Autism in a Child at School - Essay Example

?Autism in a Child at School 3416 words Autism in a Child at School Introduction School can be particularly hard for children suffering from any form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or simply put, autism. The condition does not only poise a great challenge to children suffering from it, but also the parents and teachers who handle these special children on a daily basis. These children are often wrongly dismissed by many teachers in ordinary schools as having normal behavioural problems and are not given the special kind of treatment and education that they need. Instead, they are treated just like other kids in most schools leading to poor performance on their part. Many a times, private schools refuse to admit children with autism giving reason that they are ill equipped to deal with autism in the classroom. The handful of schools that admit these special needs children are very expensive and have a limited capacity, meaning they can only accept a limited number of children (Cowly, 2010). It is therefore the mandate of teachers in special needs education and parents with an autistic child to ensure that they acquire quality education and stand a fair chance at life after school, and this is the subject of this research paper. The research discusses in depth different aspects of autism in children in school and is divided into different sections for comprehensiveness. First, it discusses the legal definition of special education needs. The second section talks about the role of the learning support worker/ teaching assistant regarding supporting an autistic child in school. Third, Workplace behaviour policy and procedure in schools that will ensure creation of quality environment for supporting children with autism in schools is discussed. This is followed by a section on inclusion / exclusion and equal opportunities for autistic children in school and in life after school. The fifth section of the repot dwells on the possible strategies for dealing with autism in children at school, particularly in relation to behaviour theory. The final section is a conclusion, which is a recap of the key issues discussed in the report and recommendations on the best way forward in dealing with autism in children in school. Special Education Needs Special Needs Education refers to the process of providing education to students with special needs in the best possible way that recognizes and addresses the individual needs and differences of the students. The achievement of the objectives of this delicate task requires planning of individual and carefully monitored teaching procedures, carefully designed teaching materials and equipment, well thought out settings and any other measures that will help children with special needs to achieve the required level of confidence and self esteem to succeed in school work (Haddon, 2004). There is general agreement between professionals and parents that it takes a lot of hard work to help children with autism get the best out of the classroom. This is because every child with an autism spectrum disorder is unique, with various characteristics and styles of learning. This therefore requires an education curriculum that is wide enough to accommodate the whole spectrum. Effort must therefore be made to create these conditions that are not available in ordinary classrooms. Students with ASD will benefit more in an environment with additional educational services like use of unconventional teaching methodologies; use of technology developed for their aid and auxiliary facilities such resource centers. These measures are what set special education apart from general education, which is the type of learning in education centers for normal children. Special education has in the past been used to refer to a special instruction set or approach meant to enhance the learning process of special need children who are slow learners. Children with autism have however shown a high level of intellectual giftedness that usually surpasses that of ordinary children. To harness this potential to its maximum, different educational programs and specialized education techniques have been adopted. There is also a paradigm shift in most developed countries including the United Kingdom to alter teaching methodologies and centers to serve a recommended number of children for effective personal attention. Another need of special education is integration with ordinary children from as early as possible to reduce stigma and enhance personal and academic development for children with autism in schools. After creating an enabling learning environment for children with autism, there is need to develop effective approaches or strategies that will help provide education the right way to children with autism. Several approaches have been identified and implemented, depending on the amount of contact children with autism will have with other children. These include; inclusion, mainstreaming, segregation and exclusion. These will be discussed in detail in sections that follow. Whichever approach that a learning centre may decide to implement, the learning process should be research based, goal oriented and guided by the children themselves. The Role of the Learning Support Worker/ Teaching Assistant Regarding Supporting an Autistic Child in School The United Kingdom’s National Autistic Society puts the number of people affected with autism in the UK at slightly over half a million. Of this number, a huge percentage is made up of children who need help in