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By: Stephanie Laird (Education 200)
INQUIRY QUESTION: How can teachers create learning environments that will maximize the engagement and learning of children with Autism in inclusive classroom communities?
1. What is Autism?
2. Common classroom strategies and how children with Autism respond
3. Boundaries and rules – how to assist rule learning
4. Peer relations as a tool for engagement and interpersonal success
5. What is an inclusive classroom and how will these spaces benefit children with Autism?
I want to improve ASD specific inclusion in...
- My current job as a swim teacher for the past three years
- My future job as a classroom teacher
- My day to day life
- A neurodevelopmental disorder (2021, Johnson)
- A spectrum disorder (2020,Autism Speaks)
- A highly stigmatized and over generalized diagnosis
“When people say they can’t believe I am autistic, they mean it as a compliment. But the comment is really a backhanded insult, rooted in the fact that society defines disabled people as incompetent, inferior, and permanently infantile.” - Lydia X. Z. Brown, 2019
- A very common diagnosis - 1/66 of children in Canada (2018, McBain)
- Not an inherent identity
- Inappropriate responses in communication
- Highly sensitive to change
- Fixated on routine
- Limited (or nonexistent) language and communication skills
-Sensory sensitivity (ie: light, sound, touch, etc.)
(2020, Woodfolk)
- Disorientation with changes - this can sometimes result in inability to be successful in certain environments and/or inability to learn due to fixation on environmental factors.
- Difficulties empathizing with others
- Difficulty Building Friendships (2020, Babb)
And how children with ASD respond
PRO's:
- An affordable intervention that can be practically implemented by parents at home AND by teachers in a school setting
- Predictable activity and environment
- This practice is suggested to enhance story comprehension, emotion knowledge, and reading engagement among preschoolers with autism
CON's:
- Lower levels of engagement than children without ASD
(2020, Lo)
Group work is often threatening and difficult – and particularly frightening when there is sensory overload (ex: loud talking and discussion, flickering lights, etc.). However, research has shown partner work to be a different story. We'll discuss this in Peer Relations.
Children with autism often respond poorly to spontaneous activities because of the unexpected change in routine and sensory overload. Instead...
- Cultivating routine within the classroom
- Attempt continuity (ensure the environment stays the same if activities change)
...not only important for instructional methods, but also as a safety concern for children.
*Children with ASD are not people pleasers – they have common difficulty maintaining a "polite lie", etc.
*Children with ASD seem to have more barriers when learning rules, and have difficulty gleaning them from social context
*Trust bias – Children with ASD are more selective with who they trust. This highlights the importance of relationship and community building as an educator.
(2019, Lu)
- Create predictable environments
- Emphasize clear expectations
- Build critical thinking skills by providing rational
- Practice making safe choices
(2019, Lu) (2021, Babb)
As a tool for engagement and interpersonal success
- Social interactions will likely be a person with ASD's biggest challenge.
- Recent research suggests that intervention can have a positive long term impact on those with ASD - particularly when intervention occurs in adolescent years.
(2020, Babb) (2021, Johnson).
- Studies show that social interaction interventions for adolescents with Autism within public school settings are shown to have a positive change on the social behaviors (Babb, 2020)
- Another study indicates that higher verbal skill is associated with lower ASD communication symptom severity, perhaps suggesting an important area of growth. (Johnson, 2021).
AS TEACHERS WE CAN:
- Encourage one on one interactions (remember - group work can be intimidating. Focus on specific relationship building).
- Foster safe settings that limit sensory overload.
- Cultivate an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion
(Lu, 2019) (Babb, 2020) (Johnson, 2021).
What is it and how will these spaces benefit children with Autism?
An inclusive classroom is a space that values all different kinds of learners, and strives to meet each persons unique needs.
- Teachers in an inclusive classroom must be innovative, and strive for student success academically, socially, and emotionally – for children with autism, we see that these three pillars are clearly linked.
- Creating an inclusive classroom leads to a positive environment for all students including those with special education needs.
- Inclusive classrooms also minimize stigma.
(2020, Woodfolk) (2018, McBain)
- Seek Feedback
- Connect with parents of those with atypical needs
- Read and Research
- Encourage collaboration
- Provide opportunities for autonomy
Thank you for watching!
Stephanie.Laird@student.ufv.ca
Babb, S., Raulston, T. J., McNaughton, D., Lee, J. Y., & Weintraub, R. (2020). The Effects of Social Skill Interventions for Adolescents With Autism: A Meta-Analysis. Remedial and Special Education, 42(5), 343–357. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932520956362
Johnson, C. N., Ramphal, B., Koe, E., Raudales, A., Goldsmith, J., & Margolis, A. E. (2021). Cognitive correlates of autism spectrum disorder symptoms. Autism Research, 14(11), 2405–2411. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2577
Lo, J. Y. T., & Shum, K. K. M. (2020). Brief Report: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of RECALL (Reading to Engage Children with Autism in Language and Learning) for Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51(6), 2146–2154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04692-0
Lu, H., Li, P., Fang, J., & Yi, L. (2019). The Perceived Social Context Modulates Rule Learning in Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(11), 4698–4706. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04174-y
McBain, M. (2018). Diverse Classrooms Require Innovative Educators. BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education, 10(2), 18–22. https://eric-ed-gov.proxy.ufv.ca:2443/?id=EJ1230305
Brown, L. (2019, December 14). Autistic young people deserve serious respect and attention — not dismissal as the pawns of others. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/14/autistic-young-people-deserve-serious-respect-attention-not-dismissal-pawns-others/
Woolfolk, A. E., Winne, P. H., & Perry, N. E. (2020) Educational Psychology 7th Canadian Ed. Pearson Canada Inc. Toronto, ON.
(2020). How we speak about Autism. Autism Speaks. Autism POVs. https://soundcloud.com/autismspeaks/episode-12-how-we-talk-about-autism.