Sam is highly observant and tends to remember the fine details of a person or place. He uses his photographic memory as a coping mechanism in new situations. This allows him to form a picture of an event or place in his head prior to the experience to process and prepare him mentally. When Sam is thrown into a busy setting such as school assembly or playground, he can become overwhelmed and experience immense anxiety caused by a sensory overload.

It is common for individuals with ASD to experience difficulties in processing sensory information (National Autistic Society, 2013). A deficiency in sensory integration can impede on an individuals ability to deal with vast amounts of sensory information, resulting in negative behaviours such as anxiety or distress. Sam regularly has issues in high sensory situations such as the playground, school assembly, and excursions. During these events, it is common for him to engage in many negative behaviours including pica, fidgeting or loud groaning. Furthermore, Sam has adopted a coping mechanism where he lies down on the sandpit and rub sand on his body to relax him. Other children and teachers in the playground find this action strange and can often misunderstand Sam’s intentions of rubbing sand all over his body. The children often become upset or confused with this behaviour, which can prompt further negative behaviours in Sam. If Sam is not removed from the situation he will suppress his emotions by shutting off to the outside chaos, which involves curling up into a fetal position and loud groaning.

In addition, lunchtime and playtime are difficult for individuals with ASD because of the unstructured, unplanned time (National Autistic Society, 2013). This period of the day is open for free choice of games and equipment as well as the decision of who to play with. This can be overwhelming for Sam as he struggles to manage these phases of the day where he is required to make choices including who he will approach and initiate a game with, in an appropriate manner.

Lunch breaks and playground time can be observed as a negative experience for Sam due to these reasons. It is essential that teachers can prepare Sam for lunch period as this is a time other students use to have a break from school structure and form relationships with peers. 

Lunchtime and playtime are difficult for Sam due to the high amount of sensory information and the unstructured, unplanned period of time. Due to a lack of communication and social skills, Sam does not know how to approach a child and initiate a game with them in an appropriate manner. Inappropriate behaviour such as snatching another child’s toy to start a chasing game can happen as a result. Sam also struggles to understand the concept of personal belongings and intruding on others personal space. All of these factors need to be considered when developing a strategy to manage Sam’s behaviour and emotions during lunchtime and playtime. These strategies could be implemented prior to and during these periods to improve the experience.

The first strategy could be the introduction of a buddy system during these periods. Knot and Dunlop (2007) assert that forming a buddy system can be the first step towards setting up a circle of friends with others in the year group. The teacher can introduce this system by discussing with the class the different strengths and abilities everyone has, and how some children may nonetheless need a bit of support at certain times, and how they can offer support in a sensitive way. The teacher may then nominate a few children from the class to be Sam’s buddies during the lunchtime. It is important that Sam works with the buddy to make choices for games and equipment, rather than the buddy taking control. However, other strategies to assist Sam with skills such as turn taking, understanding rules and negotiating. Furthermore, a method to prepare Sam for the lack of structure and unpredictability of the lunch period is required.

Frandsen (2011) asserts that puppets and visual illustrations are an effective strategy to practice symbolic play, which can help bring children with ASD who think concretely into the world of abstract concepts and ideas.  Symbolic play with puppets can take learning a step further by enabling children to take part in hypothetical scenarios to help them to understand how the world works. The puppets consist of a number of laminated figures glued onto paddle pop sticks. The puppets are animated images of a young boy and his three friends together in the playground. Sam and his teacher can use these figures to develop mock conversations to develop Sam’s social skills in approaching friends and initiating games. Furthermore, Sam's emotion themometer is used as a tool for Sam to gauge what he is feeling. This is an effective technique for Sam to communicate with his teacher how he is feelings through visual aids rather than words.

To address Sam’s fear of unpredictability in the playground, a strategy to prepare Sam for this experience is necessary. Sam and his teacher can collaboratively construct a list of the events that could occur in the playground during lunchtime. The teacher can support Sam by making him aware that change is okay and provide him with options to escape from the playground if he becomes overwhelmed (Beaney & Kershaw, 2003). A quiet zone in the playground or the school (e.g. the library) could also be established to assist Sam in these situations. In the quiet zone, the teacher could offer structured activities such as computer time or reading clubs. These activities create structured time to assist Sam in coping with the unpredictability of lunchtime.