Julia is a 12-year-old girl who attends a third-grade self-contained class at a public school in New Jersey. She was diagnosed with autism at the age of three years. Although Julia is independent with basic daily living skills, she has difficulty meeting demands of her occupational roles of a student, peer, and a family member. In addition, she exhibits a narrow range of occupational responses in the areas of learning, play, leisure, and social participation. Julia also exhibits difficulty organizing her behavior.
Physical Context.
Immediate level. Julia’s classroom consists of two large U- shaped tables, where she sits along with four other children, her teacher, and a classroom aide. The teacher or the classroom aide sits next to her to ensure that Julia attends and completes her school activities. This arrangement also helps the teacher to protect other children and calm Julia when
…show more content…
In the classroom, the teacher is the authority. She directs the routine and flow of activities. All students, including Julia, are expected to follow a daily routine and complete their academic work. The classroom culture relies on several positive reinforcement strategies to facilitate student discipline and appropriate behavior. Similarly, the classroom activities are mostly academically oriented and include a significant amount of writing and reading. Even though Spanish is spoken at home, Julia uses the English language for communication. The teacher provides instructions in English.
Proximal level. The school has a strong focus on students’ academic achievements. As a result, the grade level curriculums for children with disabilities are also academically oriented. The school’s mission statement states that each child will be educated regardless of his/her disability and ethnic background. Even though the inclusion model is promoted, the special education population is relatively invisible in the school policies and
The Jane Justin School of Autism provides the right life skills and knowledge that children need to live a meaningful and productive life. How the school makes this mission possible is by responding to the needs of the students and families while respecting and embracing the individuality of the child while maintaining educational excellence. The Jane Justin School also hopes that the students one day may be able to return to a traditional classroom and educational setting with the skills that would make this possible.
They require a variety of supports, such as homework assistance, as they progress through the school curriculum. A large number of students in the classroom are Polish and they come from upper class families. The physical arrangement of the room is similar to a traditional classroom, but instead of single desks she uses rows to foster collaboration between students. For instance, the teacher has her desk to the right of the room with two steps of separation from the students. There are six rows in total containing three seats in each row. The space allows the teacher to walk freely throughout the classroom and give each student individualized attention. In addition, the general education teacher makes sure to label folders, books and testing material with student names. There are two additional assistant teachers in the classroom including myself. We provide assistance to the general education teacher on different days, but work collaboratively when
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
A lot of people don’t realize the challenges of living with a child who has been diagnose with Autism can be. It is a twenty-four-hour seven day a week job no vacation, no sick time and no pay. From the time the child is diagnosed it is a constant worry especially if the parents don’t know much about the condition. It starts with continuous Doctor visits, social services, and therapy sessions, just to figure out how serious the condition may be and what level of the disability the child has and this is only this beginning. Next, to find the tools the child needs to overcome the disability, like learning development and cognitive process, social skills, comprehension capabilities, and many more depending on the severity of autism.
144). Some other techniques for improving the learning experience of students with autism are structured teaching, speech and language therapy, social skills therapy, and occupational therapy. Keeping a structured and predictable schedule is imperative when instructing a child with autism. The child will also, most likely, need some specialized classes in speech as well as instruction in appropriate social interaction, as one symptom of autism is a lack of comprehension of social norms. Educators need to keep in close contact with the team responsible for the student’s educational plan and diagnostic write-up to ensure that there are no large gaps in the educational programs suggested and the ones being applied.
