Autism
By: Denae Wiley and Heather Gamble
What is Autism?
APA definition:
Clinically significant, persistent deficits in social communication and interactions,
as manifest by all of the following:
Marked deficits in nonverbal and verbal communication used for social
interaction.
Lack of social reciprocity
Failure to develop and maintain peer relationships appropriate to
developmental level.
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by
at least two of the following:
Stereotyped motor or verbal behaviors, or unusual sensory behaviors.
Excessive adherence to routines and ritualized patterns of behavior
Restricted, fixated interests.
Symptoms must be present in early childhood.
Characteristics
Impaired Social Interaction
Deficits in social responsiveness
Babies/toddlers don’t respond normally to being picked
up/cuddled.
Might not show differentiated response to parents, siblings, or
teachers, compared to strangers.
Smile/laugh when something isn’t funny
Might not learn to play normally
Might not develop typical attachment to parents/ friends
App’s to help…
Social Stories Creator
Students are able to create their own stories through the use of
different scenarios which teach vital social skills.
This app is helpful to the teacher and the students.
Characteristics
Impaired Communication
Communicative intent: desire to communicate for social purposes
Mute: use no, or almost no, language.
Speech sound robotic
Echolalia: echoing what they hear
Reverse pronouns
Lack eye contact
App’s to help…
iCommunicate:
Uses flashcards for children with speech impairments.
Allows for communication through various pictures and
sentences.
You can upload personalized photographs/audio for certain
requests or verbal cues.
Characteristics
Repetitive Patterns of Behavior
Stereotyped motor or verbal behaviors: repetitive, ritualistic motor
behaviors.
Ex.) twirling, spinning objects, flapping hands, and rocking
Extreme fascination or preoccupation with objects and a very
restricted range of interests.
Impaired Cognition
Difficulty in coding and categorization of information.
Rely on literal translations
Remember by location in space
Might have exception capabilities in playing music, drawing, or
calculating
App’s to help…
iPrompts-Visual Supports, Schedules and Picture Prompts for
Autism and SPED
Contains a detailed schedule of the day including timers and
alarms.
Contains a variety of choices.
Characteristics
Abnormal Sensory Perceptions
Either hyper-responsive or hypo-responsive to particular stimuli in
environment.
Hyper= overly
Hypo= under
App’s to help…
The Calm Counter- Social Story and Anger Management
Tool
Used as a visual and auditory tool to help calm students down
when they are angry or anxious.
Asperger Syndrome:
Asperger Syndrome is much like Autism.
Children with Asperger Syndrome have symptoms much like
Autistic symptoms just less severe.
There is also an absence of language delay in Asperger
Syndrome.
Interests may border on the obsessive.
Students with Asperger Syndrome want to fit in, but simply
do not know how.
Diagnosis
When? Typically from 6 months - 2 years.
Early signs:
6 months: No big smiles or joyful expressions
9 months: No back-and- forth sharing of sounds, smiles, other facial
expressions.
12 months: No consistent response to own name, no babbling, no
back- and- forth gestures (pointing, showing, reaching, waving)
16 months: No words
24 months: No two-word meaningful phrases
Where are they educated?
Public schools
Through special programs in the public schools
Ex.) TEACCH: employs an approach called Structured
Teaching, which emphasizes a highly structured and predictable
classroom environment and the use of visual learning.
Inclusion in the general education classroom
Self contained classrooms
Resource classrooms
Educational Considerations
Due to the varied symptoms of Autism, it has been fertile
ground for faddish and unproven treatment methods.
As one authority says, “The ASD field is particularly well
known for its willingness to embrace and/or maintain a liberal
tolerance toward unproven and controversial interventions and
treatments. A number of these purportedly effective methods
apparent to have neither empirical nor logical foundation.
Simpson, 2004, p.139)
How will we educate students
with Autism academically?
Through the use of Direct Instruction:
Highly structured, direct approach; use basic principles of
behavioral psychology.
Applied Behavior Analysis: highly structured approach focused on
teaching functional skills and continuous assessment of progress.
Positive reinforcement/rewards for desired behavior
Instruct in the natural setting:
Behavioral psychology is more effective when taught in the natural
settings and with natural interactions by which children normally
learn language and other social skills.
What would this look like in your classroom?
How do you manage behavior?
Many students with autism display highly inappropriate
behaviors, such as biting, hitting, or screaming.
A combination of functional behavioral assessment and
positive behavioral intervention and support may reduce or
eliminate these behaviors.
Functional behavioral assessment (FBA): determining
consequences, antecedents (trigger), and setting events that
maintain such behaviors.
Positive behavioral intervention and support (PIBS): ways
to support positive behavior rather than punishing negative
behaviors.
Earliest Sign of Autism
Did you know that you can detect Autism in infants as
earlier as 2 months of age?
A New York Times article informs readers that a new study
shows that infants who later developed Autism spent less
time looking at people’s eyes as they grew older.
Now lets take a deeper look at the new study:
http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000002543364/sp
otting-autism-in-an-infants-gaze.html
Resources:
http://www.defyingthespectrum.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/04/AutismAwareness2013FACTS.jpg
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002494/
Hallahan, Daniel P, James M. Kauffman, and Paige C. Pullen.
Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education. Boston,
MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2009. Print
http://educationnext.org/autismandtheinclusionmandate/
http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000002543364/spotting
-autism-in-an-infants-gaze.html
http://www.autism-society.org/about-autism/aspergers-syndrome/