Case Study: Effective Teaching Strategies for a Student with
Asperger’s in the General Educational Classroom Elizabeth Addington Durgin George Mason University
Abstract
At a training session in Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), statistics were shared of the number of students in the school system with an ASD diagnosis. It has become the third most common childhood illness. In the LCPS 10.6% of Individualized Education Programs (IEP) are dedicated to students with Autism (Buswell, 2009). These figures indicate teachers need to understand how to modify teaching strategies to empower these students to succeed. Characteristics of students with autism all share developmental delays in three
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Economically disadvantaged is defined by how many students qualify for the federally subsidized meal program. The neighborhood surrounding the school is somewhat diverse; the population of the school is 45 % Hispanic (382), 29% white (247), 15% Asian or Pacific-Isle (128), 9% black (77), and 2% not specified (19) for a total of 856 students. There are 101 teachers on staff at the school. The middle school serves sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Each grade or house has its own dean and counselor. The deans and counselors rotate with the grade level so they spend three years with their same students, allowing them to build closer relationships. With the arrival of a new principal in the summer of 2008, the school personnel received a new blueprint of expectations and committee assignments. This past year, the school reached it’s goal of becoming fully accredited based on the SOL testing scores and the standards set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act. The subsection of students with disabilities met the Virginia Department of Education Yearly Progress goals as well (Virginia Department of Education (VDOE, 2009) (See Appendix 4 for additional details).
Special Education Services and Size of Program Casey is in the eighth grade with 300 other eighth graders. Currently, there are 105 students (12% of the total population) enrolled in special education
Tommy R. is a 6-year-old boy and a kindergarten student in a K-8 combined elementary and junior high school in the San Jose greater metropolitan area. There has been a meeting requested by his educational team and parents to talk about his behavior in school and cognitive abilities in the classroom. School staff have been receiving complaints from Tommy’s teacher and classroom staff about not following direction and non-compliance. Tommy also struggles with completing some classroom tasks as well.
Based on the case study, Sara has many elements and character traits that can identify with her diagnosis of autism. I do strongly believe Sara diagnosis is appropriate and in line with IDEA definition and the revised criteria for ASD in the DSM-5.
Autism is a very complex, neurobehavioral disorder that includes impairments in social interaction and communication and development skills. It usually occurs during the first three years of life. The disorder has a large range of symptoms and levels of impairment. It can severely change the way someone lives. People with autism show little interest in other people and lack social awareness. It is troubling for them to communicate express themselves, and understand what other people think and feel. In the United States only, more than 500,000 people have been diagnosed with autism. Autistic children may have repetitive body movements such as rocking, pacing, or flapping their hands. The disorder prevents children from forming relationships
During the second quarter, Lisa Beresford and I have met weekly or sometime more. Our discussions for this quarter have been focusing on several different topics. First, we have discussed different transition activities and strategies that we can use to help the students to be successful. We have discussed transition plans (IEP portion), for students that want to attend the CTC next year, and also students that are graduating this year.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. There is more classification of Autism that is based on the severity of symptom. Childhood disintegrative disorder, also known as Heller 's syndrome is a rare condition characterized by a late onset of developmental delays in language, social function, and motor skills. Asperger Syndrome is a developmental disorder related to autism and characterized by higher than average intellectual ability coupled with impaired social skills and restrictive, repetitive patterns of interest and activities. Atypical Autism is the term used when the person has symptoms but don’t have all the symptoms to diagnose Autism. Atypical autism usually differs from autism in terms either of age of onset or of failure to fulfill all three sets of autism diagnostic criteria.
Renoxx Caregivers is committed to providing personalized services and supports to children with Autism in order to promote independence and improve the quality of life for both child and their families. Since 2010, Renoxx Caregivers is a licensed provider for home and community based services under the Maryland Medical Assistance Autism Waiver.
