleasant events: like a mistake they made
• Engaging in conversation to manage anxiety: the student may begin talking a lot to take control of the situation or avoid doing a task
• Seeking reassurance: this could involve repetitively asking about upcoming/past events, checking the time, etc.
• Self-exertion: the student may try to get through a task very quickly or engage in physical exercise to try to work off anxiety
• “Keeping it together” to “store up” anxiety: a student may be able to manage their anxiety in the moment, but it might “build-up” or escalate over time, ending in an emotional outburst later on

What Music Teachers Can Do:

Clearly, there are lots of ways that ASD students can experience and respond to anxiety. Here are some tips for you as a teacher to help reduce the occurrence of anxious feelings and help students manage it once it does occur:

• Know your student: The ideas listed here are generalizations based on common experiences, but kids with autism are diverse. Get to know your student as an individual so you can support them best. This can involve talking to parents or caregivers about what they have seen and how best to respond.
• Minimize triggers when possible: For example, regulate the sensory environment to help prevent overstimulation. Maintain consistency in the physical environment and lesson routine whenever possible. Sometimes you will need to make changes, so consider how many things you are changing at once, how quickly you phase into them, etc. Avoid overwhelming students with new and/or difficult tasks. Instead, gradually introduce new skills, use scaffolding techniques, and adapt to the students current abilities as needed.
• Look for behavioural signs of anxiety: Many common ones are listed above. You can look for those and any other ones that may be particular to your student. If you want a deeper dive into decoding student behaviour you can check out our mini course.
• Respond empathetically without reinforcing: Recognize what the student may be feeling. Sometimes its helpful to name it explicitly and sometimes not, depending on the student. When you notice they are feeling anxious, help them with calming strategies. Make adaptations to learning activities as needed (in the moment and plan for future lessons). Most of the time, you’ll want to do this in a way that still allows them to participate in the activity, so you don’t reinforce the anxious behaviours as a way to avoid difficult or undesirable activities. These ideas are also covered in our mini course in more detail, so you can definitely check that out for more tips.

Happy Teaching!

References:

1. Bearss, K., Taylor, C. A., Aman, M. G., Whittemore, R., Lecavalier, L., Miller, J., … & Scahill, L. (2016). Using qualitative methods to guide scale development for anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorder. Autism, 20(6), 663-672.