pursuit of their education. However, only a very small number of these children ever get the help that they need. School can be particularly hard for children suffering from ASD because of a number of reasons; some have difficulties relating to communication, some suffer from sensory sensitivity and a vast majority of them lack social skills and therefore relate poorly with other children (Johnson et al, 1992). The good news is that there is plenty that teaching assistants and other learning support staff can do to help support autistic children in school. The kind of help that one can render depends on the level of knowledge and experience that one has in dealing with autistic children, and the challenges that affect every child individually since autism is unique in every child. It is therefore important that teachers and support staff have a proper understanding of the difficulties that children with autism face. These include; communication with teachers, other children and support staff, following classroom regulations and instructions, proper conduct and lack of concentration. The kind of help teaching and support staff can offer is broadly divided into two; classroom strategies, to help within the classroom and the playground strategies meant to help children with autism to cope outdoors. The following section discusses these strategies into detail. First, to help improve communicate with autistic children , teachers should make sure they have the child’s attention before giving instructions to make them aware that someone is talking to them. Simple things such as a tap on the shoulder, calling the child’s name, going very close to the child or use of an agreed upon signal to gain their attention can help engage a child’s attention before giving them instructions. Another measure to aid communication will be use of simple language, symbols and visual cues as this will make instructions easier to understand and follow. Research has indicated that use of visual information is up to twice more useful for children with autism than the use of just spoken word. Second, the teaching assistants should endeavour to create an ideal environment that is conducive for learning. Children suffering from autism will profit more from a classroom that is distraction free and quiet. As mentioned earlier, autistic children have sensory issues and too much movement, bright colours and noise may be just too much for most of them to cope up with. On the same breath, teachers using pictures as teaching aids should avoid using complicated and brightly coloured pictures as these will pose a challenge to children with autism. Third, teaching assistants should formulate consistent classroom regulations to establish boundaries and set what is expected from them and how they should conduct themselves in the classroom. The teachers should also ensure that these rules are explained to the children and that they understand them. On the same note, the consequences for breaking the rules should also be known to apply to the whole class. Research has shown that breaks where good conduct is acknowledged and good behavior reinforced rather than punishment helps greatly to improve discipline in children with autism. Lastly, it is important that the teaching assistants go out of their way to Spend time with the autistic children to develop their social skills and help them interact well with other understand other people. They can spend time reading stories and teaching them how to interact with each other and other aspects of social life such as basic hygiene. It is also important for the teaching assistants to teach play skills to children with autism. Other measures that learning support workers and teaching assistants can take to overcome challenges that children with autism may face in the playground include; imparting to autistic children useful playground skills like turn-taking, understanding and obeying game rules and negotiation as a means of conflict resolution in case disagreements occur. Behaviour Policy and Procedure in Special Needs Schools According to The Thames Valley School (TVS) Behaviour Policy and Procedures issue of April 2013(Policy number TVS 001), Behaviour refers to functional and communicative actions of an individual, which are meaningful since they achieve desired goals for an individual. Children with autism have impaired communication and social skills, a lack of empathy, under or over sensitivity to sensory stimuli and low self-esteem. The Thames Valley School has incorporated several models such as SPELL, SCERTS and TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication Handicapped Children) to provide a visual structure that enables children with autism to have a better understanding of their environment, and what they need to do in any given situation so as to achieve independence (Wolffe, 2010). The guideline adopted by TVS clearly stipulates the roles and responsibilities of every member of the school, from pupils to support staff, teaching assistants and administrators. The TVS behavior policy and procedure is governed by the following principles; an understanding that challenging behaviour has an intention to communicate, a duty to keep safe the autistic child concerned and other people that work around him or her, commitment to removing all forms of harassment, discrimination, and bullying and creation of an environment characterized by equality for all children and staff. The Thames Valley School also recognizes the right of an individual to make independent choices and express themselves