Autism is a developmental condition that interferes with the way an individual interacts with others and how they relate to their environment. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects an individual’s communication skills and may cause them to have repetitive behaviors. The number of children suffering from autism has increased tremendously up by 78% between 2002 and 2008 (Smith & Tyler, 2014), which increases the need to have teachers address the need to have target support as many children with ASD are being served in general classrooms in school. This paper aims to recommend specific actions that teachers can take to support children with autism in inclusive settings.
Students with ASD have specific needs that, which if not met, may affect their success rate in an inclusive setting such as having difficulties in engaging in a classrooms. This means that they will not be able to understand effectively in an inclusive classroom like their other counterparts as they cannot filter the required information fast. One of the ways teachers can support children with ASD in inclusive settings is by employing various means of engagements to draw this group of students into class activities. This can be done by adapting materials to help students understand the class routine and increase their interests in learning. Another way of increasing support is by having multiple means of representation. This means that teachers should have various methods of presenting information in a classroom to efficiently support students with ASD by using hands-on materials and visual materials besides the use of books. This can be especially helpful to students with ASD who do not express their needs through oral language (Smith & Tyler, 2014). The third way in which teachers can supports students with ASD in inclusive setting is by incorporating multiple means of expression by students such as use of poetry and photographic essays to show what they have learnt. Fourthly, teachers can use behavior tracker applications to be able to track the student’s behavior both in the classroom and other settings. This way, they will be able to know what the student really needs and the areas they can improve on (Smith & Tyler, 2014).
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Fifthly, teachers can change the daily classroom norm or routine in order to create an inclusive and supportive environment for students with ASD (McLeskey & Waldron, 2007). Classrooms are diverse with all type of students therefore it is important for teachers to change what happens in their respective classrooms so that they can accommodate everyone. Sixthly, teachers can support students with ASD by giving instructional material in advance before the lesson starts, say a week before, to give students time to interact with the material and provide them with prior knowledge. This helps students with ASD increase their attention and confidence levels in answering questions in class (Denning & Moody, 2013). Students with Autism like predictability and routines. Thusly, teachers could assign class jobs as a way of giving skills and instructions. The eighth method teachers can use to support students with ASD is in inclusive setting is to provide breaks between classroom tasks. This breaks help students to relax and freshen their minds for the next classroom activity. Another method that teachers can use is preparation of schedules for students. Students will know what is expected of them in advance and help reduce anxiety (Denning & Moody, 2013). Finally, teachers should use special interests to introduce both new and difficult tasks. Special interests act as motivators to students to help them engage with the new learning material. For example, a student who loves cars will be more interested to learn if the worksheet he is learning from has a picture of a car.
When teachers use these strategies in inclusive settings in lesson plans, there is a high possibility that they will get better results from all the students in the classroom without leaving those with autism spectrum behind. The strategies will also help increase classroom engagement, learning completion, promote understanding, and independence for all students.
References List
Denning, C. B., & Moody, A. K. (2013). Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Inclusive Settings: Rethinking Instruction and Design, Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, 3 (1).
Smith, D. D., & Tyler, N. C. (2014). Introduction to Contemporary Special Education: New Horizons. Pearson Education
McLeskey, J., & Waldron, N. L. (2007). Making differences ordinary in inclusive classrooms. Intervention in School and Clinic, 42(3), 162-168.
