Children who are diagnosed with Autism frequently struggle with different areas of engagement, play, and keeping attention in the classroom – particularly younger generations. The three main areas of this intervention involve joint engagement and attention, and symbolic play. Research has presented that children who are not engaged in their learning and classroom activities typically retain less information and are learning less than their engaged classmates. Joint attention is the ability a child has to focus on multiple objects or happenings going on in a given scenario. Joint engagement takes place when the child is working on activities in a group like setting. Both joint engagement and joint attention are occurring significantly less within the classroom for children with autism. Playing – symbolically or pretend occurs when a student is able to use their imagination and play with an object as if it were something else. In many classrooms we see a grey area in which teachers encourage more of a functional playing time opposed to symbolic. Children with autism typically have a harder time imagining an object as something else …show more content…
Flyers were distributed throughout a large metro area and the children included in the intervention all had been clinically diagnosed with autism, and were already involved in a special education services. These children also did not have any other category of diseases or syndromes. The intervention also was randomized in the terms of racial diversity and parental education. 46% were African American, 39% were Hispanic, and the rest varied. 47% of these children’s primary caregivers had completed high school or a lesser amount of education, and 27% had completed college or had training in a trade. Forms were completed by the parents and the teachers to get this background
Incidental teaching focuses on child-initiated interactions. (Hall, 2013) Incidental teaching is used to increase skills of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. (Hall, 2013) A study done by Hart and Risley (1975) looked at the incidental teaching process used at the preschool age to aide in teaching language. Incidental teaching has been the most frequent strategy that has been used to teach language. When using incidental teaching a child’s request may be verbal or nonverbal. Examples include reaching for an object that is out of one’s reach, requesting food or a toy or calling an adult’s name. There is a series of decisions that an adult can use to respond to the child’s request. These choices include: if the occasion should be used for incidental teaching: if so then a choice regarding the language behavior that is obtained from the child, and then a choice has to be made concerning the cue that will be used to initiate instruction, the cur could be focus of attention by itself, or in addition to the focused attention a verbal cue as well. If the individual does not respond to the cue, then a choice concerning the degree of prompt to be used, the “fullest degree: a request for imitation; medium degree: a request for partial imitation, or minimal degree: a request for the terminal language behavior.” (Hart & Risley, 1975) This study was performed on boys and girls between the ages of four years old to five years old. The baseline procedures ensured that the children had a variety of vocabulary for use in sentences. The sentences that they were taught was “I want x so I can y.” The second step of the procedure was the use of incidental teaching of compound sentences directed to teachers. After thirty-six days of school, the incidental teaching began to occur when the children needed assistance in trying to get different preschool materials.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that affects a person’s social interaction and communication. This disorder is mainly characterized by having difficulty with social interaction, communication, and having restricted behaviors. Difficulty with social interaction means someone will struggle to communicate their feelings/emotions, understand how others feel or think, develop peer relationships, and understand nonverbal behaviors (eye gaze, facial expressions, etc). Difficulty with communication will vary among the individual. Some individuals will develop expressive language, while others will not. The speech of those that do develop expressive language will often be repetitive, rote, and lack meaning. They may struggle with turn taking in conversation and topic maintenance. Those individuals who do not develop expressive language typically do not use other modalities to communicate, like pointing or gestures. The last characteristic of the autistic spectrum disorder is having repetitive behaviors or activities. Typically children on the spectrum will play with their toys in an unusual manner, or may prefer only one toy, movie, or activity. Changes in daily schedule are hard for children on the spectrum to adapt to; usually these children like the same daily schedule. Bass, Duchowny, and Llabre (2009) state, “It is possible that animal-assisted activities provide a multisensory environment that will prove beneficial to children with profound social and communication deficits.”
“Your child has autism spectrum disorder” are words no parent wants to hear. They are words that will instill fear, worry, and sadness. When parents hear this for the first time, they will have many questions. “Is there anything I can do to help my child? If so, what can be done?” Early intervention services; such as applied behavior analysis therapy, occupational therapy, sensory integration therapy, and speech therapy before the age of three; can help improve the development of children with autism spectrum disorder. As an educator, early intervention is a subject teachers should be well educated in. It would be beneficial to the educator and the student, for a teacher to know and understand early intervention strategies.
Hamilton, Lynn M. Facing Autism: Giving Parents Reasons for Hope and Guidance for Help. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook, 2000. Print.
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.
Gray, D. E. (2002). Ten years on: A longitudinal study of families of children with autism. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 27, 215-222.
