AustismSpeaks.org states that Autism can be defined as, “a spectrum disorder that refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences” (1). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 1 in 70 children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (AutismSpeaks1). Despite how common Autism is, having a child with Autism can deeply effect a child’s ability to get an education. This can be for multiple reasons, such as bullying or the school’s ability to help the needs of the child. Unfortunately, most public schools are not specifically designed to deal with sensory disorders, even
Autism is a disorder that is encompassed in the autism spectrum (ASDs) (Landa, 2007). Autism spectrum disorders describe the brain development disorders and encompass Asperger syndrome, autism, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) disorders. Features of the ASDs includes sensory and cognition problems, difficulty in communicating with other people, and repetitive behaviors. This paper will discuss autism with respect to what it is, the causes, autism in the inclusive classroom (what can be done to enhance total inclusion) and the role of the community.
Looking at behavior of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders it can often be categorized in four broad categories. Attention/access is behavior that occurs so the child can obtain something that they want. (Heflin & Alaimo, 2011) Avoidance/Escape is a behavior that allows the child to escape something that is undesirable. (Heflin & Alaimo, 2011) Sensory-based is behavior that occurs to solicit pleasurable feedback. (Heflin & Alaimo, 2011) Pain attenuation is a behavior that so that a pain does not hurt so much not seen a lot in education. (Heflin & Alaimo, 2011) Three of the four behaviors will be addressed in how they manifest in the classroom, examples of these behaviors and recommendations to deal with behaviors.
Mastering social skills and interaction is a challenge for children living with autism. Autistic children often do not play with other children. Part of this is noticed during the early developmental stages of childhood. Autistic children are often referred as off in a world of their own, unaware of people or events around them. Children with autism have difficulties in verbal and with non-verbal communication, social interactions and leisure activities. Autistic children have sensory disorders that affect how they interact with objects and people around them. They possibly will experience sensitivities in the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. “Many children with autism have unusual sensitivities to sounds, sights, touch, taste and smells. High-pitched intermittent sounds, such as fire alarm or school bells, may be painful to these children. Scratchy fabrics and clothing tags may also be intolerable, and some children have visual sensitivities to the flickering of fluorescent lights (autism-society).” The lack of social skills can create behaviors in autistic children.
Autism has become an increasingly important public health concern as the number of yearly diagnoses of the disorder has increased since the late 20th century. The National Institute of Health estimates that 1 in 88 children in the United States are classified as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (NINDS, 2009), a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs children 's ability to learn and causes issues with social interaction and communication. Symptoms of ASD include delays in speech and language, issues with social interaction, and unusual behaviors/routines.
Children with autism spectrum disorder will be able to receive increased services in educational settings (Hatton, et al., 2006). Teachers who educate children with autism spectrum disorder may benefit from learning the general characteristics of the disorder and evidence-based instructional strategies. Children may benefit from
Students with disabilities in the United States won the right to receive an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment in 1975, with the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142), now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) (Kurth, p. 249, Marshall, Goodall, 2015). Prior to 1975, millions of children with disabilities were simply excluded from school…With P.L. 94-192, states were held accountable for providing an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment to all students for the first time. Autism, as defined by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), refers to “a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child's educational performance” (IDEA.ed.gov). Some characteristics include social-interaction difficulties, communication challenges and a tendency to engage in repetitive behaviors. However, symptoms and their severity vary widely across these three core areas (Heward, chapter 7 [page numbers will be put in later on]) (List and quickly describe the different
Parents try their best to keep their children from getting hurt or sick, but no matter how hard they try, sometimes something will always go wrong. We cannot avoid all uncertainties; Autism is among one of these uncertainties that parents try their best to avoid. According to the center for disease control One out of every one hundred and fifty children are born with autism each year in America, that is one percent of American children with autism, eighty percent of which are male and about forty to twenty percent of females (CDC). One point five million children have already been living with this diagnosis, of autism long before the media brought into public attention, so as the rise of autism increases it is also important that the knowledge of autism increase.
