Writer’s Memo
It took me a long time to find sources, many sources deal with my topic but not
many fit my research question. I did an initial search in the VCU library database and
found some sources, but during class at the library I found terms that narrowed my
search. I was unsatisfied with my electronic sources so I went to the Cabell library to find
some text sources. I also requested books at the library on MCV campus but did not have
time to retrieve. I drafted this essay by loosely outlining my paragraphs; only some of
them included citations. I used the peer review as a guide to make corrections before
adding the rest of the substance to the essay. My biggest strength was in the flow of the
paragraphs but it is weaker in the synthesis. I could have added more detail and analysis.
I am least proud of not finding the answer I was looking for in my research. I admitted it
in my conclusion but I also note how I found a lot of other interesting information and
stories about autistic children who found ways to communicate. If I had more time to
revise I would try to incorporate a better source or have a stronger analysis of my
sources.
Sofia Roman
February 15, 2014
Focused Inquiry 112
Melissa Johnson
: Autism Research Narrative
When I moved to Potomac, Maryland five years ago, I lived on a small street with
nine houses on it. Across the street from me was a girl, Maeve, who was in my grade and
soon became a good friend of mine. Her brother, Cormac, was almost as old as she was,
only 10 months apart. But her brother was different. He could not talk. He could not
communicate. As he reached puberty, he would burst into fits of rage, sometimes leaving
holes in the wall with his head. He found solace in Sesame Street and on the swing set in
the back yard, but if the gate were not locked he would wander the neighborhood.
Eventually, his temper became too much for the family to handle and Cormac attended
boarding school for children with severe disabilities. Every method of communication
attempted by Maeve’s parents were unsuccessful; whether it was a book of pictures or a
specialized iPad, Cormac could not communicate with the world around him. November
of 2010, Cormac came home from boarding school with a fever. Maeve’s parents stayed
up all night, taking turns watching after him. He was left alone for about an hour, and
when they returned they found Cormac dead. It was not their absence, but the fact that
Cormac had a staph infection. It was also speculated that he had a seizure, which is a
common affliction that people with autism may experience. Since he could not
communicate, he could not express his symptoms and his illness was not properly
diagnosed. Seeing one of my best friends in so much pain after losing a brother she had
an endless amount of patience for was devastating. I began to wonder what Cormac’s
world was like; what he saw and heard and what made him so upset sometimes. Why
couldn’t we reach out to him? Why couldn’t he reach out to us? I questioned how society
could teach kids like Cormac to speak.
Not all autistic children and teens are like Cormac; they vary on a spectrum that
ranges from high functioning to low functioning. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have
certain deficits, and as listed by the DSM-IV, these are communication, socialization,
restricted interests, sensory integration, and behavior. Low functioning children have a
low IQ and do not have the basic skills needed to take care of themselves or to
communicate basic needs. High functioning autistic children, such as children with
Asperger’s syndrome, do not have the same delay in language as most autistic kids but
they do have difficulties understanding jokes, sarcasm, humor, body language, and facial
expressions. In some cases, “the child focuses on narrow or restricted interest, such that
he/she begin to lose perspective of the world around them,” (Llaneza et al. 2010) which
opens the door for an autistic child to excel in a specific area and become labeled as a
savant. It is important to keep the spectrum in mind when pondering effective methods of
communication, and I still held the question of the best way for autistic children to find
their voice.
I started digging for answers in the scholarly article “Communication,
interventions, and scientific advances in autism: A commentary,” published Elsevier’s
journal of physiology and behavior and written by Danielle C Llaneza, Susan V. Deluke,
Myra Batista, Jacqueline N. Crawley , Kristin V. Christodulu , and Cheryl A. Frye . It is
also published in the National Institue of Health Public Access online library. The
primary author works in the Department of Psychology at University of Albany, State
University of New York. Communication in low functioning autistic children can be
mediated through a book of pictures to which the child must point to, called the picture
exchange communication system (PECS). There is also an electronic voice output device
called the DynaVox or DynaMate (Llaneza et al. 2010). Educating children with autism,
and getting them to break out of their shell requires various methods of teaching and
usually need to be specialized depending on how the autistic child will learn and retain
the information most comfortably. Using repetitive methods or methods that incorporate
one’s restricted interest will keep the autistic child in their comfort zone and keep their
attention. I learned that a critical component to beckoning communication in autistic
children is to teach them joint attention skills from a young age. Joint attention is
challenging yet critical because it “ involved actively sharing attention rather than
passively looking at what others are attending to. The critical point is sharing awareness
or sharing an attitude,” (Llaneza et al. 2010). Having a grasp of joint attention will enable
the child to communicate needs and wants.
