Special Educational Needs of Autistic Children - Coursework Example

 Special Educational Needs Introduction Autism has developed into one of the most significant diseases in the modern world. The disease is seen mostly in the case of children in the formative years of their life. The children affected by autism have difficulty in social and communicative behaviors. In addition to this, the children suffer from hearing and speech impairment. These difficulties direct the children to behave indifferently to the society. The scope of autism has increased in the recent years with about 2% of the population suffering from autism. (what is autism, n.d.; Frith, 2003; Pp 1-3 ). To tackle the growth of autism the society has developed Special Educational Needs (SEN) for the children, which will help them to be back in the mainstream society. Children suffering from autism behave distinguishably from other children. It is tough for children with autism to communicate with others and express their feeling by using words. They usually stay away from normal people and they create individual worlds for themselves. Without taking proper help, they cannot communicate with others. This kind of children needs special attention and care from our society. According to the scientists and doctors, autism results from the damage of brain cells that are responsible for the senses and emotions of the humans. The biological theory of autism states there are some abnormalities in the brain of the child due to some reasons, which may cause autism. In some cases, medical treatment of the child can cause autism. Medical treatment has a negative effect on the health of the children. This affects the nervous system of the children, which can cause autism. (Autism, n.d.; Cohen & Bolton, 2004: Pp 26- 32). Special educational needs schools have analyzed autism spectrum disorder in the students. The study has found that there are some critical behaviors among them like behavior barriers, emotional barriers, social barriers and communication barriers. Most of the Special educational needs schools have an approach, which consists of individual behavior management with development in social abilities towards autism children. The schools help to develop some special self-help skills among the students, which is necessary for the growth of the person. They have also introduced speech and verbalization in their curriculum to fill the gap in communication. Every child is special and unique in his or her structure and mental set up. Therefore, they need different learning style. (Autism, n.d.). The paper investigates the intervention strategies used to manage Autistic behaviors and how they can support autistic behavior. Intervention strategies Special educational needs schools are instrumental in the development of the children suffering from autism. The children suffering from autism needs special care to make them adaptive to the environment. The special education schools are useful in training the students for this purpose. (Autism, n.d.) The schools adopt a strategy of specialized training for special groups of students. Special training has made it possible for children suffering from autism to be socially acceptable. Some school’s training also includes behavior supervision, social skills education and communication skills progress. A specialist team consists of a “pediatrician, a pediatric neurologist, a pediatric develop mentalist, a child psychiatrist, a child psychologist, speech and language therapists” (Autism, n.d.). The difficulties faced by the children suffering from autism are varied like speaking disability and hearing impairment. Some trained teachers can help and reduce these difficulties with their special abilities. However, according to the researchers the disease is incurable. There have been measures taken by the special education schools to treat the students with autism. Language therapists teach them how to communicate with others by using some pictures, sign languages. It makes learning much easier and after that treatment, most of the kids learn how to talk. This treatment should be initiated as early as possible to make it possible for the children to be inducted in the mainstream society. (Kids Health, n.d., pp 1-3) The parents of the children play a huge role in shaping the future. Children with autism have special behavioral patterns and they seek attention from the parents. The parents should give special attention to the problem and should avoid time-outs. Time outs look to end the problems with immediate effect. However, this is not sensible in every case. The parents or special teachers should understand their feelings. However, the parents possess the responsibility to cure the behavioral pattern of the children. (Richman, 2006; Pp 22-30). There was a time so many researchers thought that autistic kids could not learn but today from various researches, school experience and growing awareness has proved that these kids are no way inferior to learning. However, they need a special environment where they can learn. The environment of learning starts from home and the amount of support provided by the parents is one of the main factors for the learning of the students. Researchers have devised certain scientific ways of learning which can make the students suffering from autism a part of the mainstream society. The methods have been successful to a great extent in dealing with the growing spate of autism in the society. The methods like the ABA and visual timetable are popular modes for the treatment of the children suffering from autism. Concrete materials are also used by some teachers, which make the students to understand the subject well and have more acceptability between them. Other than this daily method therapy, picture-message communication system and the Meyer-Johnson pictures method are used for the teaching of autistic children. The methods that have made the life of the children with Autism beneficial are described in the following paragraphs. Methods of intervention: TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children) approach has revolutionized the world of specialized teaching. This method revolves around a person’s needs for the skill sets and interest for development. The method does not consist of a single approach but is an amalgamation of the best possible approaches available in the system. In this approach, the main priorities are to understand each individual and autism with intervention on policy building on accessible skills. To understand each individual with his or her behavioral pattern means giving priority to the needs. TEACCH research and experience gives structured teaching method as their top most priority. This TEACCH method gives autistic children an effective and beneficial educational program that helps them in the future to integrate in the mainstream society. The method dwells on