By observing how these kids interacted with their classmates and other kids in their immediate environment, my observations helped me expand my understanding of people with exceptionalities. At the YMCA I was asked to look after a girl named Sarah who has autism. You wouldn’t know Sarah had autism, but that was the way all the kids were running around and playing basketball amongst each other. I watched and observed Sarah in the way she
talked with the kids around her, her interactions with them, and how they were back to her. I was quick to learn that children like Sarah adapt to surroundings that don’t make them feel any different than any other child. She did well around other children, but I was told in a classroom setting she tends to need more one-on-one time with the teacher. I learned that there are certain ways to engage with children with autism and/or disabilities. One of those strategies I used to help assist was using a fundamental portion of Applied Behavior Analysis. “
The application of ABA to intervention strategies focuses on clearly defining behavior within the context of the environment and then arranging the
environment and providing consequences for increasing or decreasing specific behaviors
,”
(Hunt and Marshall, 9-4b). Using
short sentences to ask them what they want to do, and not ask too much at one time is good. When I asked Sarah several times about what different activities she wanted to do, I found she became agitated, so I gave her some
time, and let her guide me to the next activity. I found letting her “seem in charge” made her much happier with playing and engaging with the other children. I understand in a school setting, we can't always let the child pick
