Students who have autism have a number of challenges and that poses a threat to their learning capability. Such kinds of student’s pose unique challenges to teachers and learning institutions in general. The 13 year old boy, Christopher is enshrined with development disability that significantly affects his verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction. That adversely affects his academic performance. Christopher’s disability requires effective strategies, adaptations and modifications that can assist in dealing with him. Further, it is important to have appropriate placement issues that can sufficiently be of fundamental importance to the learning of the child. There is sufficient need to develop strategies that can bring to speed proper intellectual functioning and further inculcate the correct behavioral wants.
Effective Strategies, Adaptations, and Modifications for Instructing Christopher
Dealing with autism is a great challenge and requires appropriate measures to deal with. That will enable the boy to easily attain both their educational and behavioral goals. It is important for the teachers to assist Christopher in coping up with challenges that he is faced with. They need to help him work with the transition issues and adequately remind them that a change is looming.
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It is significant for the teacher to make a list of Christopher’s strength. That necessitates close observation and research on the child. Christopher is school loving and that is a strength. Christopher finds duties that need a lot of planning and organization for instance management of assignments, participation in assessment, completing homework and navigation of learning tasks extremely cumbersome (McLeskey, Rosenberg & Westling, 2017). That in reality has a negative impact on his social, cognitive and academic capabilities. The institution can equally permit Christopher to take photos of the instructions by using his tablet or his mobile phone. That gives more ample time to think through the instructions and continue to internalize the requirements.
Also, it is important for the instructor to develop a quiet place devoid of many distractions to assist in the completion of the assessment. The teacher should assist in better organizing him and teaching him on the strategies of coping with the diverse social environment at school. The boy should be taught specific social rules and skills such as turn taking and social distance.
The 4th grade boy should be given fewer choices to pick from. If he asked to pick a color, say blue, only provide him with two to three to choose from. The higher the number of choices, the more confused the autistic boy is likely to become. The teacher should continuously repeat instructions and check understanding. It is further important to use short sentences that can ensure clarity.
The boy is the only child that is autistic in their class and thus presented with unique challenges far from the rest of the class, it is therefore important to address the pupil individually all the time. That will always ascertain whether he got a particular instruction or not. The teacher should protect him from any form of teasing at free times, and educate his classmates with some of his particular needs. The teacher should avert the usage of sarcasm and idioms. Every issue should be handled effectively as it comes with due diligence and wisdom (McLeskey, Rosenberg & Westling, 2017). Idioms can completely confuse this student and leave him wondering what might be happening. The instructions should be short, straight and to the point.
The usage of flexible and individually tailored educational approaches is critical. That requires that the instructors possess an array of adjustments and specific resource options that can effectively be implemented both in and outside classroom environs. It is not just enough to offer instructors with professional advancement on autism (Boutot, 2016). They require additional assistance from the appropriate specialist officers that easily fit in the context of the classroom and at school.
Placement Issues, Recommended Practices and Controversies
Placement is crucial for the student. That is informed by his intellectual capacity and behavioral characteristics. The degree of the child’s functioning and associated needs point to the boys and discussion greatly point to the need to be offered specialist attention (Ledford & Wehby, 2015). Based on the child’s capability, then it is important to put him in a less restrictive environment. He needs specialized of obtaining an education.
There are lots of recommended practices that may appropriately work for the boy. That includes social skills training, self-management strategies, exercise, pivotal response training, functional assessment of behavior, and extinction (Smith, Polloway, Patton, Dowdy & Doughty, 2015). Other best practice includes naturalist interventions, task analysis, and cognitive behavioral interventions among other suitable practices.
Some of the major controversies that border autism entail cause, cure, research, autism speaks and other organizations, the concept of neurodiversity and treatment issues (Boutot, 2016).
In conclusion, it can be censoriously summarized that autism possesses great challenges in the learning of students. Proper strategies and modifications should be put into consideration to ensure the child achieves the best. The instructors should be well equipped and promptly study their client in order to offer the best solution to their predicament or tentatively permit them to achieve their dreams.
References
McLeskey, J. L., Rosenberg, M. S., & Westling, D. L. (2017). Inclusion: Effective practices for all students. Pearson. Smith, T. E., Polloway, E. A., Patton, J. R., Dowdy, C. A., & Doughty, T. T. (2015). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings. Pearson. Boutot, E. A. (2016). Autism spectrum disorders: Foundations, characteristics, and effective strategies. Pearson. Ledford, J. R., & Wehby, J. H. (2015). Teaching children with autism in small groups with students who are at-risk for academic problems: Effects on academic and social behaviors. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 45(6), 1624-1635.