the interests of the students and look to make them develop in that field. Many states of the USA has benefitted with the rise of the TEACCH. (Mesibov, Shea & Schopler,2004; Pp 13-36) PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) is an effective communication system for the autism children. It is one of the significant non-verbal communications methods. This method suggests a new concept, known as Pyramid technique. Pyramid method developed by Dr. Andrew Bondy, is a unique teaching method that creates a sound effective learning environment for both the minor and adults suffering from autism or people suffering from related incapacities and rigorous learning injury. The pyramid method is a very systematic method that influences the educators to give shape to every child’s learning environment. PECS is a program suited to the needs of both children and adults. However, this educational method is different for different age group. The children suffering from autism suffers from lower levels of understanding. They tend to understand the subject better when they see the visual implications. PECS has the number of advantages over other techniques of communication of the autism students. In this program, each exchange of picture is obviously deliberate and gladly understood. From the beginning, the children initiate communication and each communication is highly motivating and based on purpose. All the materials regarding PECS are cheap, portable and preparing it is very easy. With the help of PECS, the child gets an effectively infinite group of communicative partners. (Bondy & Frost, 2001; P 103) Visual timetable is also an effective communication tools for the learning of autistic children. The timetable lists the activities of the students according to the proposed time. For better understanding of the students, pictures are used in the timetable. This timetable helps autistic children to get prepared for their morning schools. This timetable consists of the pictures of toilet/bathroom, hands washing, toothbrush, school clothes, breakfast table etc. These types of images are further reinforced by sign language cues if it is helpful for the autistic children. Autistic children and young people with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) are very much uncomfortable with unexpected events like Fire Brigade in the locality or visiting to doctors. So in this case visual timetable could be used as pre-prepared surprise card. It helps autistic children to understand that it symbolizes as a pleasant event. Making a visual timetable is very easy and in visual timetable, gestures and symbols are used as spoken language. Visual timetable provides a highly effective and attractive resource, which can be adapted to suit a wide range of activities and the needs of the individual special child. Most of the autistic teachers support this technique and reports pointed out a tremendous success rate when autism visual supports have been implemented. All the visual supports related to autism like visual timetable, tiny schedules could be found and implemented very easily. Autistic children, students and adults suffering from autistic can now gain more understanding of the world about them with the help of this method. Moreover, the visual timetable has grown in popularity as a tool for the parents of autistic children to give immense confidence to cope up with certain activities and future struggle. (Hewitt, 2005; Pp 65-70) Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is another effective tool to control behavioral patterns in children suffering from autism and other neuropsychological disarrays. ABA starts with behavioral assessment. It ensures the communication between the behavioral intervention and specific behavioral problems. In the behavioral assessment, the first step is the identification of behavioral problems. The next step is to discover the frequency of the problems in the child. Behavioral problem means to find the number of incidence of the behavioral trouble. It may mean how often a child hits his/her siblings. Noting the precursors means the symptoms of behavioral problem. Next thing is the behavioral intervention like behavioral issues like excessive crying or hyperactivity. If an autistic child has behavioral excess then a behavioral intervention has to be chosen to reduce it. In the opposite case, if the individual has a behavioral deficit then a method of behavioral intervention has to be chosen that would increase it. ABA also involves the child in discrete trials where the instructor waits for the response of the child. It also involves incidental teaching where the child is educated through incidents. Prompting the child is another effective way of teaching in the ABA. In that way an appropriate behavior can be learned by ABA. (What is applied behavior analysis, n.d.; Richman, 2005; Pp 23-30) Senses combine with luminosity, noise, aroma, contact and taste. Body balance makes sense in our natural environment. Sensory integration therapy rendered to children with autism is determined by four techniques like Just Right Challenges-Adaptive Response-Active Engagement-Child Directed. In this therapy, a child directly interacts with occupational therapist. Some activities like playing with boxes filled with vegetables (for touch), dancing with music (sound), and spinning on a chair (balance and vision) are performed in this therapy. Most of the children with autism have the difficulty in listening but the research has proved that the sensory method can motivate alteration in the brain. The most positive part in this therapy is that it is not harmful, so each therapist should respond properly to each child with autism. Private occupational therapy is a part of this, which is very expensive. (Healing Threshold, n.d., p-1) Donna Williams From the above paragraphs, it has been observed how autism has affected the lives of the children all over the world. There has been improvement in the methods of teaching for the children suffering from autism. Still, the disease has been affecting the lives of millions worldwide. However, Donna Williams is an example, which can inspire millions of parents around the world who think autism as incurable. Donna Williams, in her childhood, preferred her own world and did not communicate with the society overall. This was primarily due to “a lack of communicative intent.” (Cohen,1998; P 39). According to her, it is important to point out the difference between the involuntary responses of the autistic person and the authentic actions of the persons. The energetic individuals may work towards the development of the everyday life while the low performers will get agitated with the change of the structure of the environment. (Shore, Granden & Rastelli,2006; P 184). Donna Williams faced the problems of autism during her childhood. Her condition was worsened by the immune disorders