freely. In addition, TVS advocates a non aversive approach to support behaviour, elimination of punishment and negative reinforcements as a way of correcting wrong doing. Lastly, TVS supports development of emotional regulation skills involving the use of such strategies like SCERTS and emotion thermometers (Gross, 2009). Inclusion / Exclusion and Equal Opportunities Special needs schools use different approaches in provision of education services to children with autism. Depending on how much contact children with autism have with non autistic children, these approaches can be classified as inclusion and exclusion, and several other intermediaries of these two approaches. Inclusion When applying this approach, students with autism spend all or at least more than half of their school day with other students who do not have special educational needs. Most education institutions use inclusion only for selected group of students with just moderate special needs because it demands modification of the curriculum to some extent. This approach has been lauded by experts in the field of ASD management as the best practice. Students with autism may periodically leave regular classes to attend specifically specific classes tailored for them in resource rooms or to receive counseling or services that require equipment that may prove destructive to the rest of the class, for example speech therapy or rehabilitation counseling. (Smith, 2007) Exclusion Exclusion refers to an education procedure in which a student does not receive instructions from any school. Historically, students suffering from autism have been left out of many schools. Statistics by the NSA indicates that exclusion still affects about 23 million children with autism globally, with a he number of these cases in poor developing countries. Exclusion also is applied when an autistic child has been admitted into a hospital or is placed under house arrest by the justice department. In such cases, children with autism may receive individual or group instruction. Students who have been suspended or expelled from school are not considered for exclusion. All in all, children with autism should be offered equal opportunities like any other child to realize their full potential, academic or otherwise. However, in pursuit of this, it is important that children with autism are not excluded from the rest of the class. Inclusion should instead be practiced since it will greatly benefit all parties concerned. The goal of inclusion is that ensure each child is equally valued as a member of the school culture. Children with autism benefit from learning in a normal classroom and their peers also benefit from exposure to autistic children with diverse talents. Behavior Theory for Dealing with Autism in Children at School It is clear that no two children suffering from autism behave in the exact same manner. This behavior al difference can be attributed to brain structure differences. There is a tendency to describe a person as either having autism or not. However, upon close examination of the research findings of qualities that characterize ASD, the boundaries are no longer clear. Autism is usually considered a mental illness, though symptoms have been found to vary greatly from case to case. As knowledge and diagnoses of autism increases with time, the causes of autism remain largely unknown making the search for a cure a particularly daunting task. Research has shown that behavior linked with autism is mostly attributed to acute variations in structures of the brain present in all humans. There is however consistency in the symptoms among people diagnosed with autism, and a steady increase in the number of children being diagnosed with autism. Statistics reveal an increase from 1 to 166 cases in 10,000 births from 1980 to 2003. Certain experts attribute this increase to increased awareness of the disease among the masses. This increase in the number of cases diagnosed in a year has led to increased research as to what causes the condition. There is a general belief that autism is caused by a genetic disorder. There are studies pursuing the possibility of a gene that codes for a peptide hormone may have a premature codon in people, a possible cause for autism. Generally, the brain of an autistic person has been found to have noticeable differences from that of a non autistic person, including having an increased brain volume. It is still unclear the exact genes that are responsible for these differences, especially since there must be a large number of genes that code for the structures of the brain. This possibility for multigenic cause of autism is responsible for the wide range of symptoms (Knott et al, 2003). Although research strongly links autism to genes, outside factors are also believed to influence its occurrence in an individual. One contentious theory is based on the existence of the preservative thimerosal in vaccines given to infants. It argues that this chemical is responsible for the recent and dramatic increase in cases of autism in children. This theory advocates that the preservative contains toxic quantities of ethyl mercury, which can lead to brain damage. This theory has been fought by health officials who say that the levels of ethyl mercury present in childhood vaccines cannot cause autism. According to a study performed by The World Health Organization, there was a rise in rates of autism in Denmark after the additive was removed from vaccines and a CDC follow up report found no difference in cases of autism among children with different