Further research on joint attention skills was conducted and recorded in a
scholarly article in Elsevier’s Journal of Communication Disorders. “The emergence of
nonverbal joint attention and requesting skills in young children with autism” by Tanya
Paparella, Kelly Stickles Goods, Stephanny Freeman, and Connie Kasari describes three
different studies in which different methods for assessing joint attention skills are
presented to lower functioning children with ASD relative to children with typical
development (TD). Paparella has a doctorate degree in psychiatry and has dedicated more
than 20 years to autism research, specifically in child development, and she is currently
the associate clinical professor in the division of child psychiatry at the University of
California Los Angeles. Joint attention skills are crucial because it is a step closer to
developing language and basic social skills. These skills include pointing, coordinated
looks, and giving. While TD children are reported to develop these skills as early as
around 12 months chronical age, children with ASD will develop these skills 17 to 30
months mental age (Paparella et al. 2011). Trying to teach a child whose mental age and
real age have a significant gap requires using alternative and simplified methods of
teaching. The goal of the study was to measure exactly how joint attention skills differ in
children with ASD compared to normal children, and findings show that “They found
that two-thirds of their sample acquired skills in the following atypical order: follow
behavior (as measured by imitation)  share attention (measured by coordinated joint
looks)  direct behavior (measured by pointing or giving to request)  follow attention
(measured by following another’s point or gaze) direct attention (measured by
showing, pointing or giving to share attention),” (Paparella et al. 2011). Now that I
understand that learning gap associated with ASD, I decided to look into what methods of
communication there are for higher functioning children who learn in classrooms and are
somewhat integrated in the public school system.
When learning to communicate on a more complex scale, in an academic
environment, more obstacles ensue. It is possible to push ADS students reach their full
potential and cooperate in a more social atmosphere. Even higher functioning ADS
students face challenges communicating in the classroom. Paula Kluth and Patrick
Schwarz have Ph. D.’s and use their experiences as special education teachers to
construct the book “Just Give Him the Whale”: 20 Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of
Expertise, and Strengths to Support Students with Autism. Instead of focusing on the
student’s weakness and difficulties, the book encourages the educator and or parent to use
the student’s obsession or passion as a driving force to engage them in the lesson. In the
past, teachers who do not understand ASD will punish a student for harping on their
interest instead of integrating the interest in their lesson. It is true that “interest can
sometimes be limiting, but they can also be freeing, calming, motivating, captivating, and
inspiring,” and “ educators could reframe fascinations… and see them as potential tools,”
(Kluth and Scharz 2008). A break through in communicating that struck me the most
was a report of an 8th grade student, Devon, who used an electronic communication
device but was often unresponsive and disconnected. However, when his teacher
programmed new messages into his device, which pertained to his love of monster
movies, he became more eager to communicate even with peers outside of the classroom
or in practice with his therapist. Therefore, the book suggests to “use a student’s area of
fascination as you introduce a new augmentive communication system. If you are trying
to teach new sign language vocabulary, tie those words into a story featuring a favorite
thing. If you are trying to introduce a new communication device, program language into
the device that relates to the students passion and consider adding phrases the student
may find amusing or motivating,” (Kluth and Scharz 2008). I find it interesting that these
educators believe connecting with individual students personally can bring on
communication, and I believe it is more effective to teach this way.
My first source, “Communication, interventions, and scientific advances in
autism: A commentary,” did not have as much in depth information as I would have
liked. However, it gave me insight to the basics of the disorder. My second source, “The
emergence of nonverbal joint attention and requesting skills in young children with
autism,” provided scientific data but the data was collected in a more structured and
forced environment rather than more naturalistically. It was interesting how it focuses
specifically on joint attention skills, an important communication skill which children
with ASD lack across the spectrum. Although my third source, “Just Give Him the
Whale,” may not have had much factual evidence, it gave me the most insight as to the
learning experiences of children with an ASD and provided many personal experiences
and challenges. The first source relies the most on ethos, while the second gets its
credibility from logos. The last source uses pathos in highlighting the challenges that
autistic kids had learning and how they overcame those difficulties. I found the book to
be truly inspiring, and gaining the perspective of multiple children with an ASD helped
me understand how they approach learning situations and communication with others.
All in all, I feel as though I’ve hit a wall in my research. I continue to search for
more books and articles with strategies and information that better satisfy my research
topic. Looking at scientific studies may not always yield a fruitful result because these
children are being put in forced situations or the task at hand may not be comprehended
as well as it would if they were studied on a more personal level. It is impossible to
decipher the inner workings of an autistic individual, but it is possible to bring them into
our world and help them integrate with society as well as they can. I am familiar with the
challenges that autistic people live and cope with, but communicating with lower level
autistic people vary on a personal level. I still hold many questions as to what triggers
communication in a child lost in their own world and I wonder what the world is like
through their eyes. As much as I wish I understood more of Cormac’s world, at least I
have a better understanding of what hindered him all throughout his life.
Works Cited
Llaneza, D. C., DeLuke, S. V., Batista , M., Crawley, J. N., Cristodulu, K. V., & Frye, C.
A. (2010).Communication, interventions, and scientific advances in autism: A
commentary. (Master's thesis), Available from Elsevier. (0031-9384).
Paparella, T., Goods, K. S., Freeman, S., & Kasari, C. (2011). Communication,
interventions, and scientific advances in autism: A commentary. (Master's thesis),
Available from Elsevier. (0021-9924/).
Kluth, P., & Schwarz, P. (2008). Just give him the whale. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks
Publishing Co.