Practical Proficiency Podcast · Devon Gunning | La Libre Language Learning

#41 - Tools for Teaching Autistic Learners and Managing Absences in ASL Classes: Listener Q+A

·35 min·1 clip

The episode is built around listener questions. Devin asks teachers to send them in through the link in the show notes so he can answer on air and help with the everyday problems of proficiency-oriented classrooms, including ASL-specific concerns. He sounds genuinely grateful. He says he used to fill notebooks with questions while teaching, and he wants that same kind of specific troubleshooting to help other teachers feel less alone with the work. The welcome is broad. He greets world language teachers and describes the show as support for teachers who want proficiency-oriented instruction that fits their context, style, and well-being. The main teaching move is straightforward. When answering the question about autistic learners, he recommends asking narrower questions and offering a menu of options instead of expecting students to generate an answer from a wide-open prompt. The market example makes the point quickly. He shows how prompts about food, movies, sellers, hotel workers, fresh fruit and veggies, or things in a freezer can produce clearer responses than a general question that leaves too much open. He does not pretend every student is the same. Even while giving practical guidance, he keeps reminding listeners that autistic learners are different from one another and that the goal is to adapt the prompt, not flatten the learner. Visual support matters too. He suggests allowing yes-no answers, pointing, and other nonverbal ways of showing understanding, especially when a full verbal presentation is not the best fit for the lesson. The materials can be very low-tech. He mentions large printed vocabulary lists, picture cues, symbols, and clip art as ways to make response options easy to see and choose from. Language learners are part of the logic. He notes that the same either-or structure often helps language learners too, because it reduces choice overload and makes the target easier to retrieve. The tone stays direct throughout. The episode keeps circling back to the same classroom principle: fewer competing options, more visible support, and a clearer path from question to response.

As heard by us

Practical guidance for making classroom questions smaller, clearer, and easier for autistic learners to answer.

This segment gives world language teachers practical ways to get more usable answers from autistic learners, especially in ASL and other proficiency-focused classrooms.

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Why you'd press play

You want better answers from autistic learners by giving them menus of options and visual cues instead of open-ended guesswork.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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