The Use of Visual Supports to Facilitate Transition of Students with Autism - Essay Example

?Case Study Collage Introduction Autism spectrum disorder de d as ASD is a term which was brought about due to the difference in symptoms occurrence in persons suffering from autism. Autism is a disease common to children due to early child brain development. The features of autism may vary from intellectual disability, immune dysfunction, disturbances of the senses, disturbances of normal sleeping habits and other related problems. However, all this features are not all present in a person suffering from autism. These symptoms vary from one person to another. Due to the difference in the features of autism, this disease is considered as a set of variability hence the name autism spectrum disorder. Goals of the study Tracey in this perspective wants to almost achieve what a normal person can achieve. To attend school, Tracey is required to manage time and also be able to complete schoolwork, be able to live with other students and most of all pass in order to secure a job in the competitive job market. For Tracey to live with a school friend, all the people surrounding her should then have the knowledge of what she is suffering from and how to deal with her in case she results to impulsiveness. Supports that Tracy family can provide In this particular case, Tracey’s autism is related to transition problems. Transition basically involves the natural change of tasks and locations; it requires movements and frequent shifts of what a person is doing in a particular place to start a new task either in the same place or in a different place. A person suffering from ASDs such as Tracey has difficulties in shifting attention from one task to another. They also have difficulties in defining a clear flow of activities or are greatly perturbed if a certain routine is disturbed. To help Tracey, her family may use a couple of different transitions strategies which have been widely recommended for persons suffering from ASDs. A transition strategy is a formula which is used to help a person suffering from ASDs to define a flow of activities and consequently participate in those particular activities. These transition strategies may include: minimize the time spent to change activities, reduce the role played by adult prompting, develop habits which are more appropriate during change of activities and taking more part in society and educational outings. Use of these strategies is important since research has shown that most of the school activities comprise of transitions like moving classroom to classroom and the switching of subjects. Tracey’s family may also use other implements in order to enhance her transition ability. A good example is the use of timers. The timer may be useful to Tracey in timing how much time she has in a current activity and how much time she has to move to the next activity. The timer should be clearly visible to Tracey which is an added advantage. In terms of successive tasks, transition schedules should be prepared for Tracey with maximum simplicity in order to be of optimum benefit. A good example is during attendance of varied school activities which include class sessions, tea and lunch breaks and playing time. The schedules should be clearly visible to Tracey. Research has depicted that transition schedules can help a person suffering from ASDs such as Tracey to reduce the time spent during a transition period, minimize the specific challenges which may occur during a transition process and most of all to reduce Tracey’s dependency on her family to prompt her on what to do next. During Tracey’s training, her teachers should assist her with icons, pictures, photos or words which should clearly show where she should be at a particular time in school. For example, Tracey could be given a round object representing the earth to remind her she should be attending a Geography class. An image of where the class should be provided to her so as to remind the place where the classroom will take place. This will also reduce the over reliance on adult dependency during transitions and will also develop an appropriate behavior which Tracey will be undertaking before and during transitions to remind her of the subsequent task that follows. Supports in employment In an employment setting, Tracey may use transition cards, which may be placed at specific points in an office which Tracey is wishing to work in. this will involve Tracey in moving to that specific point to fetch on what successive duty to undertake. If this particular method is to be applied to Tracey’s case, Tracey should be given an item which catches her attention. The item should remind her to go and check the next activity she is supposed to participate in. the item should then match with a certain task for example, the item and task should have the same colour. The task on the transition card should then incorporate the anticipated task which is to be undertaken, and the place it should be held. This method could also be applied at home or at school. Another strategy which can be used to help Tracey is the ‘finished’ box method. Tracey could be given objects which represent various tasks. After completion of every task, Tracey should put the object representing the activity which has already been undertaken in a box thus the name ‘finished’ box. A combination of this strategy with any other strategy has been found to help persons suffering from ASDs during their work time to their free time. Since Tracey is suffering from ASDs, it may be evident that she would prefer to complete a task before moving another. If this is the case, this method would be very appropriate to use. In this case, the incomplete task should be put in a box labeled ‘to be completed later’. As consideration of the method to be used is being thought, certain things which are Tracey’s behavior should be put into consideration. For example, the interest level which Tracey attaches to a particular activity, should influence the strategy to be used. The length of an activity should also influence the transition strategy to be used. The difficultness of a transition should also be put into consideration. The surroundings also should also be checked whether there is noise or other disruptions, which may cause Tracey to resist transition strategies. Clustered placement support Tracey during employment could be placed in a clustered placement meaning that she will not work in seclusion, but will work together with other employees. This may be so to help her in the prompting of activities to be undertaken in order to improve on the overall work done. The cluster also can be used to provide Stacey with a sense of belonging and also to provide her with technical support, which may help her to reduce the time taken in one activity thus not delaying transition routine. Individual placement Support Individual placement during employment pilot’s goal may be to reduce the dependency on peoples prompting Tracey to do an activity. This method also could also be used to reduce the concerns expressed by the other employees about Tracey in the working environment. The less Tracey will rely on other people prompting her on what to do will develop a sequence of transitions which will counteract the ASDs she is suffering from. The individual placement also provides a platform for trace to practice the transition strategies so that her employer can know which strategy is best suited for her. Sheltered placement support Sheltered placement may be applied in Tracey’s case due to environmental factors such as light and noise which may render her to impulsiveness. This may make Tracey resist the transitioning which will be a total failure. The sheltered placement can also be helpful in observing which transition activities are helpful to Tracey, which is not and which are neutral without Tracey feeling rather uncomfortable. The transition activities impact on Tracey’s ASDs also can be observed. Concerns that the community may raise Among the problems or challenges that the community may raise against Tracey is impulsiveness which simply relates to being spontaneous, and some people may associate it to being irresponsible. Also, people may complain on Tracey spending more time in one activity especially during work since many people suffering from ASDs will prefer to complete an activity before moving to another. However with proper education, these problems will be of least concern to the people surrounding (Simpson 163-169). Preferable residence for Tracey In circumstances of residence, Tracey can be best suited to a foster home. This is because all the other alternatives are not quite of much advantage to Tracey’s life. For instance, a group home will provide more prompts by the people around and this will not be good for the transition strategies as discussed earlier. The group home may also be characterized by nois,e which may make Tracey’s transition time be more or she may resist the transitions. In terms of an apartment home, more challenges may elapse and Tracey cannot be able to rejuvenate to her original condition. She is entitled to surveillance in case she needs assistance for transition. Thus, a foster home is the best in the fact that she shall be monitored and looked after since there people there will be specialized to give her maximum support and ensure she achieves her goals. Bibliography Simpson, Dettmer. "The use of Visual Supports to Facilitate Transition of Students with Autism." Focus on Autism and other Developmental Disabilities (2000): 163-169. Read More