exposure to the additive. Recent study has however shown that thimerosal affected production of an essential enzyme. Gold salts have been shown to have some success in removal of mercury though researchers are undecided on whether to test it on children with autism (Thomas et al, 1977). The other theory suggests that childhood diseases may be linked to autism and other mental conditions. These diseases have effect on the brain leading to mental symptoms that characterize autism. Preventive treatment would suffice in the management of autism were this theory true. Antibiotics have also been found effective in the treatment of autism since they affect coding of genes responsible for cause of autism. However, these two theories remain contentious. The real cause of autism remain unknown although research has shown genetic orientations are responsible in part. It also remains largely unknown what brain structures are responsible for autistic behavior characteristics. Even though a cure for autism has never been attained, research has shown the possibility of using behavior therapy as a means of dealing with autism in children in school. This is the subject of discussion in the next section. Behavior Theory Behavior theory is a relatively new conception in dealing with autism. . It comes from the idea that behaviors, no matter how confusing or challenging, are understood from observing, keeping records of those observations, and an analysis. Once understood, the behavior can be modified to meet the needs and desires of the person whose behavior is at stake. Applied Behaviour Analysis is one way of dealing with autism in children. Behavior specialists they are usually brought in as consultants to find out why a child with autism is behaving in a particular way and further make recommendations on the best way to change the undesirable behavior to become what is desired. In the past, specialists may have med undesirable recommendations that included punishments but today there is general agreement that punishment is wrong and useless for most part (Lindon et al, 2012). This change in approach has been witnessed as a result of increased enlightenment about autism, with organizations such as The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) in Florida, United States. Such organizations accredit qualified people with diplomas, bachelors and masters degrees in behavior analysis. A number of universities also offer degree majors in behavior analysis and management. Above all, specialists and other people working in the area of behavior management have taken the right courses and gained experience in the field as a result of working with autistic children over a long period of time. Most of the time, parents and teachers are challenged on how to best manage the adverse behavioural traits exhibited by autistic children. These traits may include; spinning, hitting things on the ground, head banging, kicking, and dashing in random directions. Autistic children may also devise uncommon ways to avoid doing whatever they dislike doing such as humming and hiding under the table. For the average teaching assistant or parent, it's hard to know how to deal with such behavior while also taking care of other children as well, or performing household chores in the case of parents. This is where qualified behavior analysts come in (Sue, 2005). The responsibility of the behavior specialist is to observe the environment of a particular setting, the activities in that environment, and the child with autism so as to gather information about what causes the difficult behaviors in the child. He or she then should suggest suitable changes and other measures that should be taken to help restore the situation to the required state. These measures could range from use of behavior charts and stickers to motivational prizes for students with good behavior and a change of environment to a more suitable one. The services of a specialist are essential in provision of a set of tools to improve outcomes, manage behaviors, and make life easier for children with autism, their teaching assistants and parents. In summary, adopting proper lighting conditions, use of a visual schedule and provision of extra warning time before engaging autistic children can greatly improve the lives of all children affected with ASD (Lindon et al, 2012). Conclusion Dealing with autism in children in school is a daunting task that requires unrelenting support from parents, teaching assistants, support staff, autism specialists and government agencies as well. Whether an institution decides to adopt inclusion or exclusion in its approach to educate autistic children, the most important thing to do is avail an ideal environment and give equal opportunities for them to maximize their potential. Lastly, research must be accelerated to find the real cause of autism so as to create clinical solutions to manage the condition in the future. References Cowly, S. (2010) Getting the Buggers to behave, fourth revised edition. Continuum, London, Gross, J. J. (2009) Handbook of Emotion Regulation, Guildford press, Guildford. Haddon, M. (2004) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night -Time, Vintage London. Johnson, C. et al (1992) “Attributions For Hyperactive And Aggressive Child Behaviours Social Cognition” 10 ( 3) 255-70 Knott, F. and Dunlop, A-W. (2007). “Developing Social Interaction and Understanding: A Resource for Working with Children and Young People with Autism. London: The National Autistic Society. 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