Autism is a developmental disorder, which is characterized by a dyad of difficulties in a) communication and social interaction and b) restricted interests and imagination (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals on the Autism Spectrum might find it challenging to understand what other people think or what the reasons for their behaviours are, as their ‘theory of mind’ may not be well developed (Schuwerk, Vuori & Sodian, 2015). It is possible that this is why they might behave in socially inappropriate ways, being unable to differentiate between different contexts, while they might also find it difficult to make friends. Moreover, it is likely that they are fond of routines, repetition and structure (Carnahan, Musti-Rao, & Bailey, 2009), as they might be nervous with unknown, new situations. In addition, some of them might not do eye contact with other people, whereas some others might not endure to be touched and might have a difficulty developing speech (Jordan, 2005). Individuals on the Autism Spectrum might sometimes be prohibited to initiate conversations and might struggle with finding different ways to play and behave, due to the possible deficit of imagination, which in some cases might result in them having a narrow sphere of interests. Nevertheless, it should be noted that this group of people is rather heterogeneous, as characteristics of autism may differ from one individual to another (Gwynette, 2013). Another point is that people with Autism
Occupational therapists focus their work on any person that may need assistance throughout their daily life. I have decided to focus on the role an occupational therapist can play in the life of a pediatric patient with autism. The life of someone with autism is completely different than many people imagine. I have a very close friend that has autism and my mother has been a special needs teacher for children with autism for as long as I can remember. If people with autism could be better understood, their lives would be much easier. I am going into occupational therapy school in May and I want to use my research from this paper and my tools as a Christian to be able to help those with autism find a way to build a relationship with
I arrived to the classroom at about 8:50 AM and left at 10:00 AM. When I arrived to the classroom the children, the teacher and her assistant were sitting in the table playing with baby dolls. They were using the baby dolls to show the children the different parts of the body. Soon after, they moved to the carpet for circle time. Teacher Dayana and her assistant welcomed each child by his or her name. They welcomed the children both on English and in Spanish. They prosside by singing English and Spanish songs including,”Buenos dias (good morning)”, “The wheels in the bus go round and round”, “Days of the week”, and “Pin Pon es un muñeco”. While they were singing two of the children graved toy pianos and played them. Once circle time was over the teacher assistant started to take the children one by one to wash their hands. They all moved to the table where breakfast was waiting for them. The students and the children all ate together. Throughout the entire time the teacher and the assistant try to keep an open conversation with the children. Once everyone was finished having breakfast the teacher instructed the children to clean after themselves. They all seemed to know what to do as they placed their plates on a container and used napkins to clean the table. After they were finish cleaning the children return to the carpet where each child grabbed a book. Each book had words and the picture of the word. For the last
In this paper, I will be discussing the disorder of Autism, a sever disorder that affects the function of the brain. It causes problems in such areas as social contact, intelligence, language and speech impediments, along with ritualistic or compulsive behaviors, as well as different responses to the environment that an autistic individual may have different than individuals not having autism would exhibit. I will be discussing generally about the history and description of autism. Also I will be discussing the charactistics that mark an autistic individual, the actual treatment that an autistic person may receive, risk factors that an autistic person may encounter, and interventions/treatments activities that an individual who has autism may take part in. I feel that by doing all of this that I will gain a greater sense of understanding for individuals with autism. I will be giving this information to you by going through each topic that I have outlined in the introduction and explaining what each means and how they affect an individual with autism.
Autism is a rare disease that can be characterized by a “neurodevelopmental disorder categorized by the inability to relate to and perceive the environment in the realistic manner.” (Anthes, 1997) The signs of autism are mainly found in infants to young children usually between the ages of newborn to two years. The main symptoms that are discussed are “impairment in social interaction fixation of inanimate objects, inability to communicate normally, and resistance to changes in their daily routine.” (Anthes, 1997) Autism is a very understood disease but one thing most people do not know is that autism not only effects a child’s life mentally and physically, it also effects their social ability to have friends, play normally and even grow up
“Work to view my autism as a different ability rather than a disability. Look past what you may see as limitations and see the gifts autism has given me…Be my advocate, be my friend, and we’ll see just how far we can go” –Ellen Botbohm, author of Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew.
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.
Autism is a form of neurodevelopment disorder in the autism spectrum disorders. It is characterized by impaired development in social interactions and communication, both verbal and non-verbal. There is an observed lack of spontaneous acts of communication; both receptive and expressed, as well as speech impairments. A person diagnosed with Autism will also show a limited range of activities and interests, as well as forming and maintain peer relationships. The individuals will display limited interests, which are often very focused and repetitive. He or she is likely to be very routine oriented and may show behavioral symptoms such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and self-injurious behaviors.
Students with autism can become overwhelmed very easily by even minor deviations from the routine. It is important to be sensitive to the way autistic children function so that their potential can be reached.
Mrs. Tijerina has a sturdy relationship built with her students. She has desire to see them succeed and flourish in the Spanish culture while mining high expectations. Mrs. Tijerina wants every single student to be involved or to give feedback. There was not a single student in the classroom that did not participate in discussion or did not have a chance to voice their opinion. Mrs. Tijerina treated every student with respect, and expected that she would be respected as well. If a student was talking out of hand, Mrs. Tijerina was capable to getting them to stop immediately. Since she has a strong desire for the students to excel, she predominantly speaks in