There are three main stakeholders for special education students being; parents, educators, and school district officials. Communication between these three groups of people will allow for better understanding in regards to plans and programs for students (Hughes, 2015). It also allows for everyone to learning new things as a group and ensure that all students are going to receive the best education throughout their years in a public school. Not only will current students benefit from the gathering and consulting of parents, teachers, administration, and others district school officials but all future students with exceptionalities as well. Every student is different and every school year there is a different issue that can be faced, however with proper consulting there is a higher chance of these students leaving at the age of twenty-one with skills and knowledge to become a member of
In education, the main goal is for all students to receive an equal and optimal opportunity for success, which also includes students with special needs. To ensure this aim is reached, schools ought to have measures in place to establish students who necessitate special education services to achieve and progress in their schooling. Contradictory to this idea, nonetheless, learners are inaccurately referred for special education placement. The process begins to become questionable when it happens recurrently and predominantly to one group of minority students, as is the case for African-American students. There is certainly a problem of disproportionality in special education population and creates a cause for concern and investigation. As stakeholders examine general education program practices, they will discover that there are many factors contributing to the overrepresentation of minorities in special education. The characteristics of educators having the greatest influence on their decision to refer African American students for special education are cultural differences, insufficient professional development, and poor general instruction.
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
I found your family to be very interesting as well as the treatment you suggested. Families of children on the autism spectrum experience strong emotions such as loss and sadness, worries about the ability to cope, and frustration and isolation in settings that appear unresponsive to their needs (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). The family seems to be having a hard time with Joey being Autistic. I believe that their attitude plays an important role in the way that Joey is developing. The fact that they don’t see him as being normal already says a lot. I believe that some education is needed on the family’s part. Children who have Autism and receive early intervention can do very well. I think that a support group for the family would
The topic of investigation for this paper is effective techniques for helping students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) succeed in school. Communication and socialization were the two areas of focus. If students with ASD are helped in these two areas, the likelihood of success in school increases. With ASD increasing, literature reviews with effective techniques can assist school personnel in selecting the best options for students with ASD in less time than completing formal research. This is a topic of interest to me, because of two reasons. One reason is my work
Hope For Autism is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides the diagnosis and treatment of Autism. Every year professionals are sent to south America and other developing countries to assist in the treatment of Autism. Hope For Autism also locally hires staff to assist.Hope For Autism is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides the diagnosis and treatment of Autism. Every year professionals are sent to south America and other developing countries to assist in the treatment of Autism. Hope For Autism also locally hires staff to assist.Hope For Autism is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides the diagnosis and treatment of Autism. Every year professionals are sent to south America and other developing countries
In this case study, Marie has showed to be very good at computer games, and showed to have a good range of mathematics skills. Also, she does not feel the same towards different situations like the other children in her school. In her class when of the pet animals died she felt unconditional towards the event and was more worried to what was going to happen to the dead pet rather then feeling sad for its death. As for the skills that she acquired through computer games, this could be seen as strength because according to a previous study, children who suffer from autism can develop a certain skill faster than other children (Pring, L., Hermelin, B., & Heavey, L. 1995). Also, the mathematics skills are one of her strengths, as she does not see the world around her like the other children this helps her focus on a main topic more easily than someone that does not have her ability (McMullen, 2000). Autism can make her apathetic towards emotions and feelings, this could be seen as strength as well as a disadvantage, Marie can be spared from feeling sadness, therefore, she can pay attention to details rather than focus on other preoccupations, but she also won’t be able to understand sarcasm and could take words and events quite literally (Cumine, Dunlop & Stevenson, 1998).
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).
Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder is one of many developmental disabilities that affect students learning. In fact, in the United States, Autism is the fastest-growing severe developmental disorder (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Also, the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder is 1 in 68 children and the prevalence in boys is 1 in 42 children (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Furthermore, Autism Spectrum Disorders also affects the way a child learns and over the years, several teaching strategies have been developed to help teachers to effectively educate students with Autism. Research has also been conducted to develop and test new teaching strategies for Autism and continues in playing an important role in the education of students with Autism.