Autism and Inclusion
Betty Krygsheld
EDSP6644
Seattle Pacific University
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Cher
What is autism?
Autism is one of 5 disabilities classified
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as the Autism Spectrum Disorders. (ASD)
•
Autism
•
Asperger syndrome
•
Rett syndrome
•
Childhood disintegrative disorder
•
Pervasive developmental disorder
These disorders involve varying degrees of problems
with communication skills, social interactions, and
repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior.
Autism is characterized by :
1.Social withdrawal symptoms such as
•Showing little interest in making friends
•Preferring to spend time alone
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•Having difficulty showing empathy
• Showing little response to smiles or eye contact
2. Impairment in communication symptoms such as
•Speech developing slowly or not at all
•Inability to initiate or sustain conversation
•Repeating words or phrases (echolalia)
•Inability to generalize. Speech is interpreted literally
•Having unusual intonation, rate and volume of speech
3. Often but not always have unusual behavior patterns such as
•Repetitive body movements—such as twirling, hand-flapping, rocking
•Restricted range of interest. Attachment to objects
•Resistance to change in routine
4. Low scores on IQ tests
•Some researchers suggest that individuals with autism display cognitive
deficits. (Hallahan, Kauffman, Pullen, 2009)
• Other researchers suggest that individuals with autism achieve average
or even superior scores on a test that taps a person's ability to infer rules
and to think abstractly about geometric patterns.
“Intelligence has been underestimated in autistics. Autistic people solve
problems and deploy neural resources in unusual ways, which are poorly
understood and might contribute to problems with IQ tests.”
(Mottron, 2007)
Inclusion and Autism
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Students with autism are increasingly being placed in general
education “inclusion” settings (Boutot, Bryant 2005)
Proponents of full inclusion suggest that the least restrictive
environment, as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (1997), is always the general classroom for all
children and youth with disabilities, including those with autism
spectrum disorders (ASD).
Proponents for full inclusion suggest that
•Students receive a better, or at least no worse, score on cognitive
tests if they stay in the general classroom ((Vaughnn, Moody, &
Schrumm, 1998).
•Inclusive education for children with autism increases social
integration
•Having reciprocal relationships with peers is key to a child’ social
emotional and even cognitive development. (Scheuermann & Webber
2002)
•Research suggests that students with autism in inclusive settings are
accepted, visible, and members of peer groups (Boutot, Bryant 2005)
•The presence of typically developing children was significantly
associated with decreased autistic behavior as compared with the
presence of other children with autism (Levy, Kim, Olive 2006)
Cautions concerning inclusion and students with autism
•Research with students with autism in inclusive contexts has found
that there are positive outcomes for many students with autism in
inclusive settings if the required supports are in place.(Harrower and
If a school fails to provide adequate support, the outcomes may
be detrimental to student with autism.
Dunlap, 2001)
Caution regarding inclusion
•Full inclusion as a policy, explicitly and implicitly discourages
the development of specialized approaches, while the unique
characteristics of students with autism make some level of
specialization essential. Transition is particularly difficult for students
with autism and must be proactively managed. (Mesibov and Shea, 1996)
•Autism is a largely heterogeneous disability with regard to
function. (Dunlap & Burton-Pierce 1999)
The characteristics of the individual student would determine the
level and intensity of the support he needs.
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Students with autism need a variety of interventions to
be successful in the inclusive classroom
•Social interventions
•Communication interventions
•Behavioral interventions
•Academic intervention
Social Skill Interventions
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•Social Stories are relatively short, straightforward descriptions of social
situations, specifically detailing what an individual might expect from the
situation and what may be expected of him. However, there is substantial
variation in their use, and research into their effectiveness has been limited.[
It is not known whether they are effective.[
•Example—
Lining Up
At school, we sometimes line up.
We line up to go to the gym, to go to the library, and to go out to recess.
Sometimes my friends and I get excited when we line up, because
we’re going someplace fun, like out to recess.
It is okay to get excited, but it is important
to try to walk to the line. Running can cause accidents, and my friends or I could get hurt.
I will try to walk to
the line.
•Because of a wide variance in the way social stories are used, the
research on the effectiveness of social stories is limited. (Frederickson,
2006).
• A recent review article found that the limited studies available showed
generally positive results, and concluded that the approach is
promising. (Healing Thresholds, 2008)
•Social stories is an intervention recommended by the National
Education Association (2006).
•The goal of social stories is to help students identify their most
difficult stressors and appropriate strategies for reducing their stress or
anxiety levels.
•Social stories encourage self-monitoring of and reducing students’
levels of stress, anxiety, or sensory stimulation.
Click on the link below to access information on availability of social
Inclusion-friendly strategies to facilitate social skill
achievement (National Education Association, 2006).
•Rehearse skills needed for appropriate social behavior such as
conversations.
•focus should include maintaining eye contact during conversations,
learning social greetings, and maintaining conversation.
•Practice newly learned social skills with puppets or adults before
encouraging students to use them in unstructured environments such
as recess.
•Provide explicit instruction about conversation etiquette.
•Teach students to self- monitor their stress and anxiety level.
•Use a tension gauge. Teach students to place an arrow by the level
that shows how they feel.
•Students become more aware of their stress level.
•Students are learning to communicate the stress in an acceptable
manner.
