Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) encompass various neurological disorders that challenge an individual’s spheres of social relations, repetitive and fixed outlines of behavior, impaired oral communication and/or nonverbal communication and sensory processing difficulties (Boutot & Myles, 2011). As such, Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders entails considering the aforementioned spheres.
Regarding the student in reference, some unique characteristics manifest as noted during observations. Some of the unique behaviors include being upset by a small adjustment in a routine or when placed in a different setting. The student depicts an unusual style of response when other students express affection towards him and is slow in responding when his name is called. Furthermore, he has an exceedingly focused interest with moving objects. He also has an enduring, strong interest in topics involving numbers, hence explaining his excellence in mathematics and science.
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However, he rarely shares the enjoyment of activities as indicated by inability to show such activities to others. In the communication area, the student shows inconsistent eye contact thus a decreased inclination to look at and pay attention to other people (Boutot & Myles, 2011). The student has challenges in maintaining the exchanges involved in conversations, making gestures, facial expressions, and movements that do not match the subject matter. Most of the time, he talks at length about his desired topic without discerning the disinterest in others. At times, he uses words that have a distinct significance recognized only by the individuals familiar with his way of communicating.
Educational goals
Long term goals
To manage behavioral challenges
To deal with environmental stressors
To determine measures of dealing with changing schedules, understanding interacting with peers, teacher’s directions, and anticipating changes.
Short term goals
To use prompting and visual supports to achieve successful social interaction.
To use prompting across settings, especially in playgrounds to enhance conversational initiatives.
The priority in supporting the student
It is for a fact that school may be a stressful setting, especially for a student with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Conventional educational and social circumstances may generate extreme strain for such a student. As a result of the stress, the student may find it difficult to keep in synch with the schooling events due to the fact that schedules in a schooling environment keep on changing (Stansberry-Brusnahan & Collet-Klingenberg, 2010). As such, the priority for this student is in making him able to predict events in the face of changing schedules, and facilitate them in anticipating changes, interacting with peers, and understanding teacher’s instructions. These aspects are of much importance as they are geared towards facilitating the student in enjoying their schooling.
T he most significant challenge to supporting the student
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders present particularly unique challenges to the learning institutions and the teachers. The teacher may find it extremely demanding to sufficiently meet the student’s unique demands. In this case, the most significant challenge lies in social interaction and communication with other students. In a classroom setting, social interaction is crucial for effective learning. The student must be able to communicate effectively with others, hence significant in supporting the student. Building a social-emotional competence in the student poses a particularly significant challenge as the school environment presents varying demands on the student. This is especially the case in the classroom as the focus is majorly on the academic features of the curriculum rather than the social aspects. Moreover, the demands of meeting the expected educational demands overshadows the important aspects of meeting the social-emotional competence.
The most desirable outcome for this student this school year
The student depicts an unusual style of response when other students express affection towards him and is slow in responding when his name is called. As such, the most desirable outcome will be based on improving this aspect and making the child more responsive to different emotive expressions. Therefore, visual aids will be used alongside creating numerous opportunities for the student to interact and socialize with others. On the other hand,
The least desirable outcome for this student this school year
Although unexpected, the student may be unable to develop skills in functional language. Inability to fluently use expressive language would prove a deficit in the efforts of ameliorating communication problems in the student. Difficulty in using language for effective social interactions would require further intervention, hence least desirable.
The most successful outcome for this student last year
The student managed to develop significant interest in social activities. Unlike in previous instances, the student has managed to successfully engage in social activities with other students, especially in the playground. This has proven crucial as increasing opportunities for social activities will results in further gains.
The student’s daily schedule
The daily schedules comprises of a set of pictures, which enables the student to engage in different activities with more objectivity. The schedule begins with phonics, followed by spelling and reading. Afterwards follows mathematics, social Studies and handwriting. In between are sessions of recess where the student engages in social activities with others. As such, the student will be engaged in classroom settings and outdoor settings such as playgrounds.
Supporting the student in the settings
One of the major support activities has been inclusion, where the student has been allowed time in classroom and outside classroom. This has proven effective in enabling the student to access modifications that sufficiently address and meet his needs. In academics, visual aids have been used as well as audio prompts to support the student.
Each team member’s role in supporting the student has been well outlined in the schedule. The first team member ensured that the organization of the classroom desks formed a horseshoe shape. He placed individual desks in appropriate spacing to facilitate smooth learning. The other member was responsible for setting four centers all over the classroom. These were the reading center, listening center, writing center, and computer center. All the centers contained different materials for facilitating learning. The other group member guided the student in modeling and prompting as a way of showing the student how to engage in his activity schedule. Whenever the student was off-task, he was taken again taken through the activity schedule.
References
Boutot, A. E., & Myles, B.S. (2011). Autism Spectrum Disorders: Foundations, Characteristics, and Effective Strategies . Pearson publication.
Stansberry-Brusnahan, L. L., & Collet-Klingenberg, L. L. (2010). Evidence-based practices for young children with autism spectrum disorders. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education , 2(1).
