Dear Ms. Thomason,
We are writing in response to your recent article, “Peoria mom wants face mask exemption for son with autism”. Thank you for highlighting the challenges that individuals on the autism spectrum and their families continue to face during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic wears on, it can be easy to forget that for children with autism, things such as face masks, increased handwashing, or limits on outings can be quite a challenge. We appreciated reading about how mom Heather Rooks went about seeking a face mask exemption for her son, and the difficulties she faced. This information may be helpful for other parents who have faced similar issues and are unsure of how to start advocating for their child’s needs. We encourage schools to work collaboratively with parents to identify solutions to the challenges that students with autism may be experiencing during the pandemic, and to identify and implement reasonable and safe adjustments for these students.
Your readers may be interested in a recent article we published on our website, in which we provided some suggestions for addressing resistance to wearing a face mask. When helping children with autism learn to wear a mask, we recommend gathering a variety of different types of masks (shapes, sizes, and materials) and providing the child with a choice about the type of mask they wish to wear. We also recommend introducing the mask slowly, asking the child to wear the mask for a short duration, and rewarding successful cooperation. Once the child is tolerating the mask for short periods of time, you can gradually increase the duration of time. When working with children with autism, it is very important to individualize the strategies to suit the needs of the child. This can be done by considering the child’s strengths, preferences, and needs. Working in partnership with the child and family, starting slow and gradually increasing the expectation, and creating a fun and rewarding learning environment can also go a long way to ensuring success.
Part of our mission at the Association of Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT) is to advocate for the use of scientific methods to guide the selection and use of teaching and behaviour support strategies. Thank you for your work highlighting new challenges families of individuals with autism have to face in light of the pandemic. If your readers are interested in learning more, we invite them to visit our website at www.ASATonline.org.
Sincerely,
Nicole Stewart, MSEd, BCBA, LBA-NY
Dr Erin Leif, PhD, BCBA-D
Association for Science in Autism Treatment
