Autism student - Book Report/Review Example

Download file to see previous pages This "Autism student" essay describes different theories, which are tightly tied to the autism. It is common in various academic disciplines that there exists controversies over theories and they frequently assist in fuelling and promoting a healthy and competitive environment amongst the proponents of various theories. This, in turn, gives rise to new fields of information and opens new avenues of thinking. However, here, autism is not at all like any other academic disciplines and does not accept or reject the controversy over theories. However, there is a good chance that these theories lead to more studies and researched which may bring about the developments in treating the children with autism (Bauman, 1993; Biklen, 1990 and 1997; Gernsbacher et al., 2007).
The Theory of Mind (TOM) has been one of the special applications towards autism which has also provided an extension to the cognitive abilities. These theories have further given rise to the instructional efforts which take into account the communication and cognitive deficiencies of the students with autism and teach them to recognize body language and expressions and emotions. According to the researchers, the children suffering from autism find it difficult to relate the actual state of affairs and the mental states of others. Therefore, one of the target interventions for the children with autism include the training of social skills, and includes various techniques such as role playing, coaching, taking turns, conversation menus and chaining behaviors. Besides this, there is facilitated communication (FC) which promotes the communication in such a manner that the student with autism is supported physically by a nondisabled person, who takes him by arm or hand, and the student write the message. According to DSM IV (1994), one of the numerous criteria for autism is the abnormal responses to the sensory stimuli. These students either possess hyposensitive or hypersensitive auditory, kinesthetic or visual sensory inputs (Dalal, Sivakumar, 2009). An autistics response towards these sensory inputs could involve their activeness at the point where the sensory stimuli are directed towards the brain. Thus, according to the sensory theory, the main problem lies at the processing or input level. The behavior problems connected with the sensory demands can be lessened by the sensitivity of parents and teachers towards the student's sensory stimulus. There are therapists that possess the training to assist the autistics students develop their basic abilities through providing them the stimulation activities. The special case of sensory based treatment includes the audit integration training which, according to some proponents, cures the unusually acute hearing problems of the autistic students. This technique enables the children to listen to music with the help of headphones, and is a 10 days' therapy. AIT is performed in six ways which include The Berard, the Tomatis, the walkman, the stheli, the clark and the disk methods. All ...Download file to see next pagesRead More