Adamson, L., Bakerman, R., Deckner, D. & Romskey, M.(2008). Joint Engagement and the Emergence of Language in Children with Autism and Down Syndrome.
Although the history of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and early involvement of the disorder are not yet well understood, new research in the field of autism has emphasized early intervention as the key. Generally, symptoms of autism typically appear before a child is three years old and last throughout life. Autism in African American community has been affected by cultural differences, but since this community is so diverse, these differences do not apply to all. Many African Americans are more accepting of developmental disabilities than other races. This is partly due to African Americans relying on religion and believes that God makes people the way they are. People from the Autism Speaks Society states, that child with autism from minority communities aren’t being recognized quickly enough. Children with this disorder can display a wide range of symptoms, which can vary in severity from mild to disabling. Both researchers and educators alike tend to argue that children with ASD benefits from early detection and intervention sessions, but disagreements come regarding the appropriate setting. In addition, many programs involving early intervention have shown progress by utilizing several solo techniques or a combination of techniques. The same genetics and developmental nature of this disorder make it unlikely that a single treatment usually works well when treating children with ASD. Based on differential response to treatment, some kids with ASD showed a positive response, while others showed progress with varying rates. However, some facts points to the inadequately of single treatment approaches for all areas of children with the disorder. This paper examines early research validating technologies for individually treatmen...
As the prevalence of Autism continues to grow rapidly, it is proven fact that Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the United States. “On March 27, 2014, this surveillance study identified one in sixty-eight children (one in forty-two boys and one in one-hundred eighty-nine girls) as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).” (DSM-IV, 2000). Eight-hundred thousand people younger than eighteen years are on record as having Autism Spectrum Disorder in the United States. Most children display abnormalities within the first year of life; although most are diagnosed with Autism between the ages of two and three. Boys are nearly five times more likely than girls to have Autism. However, females with the disorder are more feasible to exhibit serious mental retardation. There are “approximately seventy-five percent of children with Autism are mentally handicapped; meaning their IQ ranges from thirty-five to fifty. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV, 2000) research suggests that only a small percentage of individuals with Autistic Disorder go on as adults to live and work independently.” ( DSM-IV, 2000)
35% of adults who have autism have not received a higher education after high school, in addition to no job. It cost $8,600 extra dollars to educate an Autistic child in school. It is estimated that one in every sixty-eight kids are on the spectrum. 3.5 million Americans live with autism, while in the United Kingdom 1% of the citizens are diagnosed. The prevalence of autism has increased by 6 to 15 percent from 2002 to 2010. Although there is no sign for a cure in the near future, there are ways many people are trying to make the people on the spectrum feel accepted and part of this is for people to be
65 children, 52 boys and 13 girls who were not diagnosed with autism, from 3 different clinics, were used for this study. They were under 3 years of age, they were referred to the clinics due to social and/or language issues, and their parents provided informed consent. The children had also previously had 2 independent diagnostic evaluations. A second group of 37 children were used from this sample, th...
The number of children that display autistic traits keeps rising and the need for services is at an all-time high. Out of 10,000 children born, 60 to 100 children and families will be affected by autistic spectrum disorder (Gulberg, 2010). Autism is characterized by a lack of connection to other people, even parents, and an avoidance of interpersonal situations (Feldman, 2011). Children with autism also show limited, repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behavior, interest, and activities. Not one child with autism is the same as the next; each child has their own severity and indicators of autism. A child with intellectual disabilities and a gifted child can both be given the diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum, because of the wide range of severities. Many of these children will not attend special schools, but instead be included in the general education population by inclusion. Inclusion has been found to have a number of benefits for children with autism. In addition, negative perspectives have also come into play when discussing autism and inclusion. Furthermore, parents have the right to make decisions for their child on an individual basis.
Dempsey, I. & Foreman, P. ( 2001). A Review of Educational Approaches for Individuals with Autism. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 48 (1), 105-116.
Jordan, R., & Powell, S. (1995). Understanding and Teaching Children with Autism. New York: Wiley.
There are so many different types of family relationships. Whatever form a family takes; it is an important part of everyone’s life. My family has played an important role in my life. Good family relationships serve as a foundation to interactions with others. Supportive families will help children to thrive. The quality of the family relationship is more important than the size of the family. Making the relationships priority, communication, and providing support for one another is key to developing relationships. Family relationships are what make up our world today; they shape the ways that we see things and the ways that we do things.