I have been teaching for a period of 10 years during which time I have come across children with a wide array of development disorders including autism among others. Autism remains as one of the critical health issues facing millions of children around the world, which has defined the need for such centers (Sanders et al., 2015). However, I must take note of the fact that I did not have the competence allowing me to handle these children in an effective manner. My placement occurred within an autism center where I worked which children between the ages of 2 and ten years suffering from different levels of the condition. Personally, I operated in a section within the center, described as ‘School Readiness.' Children with autism are expected to undergo a ‘school readiness' program, which allows them to learn the basics on how to engage with other students (Marsh, Spagnol, Grove, & Eapen, 2017).
The center was dedicated towards ensuring that children with autism would be able be accorded the necessary skills allowing them to engage or interact with others within their social environments. Engaging with the students creates some form of the structured avenue through which to ensure that the students can express themselves in an effective manner (Gunn & Delafield-Butt, 2016). Basically, the center focused on finding effective avenues through which to ensure that the children are able to effectively manage the condition by engaging the children in actions that include therapy among others. The result of my placement is that I developed a positive attitude when dealing with children suffering from autism. That meant that I would be in a better position of having to handle these children in different learning environments.
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Feelings
Before my engagement in the placement, I felt that I was well versed with knowhow and information that I would use in my bid to dealing with children suffering from autism. I consider my teaching experience as one of the key aspects that determines my ability to deal with children with developmental conditions. However, this feeling changed significantly during the placement, as I found myself in a new environment that expected me to learn how to handle these children effectively. I experienced notable challenges in trying to engage with the children suffering from different levels of autism, which provided me with the desire to learn more about how to deal or handle these children in an effective manner. After the placement, I must say that I felt somewhat advanced in my experience and capacity to deal with children with autism, as it provided me with the relevant knowledge.
The behaviors of the children with autism is one of the key areas that I look back during the placement, as this sought to define my experience in handling these children. Behaviors among children with autism tend to differ significantly, which creates the need for having to understand the different spectrums associated with handling such children regardless of their autism levels (Kirby, Boyd, Williams, Faldowski, & Baranek, 2017). During the event, I would say that the children felt a sense of safety and confidence, as their engagement in the center provided them with some sense of positive perception on what is expected of them while engaging with their peers. I tend to believe that most of these children have been able to establish themselves within different social environments based on their engagement in the autism center.
Evaluation
The main aspect regarding my placement that I believe went well was the fact that I was able to create a significant connection between the theoretical knowledge that I gained through my coursework by applying some of these theories practically. The placement sought to provide me with a front through which to ensure that I would be able to understand the practical perspective of what I was learning through my coursework. My knowledge of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV allowed me to recognize some of the underlying symptoms that the children showed. DSM IV is one of the diagnostic tools used in the diagnosis of mental disorders with autism being one of these conditions (van Steensel, Bögels, & de Bruin, 2015). That is an aspect that I consider as being viable in ensuring that I build on my competence as a special needs educator while ensuring that I am able to view every aspect of dealing with these children differently. Special needs education reflects more on recognizing the existing difference among students, which would help in creating individualized education programs to match the need and expectations for each of these students (Lewis, Wheeler, & Carter, 2015). I would argue that the placement played a critical role towards pushing me towards understanding what is expected in special needs education.
The center focused on the use of the Token economy with an aim of motivating students towards changing their respective behaviors. Krasner (2017) argues that a token economy seeks to ensure that individuals receive tokens immediately after they display desirable behavior, which they can exchange for meaningful objects or privilege. What I would say did not go so well was the fact that I developed a lot of emotion during my engagement with the children with autism, which I believe may have affected my ability to help these children. I shadowed a child with autism, who I observed as being antagonized in an unfamiliar classroom environment without his usual teacher. In this case, I developed compassion for the child considering that this is a learning process that must be very confusing for him regardless of the expected benefits. Dealing with children with autism is a process that revolves around ensuring that the children would be encountered to engage in unfamiliar environments to help improve on their respective skills (Kenny, Hattersley, Molins, Buckley, Povey, & Pellicano, 2016). Additionally, I found myself compelled towards children that were expected to sit in one place for some time as part of their learning process, which are key factors that may have sought to shift my focus during the placement as part of my engagement with the children.
Analysis
Personally, I would argue that my placement at the autism center has been of great benefit towards improving my ability to help children with autism transition into real-world environments. My experience at the center provided me with knowledge on some of the key aspects that teachers ought to consider as part of their approach towards engaging with children with developmental disorders, including autism. The experience has made me realize the importance of ensuring that teachers are able to develop passion that would allow them teach children with autism. Through my placement, I took note of the fact that lack of passion when dealing with children with autism may serve as a key challenge in dealing with these children. Ultimately, I was able to establish a clear front through which to understand what I was expected to do when dealing with these children for efficiency in the learning process.
On the other hand, I learnt that teachers must also seek to modify therapies and interventions with the sole expectation being towards meeting individual requirements for children suffering from autism. The center has adopted individualized education programs (IEPs) for each of the students with an intention of having to ensure that each of the students is given an opportunity for improving his or her condition. IEPs are education programs that are specific targeted at children with special needs and are achieved through team effort, gradually (Kurth, 2015). I also learnt a lot on the importance of having to build on patience as one of the characters that teachers ought to embrace as part of handling children with autism. Most of these children tend to have difficulties in coping with their immediate environments; thus, highlighting the need for having to maintain patience to achieve positive results.
Conclusion
In my 10 years teaching experience, I have come across children suffering from autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, I did not have the knowledge or competence allowing me to handle these children effectively. My placement at the autism center allowed me to engage with children with autism at a much more personal level. Although my coursework provided me with some form of understanding on what would be expected in dealing with these children, I found myself in an entirely new learning environment. Specifically, my placement provided me with an opportunity of having to learn how to embrace children suffering from autism with the specific focus being towards building a progressive avenue for enhanced performance. I also learned about activities that would help in promoting transition for children with autism as part of defining their engagement as part of the learning system.
Action Plan
In my future situations, when dealing with children with autism and learning difficulties, I would focus on embracing an approach through which to promote slow transition for the children within the learning environments. My placement has provided me with the knowledge on the fact that overloading a child with unfamiliarity would result in a situation where a child with autism or learning difficulties may not be able to achieve the expected learning environments. The overall expectation of this is that it would mean that I would focus more on trying to create a personal relationship with the children with autism or those suffering from ADHD. The relationship created would serve as one of the key determinants of performance for the children considering that it would provide them with the confidence that is expected for them transition into the learning environment in a better way.
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