Autism goals and supports
Autistic students need IEPs built around their own profile: communication, sensory needs, flexibility, social understanding and academic strengths that are often uneven. A good goal teaches a skill the student will use, such as asking for a break or joining a conversation, not sitting still or making eye contact on command.
These guides cover goals across communication, social, behavior, self-regulation and academics, the visual supports and accommodations that help most, and how to write goals that respect how the student communicates and learns.
Start here
- IEP goals for autism: examples by area and age
20 IEP goals for autistic students across communication, social, regulation, independence and academics, none built on eye contact or compliance, by age band.
How-to guides
- How to write IEP goals for autistic students
Write IEP goals for autistic students in seven steps: start from strengths, pick goals by impact, define the skill, take a baseline and plan for generalization.
- Social stories: how to write one that supports a goal
How to write a social story or social narrative that supports an IEP goal: pick the situation, write from the student's view, read it before the event, measure.
- Video modeling for social and life skills
How to use video modeling and video prompting for social and life skills: choose the type, script and film short clips, show them before practice and measure.
Examples
- Autism accommodations in the classroom
16 classroom accommodations for autistic students, written as they should read in the IEP, with an accommodation or modification check and effect on grading.
- IEP goals for autistic preschoolers
20 IEP goals for autistic preschoolers: requesting, joint attention, play, transitions, routines and circle, each with a baseline, criterion and data method.
- IEP goals for autistic students in kindergarten and first grade
24 IEP goals for autistic kindergarten and first grade students across communication, play, regulation, routines, early literacy and math, each with a baseline.
- IEP goals for autistic students in middle and high school
20 IEP goals for autistic middle and high school students: self-advocacy, organization, social life, stress and transition, each with a baseline and measure.
- IEP goals for autistic students with low support needs
24 IEP goals for autistic students often called high functioning or level 1: self-advocacy, planning, flexibility, social skills, regulation and academics.
- IEP goals for nonverbal autistic students
24 IEP goals for nonverbal and minimally speaking autistic students: requesting, commenting, AAC skills, language, literacy and self-advocacy, with measures.
- IEP goals for transitions between activities
16 IEP goals for autistic students who struggle with transitions between activities, with baselines, latency data and strategies like schedules and timers.
- Independent work systems and IEP goals for independent work
How to set up an independent work system and write 16 measurable IEP goals for following it, starting, staying on task, finishing and asking for help.
- Social skills IEP goals for autistic students
20 neurodiversity-affirming social skills IEP goals for autistic students: joining, conversation, checking meaning, group work and repair, each with a baseline.
Comparisons
- Educational vs medical autism identification
The difference between a school's educational autism identification and a medical autism diagnosis: who decides, what each opens up, and when you need both.
Explainers
- Visual schedules and first-then boards
How visual schedules and first-then boards work, how to pick the right format, teach and fade them, and where to write them in an IEP, with a worked example.
IEP Atlas Pro
Turn your goals into progress reports
Pro tracks every goal on your caseload and drafts the report for you. Free for 14 days.
Count trials, prompts, and minutes live in the session; the graph and trend line draw themselves; progress reports are drafted from your data.