The assessment and diagnosis of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a common recommendation for psychologist, guidance, school, and counseling professionals (Paynter, 2015). The majority of children diagnosed with autism have some school educational constraint such as attending a special education class or school, have challenges socially and with their school experiences (Paynter, 2015). Students with ASD display larger difficulties performing academically and adjusting their emotions and behaviors at school in relation to their peers (Paynter, 2015). Assessment may be recommended for children with ASD for the purpose of verifying diagnosis, assessment of intellectual or developmental delays to identify language or behavioral problems, to monitor progress and intervention results, and to better understand the child?s potential and needs (Paynter,
There are a lot of different problems and difficulties that comes with an autistic person. Every person with autism is different and unique in their own way if it is how he or she speaks, acts or even what they wear; they all have something that is not the same. A frequent difficulty for students with autism is to pay attention to what their teachers want because they are focusing on sensations which to them are more interesting or important. This leads to a lifelong problem with lots of possible causes but has no cure. What can the American society do to help them though?
Moreover, kids who are on the Autism spectrum, and families of kids on the spectrum have very limited options in the middle east, for the lack of education has resulted in a scarce of well-equipped and trained facilities, orgs, and special educations classes that can help children learn basic everyday life activities; even if these facilities are available, the expenses are way beyond what an average Middle Eastern family can afford, and these few facilities are very difficult to reach. Not only is access limited, but there is also no legal support to demand the right if these individual’s. Many of the stereotypies that characterize autism can be reduced, or managed through ealry intervention, and lack of Access negates any possibility of behavioral
According to recent data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that 1 in 68 children in the United States are afflicted with an autism spectrum disorder, spanning all income classes and ethnicity and the majority of them are male. In the past educational needs were met with Special-Education teachers providing one on one instruction with specialized techniques. Autism affects the senses in terms of over-reactors and under-reactors of the senses. What this equates to is that the processing of senses, touch, taste, smelling, and feeling is distorted (Magnusen, 2005, p. 1).
If you were to meet someone who off the top of their head could recite, “all the countries in the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7057,” what would you think of them? I am sure you would be thinking, “WOW, this person is a genius”. The last thing you would probably think is that this person has a developmental disorder. This person however has the fastest growing developmental disorder in the world… Autism. People don’t realize that someone with Autism can be brilliant and have a lot to contribute to the world. Society views people with Autism as outsiders. This attitude needs to change. Autistic people are able to do some amazing things that the world will miss out on if we continue to have negative attitudes toward Autism.
The term ‘autism’ can be dated back to 1911, where it was first used to describe schizophrenia by Paul Bleuler (Khalid et al, 2014). However, more recent research has characterised autism as a lifelong, neurodevelopmental condition, with symptoms appearing as early as the age of three, and although the condition affects four times more females than males, evidence points to the disability affecting males more acutely (Germain et al, 2015). As a developmental disability, autism affects a number of things within an individual, to include, communication abilities, how to effectively relate to others, as well as affecting how to make sense of the world around them, all of which are attainments that would come naturally to neurotypical humans (Germain et al, 2015). Autism, therefore, has been described as being “characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and repetitive patterns of behaviour” (Brown and Elder, 2014, p. 219). In the UK, approximately 700,000 people are living with the disability and around 2.8 million people are affected by autism in their lives (The National Autistic Society, 2016). Because autism is a spectrum condition, those who are compounded by it will share certain traits; however, autism will affect them and their abilities in different ways, with individual differences in the patterns of development (Whitman, 2004). Although autism can affect many areas of a person’s life, my research is aimed at looking at one of the core
This article discusses whether or not special education teachers, as well as general education teachers, are prepared to teach students with autism. According to the article, autism is ranks at the sixth most commonly classified disability in the United States. There is a very wide spectrum for autism which include disorders like Asperger’s and pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). 1 out of 150 American children will be born with autism (Autism Society of America, NDb).
It is true that a classroom setting represents a lot of diversity and differences among the students. The students can bear distinctions among them regarding their mental and physical endowment. As such, some students have advantages such as increased intelligence while others may suffer impediments in the learning process because of equal shortcomings. Disorders including autism and Asperger’s syndrome have a substantial impact on both the educational and the social experience of students at a school (Sort et al, 2011). Identifying such disorders at an early age will allow both the parents and teachers to put in place necessary measures to ensure that the students enjoy a healthy learning and social experience (Levinger, 2002). Additionally,