Final Paper Student Profile

Social interaction is defined as “a process of reciprocal stimulation and response between two people. It develops competition, interaction, influences social roles and status, and influences people in development of social relationships.” (What is SOCIAL INTERACTION) By adolescence most individuals are fairly competent at social interaction and have a general understanding of what is required of them in most social situations. For high functioning autistic children, this is far from the case. Simple interactions between themselves and others can be confusing and difficult to navigate without proper adaptive training in social behavior. In the following sections, we will explain the need for this training, how it is implemented, and the

I chose this article because it specifically targets the inclusion of autistic students in general education classrooms. The evidence shows that having a child read social stories and practice social interaction through role play causes an increase in a child’s social behavior thus helping him or her socialize better with classmates and teachers. This builds a better foundation for a child to express his or her wants and

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.

The No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act entail that students with disabilities or special needs to be open to the overall education and determine the progress of the child. Three unsurpassed practice strategies for supporting young children on the autism spectrum (including Asperger's Syndrome) in an early learning environment. The first strategy is reinforcement. Reinforcement is a critical strategy of evolving and maintaining the enthusiasm of this type of student. A teacher must use objective or actions that the students would like or enjoy that can be obtainable behavior. In my field experience observed I have seen the Pre-K teacher use the computer and smartboard to interact with the class as well

To be an effective special educator, one must possess knowledge of several, various disabilities and also knows how they can affect children so differently. For instance, there is an increasing rate of children being diagnosed with Autism; as a result educators need to be familiar with the characteristics associated with the disease. Symptoms and how severe they may be can vary from child to child, but all autism disorders affect a child's ability to communicate and interact with others. According to Gina Kemp, Jeanne Segal, and Deborah Cutter, specialists in learning disorders and disabilites, most children with Autism will not be able to communicate with the world around them. They have poor social skills, avoid eye contact, and tend to choose self play over group interaction (Cutter, Kemp, & Segal). A special educator needs to know how to interact with these children to have any hope of abiding by the standards of the NCLB. There is no known cause for Autism, therefore, it is important for any special educator to continue in their research in order to successfully educate these children.

The common traits of ASD, which include anti-social and often disruptive patterns of behavior, can make children with autism challenging for typical learning children to approach. Though the issue of including children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms is a complex one, peer-mediated interventions can promote the growth of social skills at every level of education. By educating the general population of typical peers and empowering them to be a part of the process a dent can be made in the social exclusion often experienced by the ASD children in mainstream settings. Implementing these interventions enriches the lives of all of the children involved, “possibly developing sustainable social relationships” expanding the effects of the program beyond the academic setting (Hughes et al., 2013). Also, these methods provide teachers an unobtrusive method of teaching that has benefits for the entire class. These methods could be helpful to other student populations that have intellectual

Some of the interventions that IDEA suggests that students be included in the regular general education classroom as much as possible with their peers, because it helps them gain social relationships with others (McCurdy, 2014). But there are some negative aspects to having children included in the classroom. One of the roadblocks that schools come across is having to gain support from the school officials and staff members (McCurdy, 2014). The second barrier is having a student with autism spectrum disorder is risking them having a disruptive behavior or witness an off-task behavior that would disrupt other students in the classroom (McCurdy,

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

The quality of life for a child with autism in mainstream schools is definitely at odds with how the school itself is structured. Due to changes in educational policies over the last decade, there are increasing numbers of children with ASD that are being educated in a regular classroom setting. Many may deem this inclusion as being positive for those students, but there are faults that accompany these types of circumstances, the reason being that many schools do not have the capacity to keep pace with such changes in order to include children with ASD. Many teachers find it tough to merge the academic talents of students with autism with their often severe difficulties in interacting with others socially. Those who have been diagnosed with ASD have a preference for routine, consistency and low sensory stimulation, making tough seeing that they would be expected to deal with the noisy, busy and chaotic environment of mainstream schools (Humphrey, Symes 80).

This quote is a good principle on how to teach any child, autistic or not. Children with autism spectrum disorder should be integrated into a regular classroom setting because it promotes peer interaction, requires social communication and furthers academic skills.

To encourage the development of social skills students are encouraged to interact with one another throughout the day in a variety of methods, including partner work, small group activities, and large group activities. These teaching techniques enable autistic children to relate to their peers. As autistic children relate to their peers more they are more accepted and in turn continue to learn and acquire new and improved social skills.

“Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the name given to describe a wide range of behaviors amongst the autistic population. Children with autism are less able to interact with the world as other children do. Normally they have shortfalls in five key ranges: verbal, non-verbal correspondence, social mindfulness, and connections” (The New Talkers.com). This is one of the disorders that can either be recognized right away in a child, take a long time to diagnose, or might not even be noticeable; the lack of diagnosis can also become a negative issue in an autistic person’s life. Because this disorder is fairly common, and can be devastating should a child have ASD but remain undiagnosed, public schools should train their teachers and staff to recognize autism and its symptoms. There are many students that are being failed rather than receiving the help required to help these children succeed. Many in the general public as well are not informed of what autism is, and can be judgmental towards these kids without understanding why these kids act the way they do. Parents and specially teachers need to be educated about this disorder so that these children can grow up having a better future.

The benefit of mainstreaming children on the Autism Spectrum is a topic that is discussed frequently. There have been studies on both neurotypical and non-neurotypical children and their interactions with their peers. A study conducted by Ann N. Garfinkle and Ilene S. tested an imitation intervention on preschoolers to see if non-neurotypical children could be taught to mimic behaviors by their peers (Garfinkle & Schwartz, 2002). Another study performed by Brandt Chamberlin, Connie Kasari and Erin Rotheram-Fuller found that children between second and fifth grade on the spectrum benefited from being mainstreamed in regular classroom settings as friendship between neurotypicals and non-neurotypicals helped establish social expectations and

Children with autism often can not make connections that other kids make easily. For example,

I am very passionate about working with kids with autism. They have such amazing personalities and I feel like people don’t see past the disability to the unique person they are. For several years I worked at a residential facility for kids on the spectrum. I was a direct care staff that worked one on one with them to work on their goals their treatment plan was focusing on. My passion to help kids with autism comes from my previous experience working with these kids and watching them grow and learn new skills. This transformation that I watched happen and helped be a part of with these kids made me want to help more kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There are a lot of skills that need to be taught to these children. Socialization, communication, and positive behavior are just a few kids with autism need help improving. I believe that the earlier that you teach a child these skills the more successful they will be. Early intervention has had a positive outcome within many research experiments that professionals have done. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) also requires schools to teach kids with disabilities alongside typically developed kids as much as possible.