Communication Interventions
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For students who are nonverbal or have little verbal ability
•Augmentative and Alternative Communication –This is a
form of communication used in place of (to augment)
speech—With autistic individuals, a picture board is often
used. The goal of AAC is to teach individuals to initiate
speech using an alternative to vocal speech
•The research for this intervention has not proven to be valid
since the scope of individuals used in the research is too narrow
to be generalized (Randle (2005)
•Students appeared to know how to use the AAC methods for
communicating , appear to make significant improvements in
communication, but fail to use it outside the training setting.
•In a general education classroom a special education teacher
would need to facilitate its use.
Inclusion-friendly strategies to facilitate communication
National Education Association (2002).
•Pair verbal instructions with visual cues. Visual instructions can be
pictures, or if the student is verbal and literate they can be written down
•Identify verbally and visually when transitions will occur. Write
the schedule for the day out. If the student is nonverbal, use
pictures.
• Provide visual supports for the lesson’s essential questions.
Many people with autism are visual thinkers. (Temple Grandin 2002)
•Avoid long strings of verbal instructions. Give only 1-2
instructions at a time. If the student is verbal and reads, the
steps can be written down. Highlight each step. If the
student is nonverbal, use pictures.
“People with autism have problems with remembering the
sequence. If the child can read, write the instructions down on
a piece of paper. I am unable to remember sequences.”(Temple
Grandin 2002)
More inclusion-friendly strategies for
communication
•Model procedures, expectations, thinking strategies, or
directions.
•Pre-teach new concepts and content vocabulary to students.
This step helps reduce the anxiety that students with autism feel
when a transition must be made instruction.
• If possible tell a student before an unusual occurrence in the
classroom.
Autistic children do not like change. In addition many individuals
are extremely sensitive auditory. Sirens, bells, and assemblies
may all cause stressful reactions in students with auditory
sensitivities.
Behavior Interventions
•ABA—Applied Behavior Analysis
Applied behavior analysis is characterized by discrete presentation of
stimuli with responses followed by immediate feedback, an intense
schedule of reinforcement, data collection, and systematic trials of
instruction. (Schoen 2003)
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•Researchers have found ABA to be clearly affective for people with
autism (Matson et al., 1996; Smith, 1996)—ABA is a highly structured format
that appears to work well with students who respond well to
routine.
•ABA requires specific training.
•Functional behavior analysis—FBA
•An observer assesses the student’s behavior—noting frequency,
triggers of the behavior, and setting of the behavior. This allows the
teacher to be proactive in behavior management.
•Remove or minimize environmental stressors that trigger
behavior problems.
Inclusion-friendly strategies to facilitate behavior (National
Education Association 2002)
•Give the individual a koosh ball to squeeze or a weighted blanket to
wear.
Pressure from the object calms the nervous system and relieves stress.
•Rehearse appropriate social interactions.
• Reward appropriate behaviors.
• Use overt positive feedback—Negative feedback does not
work since the student focuses on the negative
consequences rather than on the behavior that precipitated
it.
• Have a visual schedule—written or pictorial. Students
often respond poorly to unpredictability and may engage
inattention-getting behaviors.
Interventions for academic concerns
The importance of academics for students with autism:
“Children with Autism are able to learn, function productively in society and show
positive gains with appropriate education and treatment plans in place. Without
appropriate support, the child may never realize his full potential.” (Igafo-Te’o 2006)
•Use direct instruction skills.
Instruction for autistic students must be highly structured, with
teacher-led lessons. Instruction should include teacher feedback,
reinforcement and practice. (Hallahan, Lloyd, Kauffman, Weiss & Martinex 2005)
•Use the Autism Spectrum Inclusion model.
If autistic children are to learn, it will require a coordinated effort of
general education teacher using appropriate strategies, coordinated
communication and decision making with trained support personnel,
meaningful home participation, and consistent and frequent
evaluation of practices. (Simpson, deBoer-On, & smith-Myles, 2003
Inclusion-friendly strategies to facilitate instruction
Teaching tips from Temple Grandin (2002)
• Use concrete visual methods to teach number concepts. Many autistic
individuals think in pictures.
• Letters can be taught by letting students feel plastic letters.
Touch is often an autistic individual’s most reliable sense.
•Children with a great deal of echolalia often learn best by memorizing
sight words displayed on flash cards with both a picture and the word. They
learn that the word is associated with the picture.
• Allow students to type if possible.
Motor skills are often poor and handwriting is poor.
Fine
More inclusion-friendly instructional strategies
Teaching tips from National Education Association (2002)
•Highlighting directions on worksheets, numbering steps for more
complex tasks.
Encourage one or two sentence knowledge summaries from a book
chapter or unit. Don’t assume understanding.
•.
• Use strong interest areas as motivators to assist students in engaging
with new and/or difficult material.
• Provide examples of finished products and writing assignments.
Putting the Pieces
Together
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Perhaps the most important thing to know
about autism is that is is a heterogeneous disability. Each individual with
autisms is truly a unique puzzle piece. To make academic
recommendations for an autistic student in general is a very difficult thing.
The most popular placement for children with autism is in the regular
classroom. Using the more naturalistic context of the general classroom,
these students seem to develop social skills more quickly.
General recommendations for including an individual with autism in the
regular education classroom:
•The most successful work with students who are autistic is done
when the general education teacher and the special education teacher
work together in the classroom.
•The greatest area of needed instruction are communication skills.
•Functional behavior assessments and positive behavioral support are
a needed element in the classroom.
•Direct instruction is needed for social instruction as well as
academics.
•Involve the parents in educational decisions made for the students. If
possible introduce the parent to new interventions used with their
child.
•Hold high expectations for every child including the child with
autism.
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