PSV-Lab: Individualized Interventions For Adolescents

There are many different obstacles autism spectrum individuals have to overcome in their daily lives; social insecurities, eye contact, appropriate spatial awareness etc. But in most cases, their biggest hurdle is mostly their communication skills; it’s been shown that communication impairment is at the heart of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and that children with ASD can show a wide range of communication skills as discussed by Agius and Vance (2015). According to Agius and Vance, there is up to a 30% positive diagnosis of children with ASD who will forever remain nonverbal (no consistent verbal communication). With such a high percentage of ASD children it is recommended that their communication and learning needs are to be addressed by using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), it has been shown as an effective intervention that addresses individuals with ASD and their learning and communication needs (Ogletree, Morrow-Odom, & Westling, 2015). PECS has helped children and young adults with ASD communicate with those around them; their teachers, peers, parents etc.

It is estimated that one in every sixty eight children will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (CDC, 2014). In schools around the country these students are struggling in their classroom environment due to deficits in three areas; communication skills, social skills, and repetitive behaviors or interest (Marder & Fraser, 2012). Implementing the use of technology in the classroom like iPad, iPod, android tablets, e-readers, and computers is beneficial to students with autism spectrum disorder. It can increase communication skills, can help make their classroom experience more pleasant, and it gives them the best chance at success.

To better understand learning, the research and experimentation was conducted by a student. The purpose of this study was to examine a novice learner performing a skill, in which improvement, retention, consistency, adaptability and stages of learning would be tested. The individual chose juggling three beanbags for the skill to be learned. The subject had to learn how to juggle three beanbags at once using both hands. Practice was completed in one way to keep consistency; this included throwing small beanbags standing up in the same room. Hypothesis of the experimenter suggested greatest improvement of skill in the beginning to middle of testing. Learning would be accomplished. An increase in practice time 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.

For example, during writing tasks, rather than asking Connor to write a recount, he would be asked to only write the orientation. This would be broken down step by step into ‘when’, ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘where’. To assist Connor to persist with more difficult tasks he is provided with constant feedback and encouragement to reinforce correct practice (Seely Flint et al., 2014; Woolfolk & Margetts, 2010). During cooperative learning activities Connor is paired with a supportive partner who can tutor, scaffold and extend him. The effectiveness of these strategies will be assessed through daily observations, analysis of Connor’s work and collection of checklists to see if they have been marked off properly.

The term autism currently holds a meaning that is significantly different than when it was first adopted into our vocabulary in the 1960’s. The evolution of scientific discoveries within the field of autism research is remarkable and consistently improving. With the prevalence of autism continuing to reach sky rocketing numbers, the inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the school system is extremely important. Every child has the right to obtain an education and finding new methods that provide this for children with ASD is vital. Creating programs and techniques that can be personalized to a child is the key to them receiving the most out of their education. Discrete trial teaching, pivotal response treatment and picture

There is also another interesting finding concerning students’ performance in Task 2B (bead pattern A-B-C) and Task 2D (bead pattern A-A-B-B-B). According to our design estimation, the pattern A-B-C was considered of lower difficulty level. Surprisingly, Task 2D appeared to be easier for the participants than Task 2B.

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

According to the U.S. Department of Education, autism is defined as a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interactions and verbal and nonverbal communication. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may also display attention deficits, engage in repetitive behaviors, resist environmental changes, have unusual sensory experiences, and may exhibit inappropriate behaviors that have adverse impacts on educational performance (Delano, 2007). The incidence of children identified with ASD has steadily increased and has thus changed the dynamics of education. Due to the number of children diagnosed with autism dramatically increasing over the last fifteen years, the demand for research-based

The Autism Internet Modules (AIM) (2014) was a great sources. AIM has a large amount of modules that allows anyone to view the modules to learn more about autism (Autism Internet Modules, 2014). AIM is a great source to provide general education teachers with more information about autism. In addition, teachers could use AIM to educate his/her classroom and one-on-one paraprofessionals. On this website paraprofessionals could learn more about the autism and what supports they could do to help the student they are working with. AIM (2014) would be a great professional development tool for all teachers, parents, administrators, and paraprofessionals to use. In addition, you can use the site to get certifications in different areas that are associated

Plethora of instructional formats can be used by teachers when teaching children with autism. Some of the instructional formats commonly used with children with ASD include small group instruction, one-on-one instruction, peer-mediated instruction, discrete trial and direct instruction. Use of reinforcement can be highly effective when delivering instruction to children with autism. Several forms of reinforcement can be utilized to increase desired behavior, such as use of computers, edibles, toys, stickers, and verbal praises depending on what’s motivating for the child. Barton, Lawrence, & Deurloo (2012) suggested that “Identifying and using individualized reinforcers are useful for maintaining motivation and can be essential to the

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.

The programme provides a prosthetic environment where difficulties experienced by autistic individuals can be circumvented in order to enable them to live and learn without unnecessary stress and anxiety (Jordan, Jones and Murray, 1998).

Students with autism spectrum disorder can have strengths in specific areas of learning. However, they may have difficulty in other areas of learning. For instance, a student with ASD that has a strong visual-spatial ability, may learn to read words to prompt social behavior. Whereas another student with ASD may have a strong nonverbal problem-solving proficiency. This student can be easily driven by tasks that have a clear

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.