and scotopic sensitivity. This resulted in the decrease of the ability to process information and the sensory perceptual problems. This caused Donna to have involuntary behaviors like the OCD and the Tourette’s. (Medication and Autism, n.d.). With the help of the teachers and her parents, Donna overcame the problem of autism. Her problem was autism was acknowledged only when she reached the age of 20 as during her childhood the symptoms of autism was not known. However, doctors applied ABA in her case to some extent and were successful. As the benefits of scientific teachings were not available at that time, the teachers applied the best available techniques like assisting in her lessons and attending to the language disorder problems. Donna was successful in averting autism and leading a successful life. Now Donna Williams is a role model for other autistic children. Therefore, millions of children around the world today should take heart from the knowledge that they have the facility to cure themselves. (Donna Williams, n.d., p-1) Concluding remarks Autism has been a major curse to the society and the disease has affected millions of children. The children suffering from autism had problems regarding education and communication. However, with the development of the science and technology, the children have the opportunity to avail the benefits of education. The condition has developed to a certain extent now and there are various examples showing that people suffering from autism integrated into the mainstream society. The case of Donna Williams is an example regarding this fact. This has much to do with the integration of the scientific techniques of teaching students of autism into the conventional schools. The special educational schools are few and not all can access them. Therefore, the mainstream schools play an important function in the abolition of the problem. The various techniques applied in the SEN have been helpful for the children suffering from autism. Some of the techniques are specifically built for the children suffering from autism. For the success of these methods, the presence of Special Educational schools is important. These schools provide the ideal environment where the children learn the essence of the subject scientifically. With the growth of the disease, the Special Educational Schools have also come up in huge numbers. The other methods like the PECS, ABA and the visual timetable can be easily integrated in the mainstream schools. These methods are easy to implement and do not require additional space and environment. However, it requires proper monitoring of the students. The teachers have to look into the students suffering from autism and offer them proper counseling. Visual timetable can be attached in the classes to make them understand about the activities. The teachers can initiate the understanding process of the students by the help of PECS. The environment of the class should be conducive to the children suffering from autism. The class would consist of the normal students and the students suffering from autism. It is essential that the normal students understand the gravity of the situation and work in tandem with the teachers for the benefit of the students with autism. The teachers may use the PECS method or visual timetable method in the class in addition to the normal methods. The teachers may look after the students suffering from autism separately and provide them proper guidance and monitoring. The teachers can use colors referencing for the understanding of the lesson. Children affected with autism are oversensitive to sound, light and number of children present. So prior to visit in schools necessary photographs of nursery should be taken and if they are revealed to the child in the appearance of an image-book it might help the child get better used to. Only education can make a difference for the children affected with autism spectrum disorder. Special Educational Needs (SEN) or Additional Support Needs (ASN) helps children affected with autism by giving specific assistance to the schools and nursery. The rise of the mainstream schools as the centers of learning for the students of autism has revolutionized the world of autism. This process encourages the students to be the part of the mainstream society. This has prompted many conventional schools to arrange classes for the students of autism. Now most of the children on the autism range are skilled in conventional schools. If a child has some special educational needs they may get extra support from school. Therefore, with proper guidance every autistic child will get the education. They need a little help from society and they can also be the part of mainstream world. References 1. Autism, (n.d.), what does Autism mean? Available at http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/brain/autism.html (accessed on March 19, 2010) 2. Autism Educational Method, (n.d.) Available at http://www.autism-resources.com/autismfaq-educ.html (accessed on March 19, 2010) 3. Bondy. A and Frost. L. (2001). A picture’s worth: PECS and other visual communication strategies in autism. Woodbine House. P 103. 4. Hewitt.S.(2005). Specialist support approaches to autism spectrum disorder students in mainstream settings. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Pp 65-70. 5. Richman.S. (2005). Raising a child with autism: a guide to applied behavior analysis for parents. Jessica Kingsley Publications. Pp 23-30. 6. Hearing Thresholds, (n.d.), Sensory integration therapy for Children with autism, available at http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/sensory-integration (accessed on March 19, 2010) 7. Donna Williams, (n.d.), About Donna, Available at http://www.donnawilliams.net/about.0.html (accessed on March 19, 2010) 8. Mesibov.G, Shea.V and Schopler.E (2004) The TEACCH approach to autism spectrum disorders. Springer Publishing. Pp 13-36. 9. Cohen,S and Bolton,P. (2004). Autism: the facts. Oxford University Press. Pp 26- 32. 10. Richman, S. (2006). Encouraging appropriate behavior for children on the autism spectrum. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Pp 22-30. 11. What is applied behavior analysis. (n.d.). Available at: http://rsaffran.tripod.com/whatisaba.html (Accessed on March 16, 2010) 12. What is autism. (n.d.). Action for autism. Available at: http://www.autism-india.org/afa_aboutautism.html (Accessed on March, 16, 2010) 13. Frith, U. (2003). Autism: explaining the enigma. Blackwell Publishing. Pp 1-3. 14. Medication and Autism. (n.d.). Donna Williams. Available at: http://www.donnawilliams.net/medicationandautism.0.html (Accessed on March 16, 2010) 15. Shore.S, Grandin.T and Rastelli. L. (2006). Understanding Autism for dummies. Wiley Publishing. P 184. 16. Cohen.S. (1998). Targeting Autism: what we know, don’t know and can do to help young. University of California. P 39. Read More