Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders/ Pervasive Developmental Disorders Chapter Six Presentation by Michael Hargarten & Tina Listerud

Introduction: Students with Autism (ASD) have difficulty communicating, interacting with other people. Some of these students also may have Mental Retardation. Many also engage in challenging behavior (aggression, tantrums, self- injury). Many are rigid in terms of talk& things they like to do. Many get very upset when routine is interfered with.

Definitions of ASD and PDD: Chapter Six Covers the above two conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder& PDD-Pervasive Developmental Disorders. PDD describes Five related disabilities incl. Autism, Rett Syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger Syndrome& PDD. ASD is a sub-group of PDD& describes Autism& Asperger (which incorporate many same symptoms, differ in severity of expression). All above disorders may have deficits in communication but Students with Autism often lack typical language whereas Students w/ Asperger have accelerated vocab. But are unable to use their lang. appropriately in conversations, education. There is no identified causes, strategies for prevention or known cure.

Autism: To be diagnosed with Autism, child must show features in 3 areas: 1.) Six or more of any combo of poor eye contact, lack response, impairments in communication, repeating, robotic speech, gibberish. 2.) Stereotypical behavior i.e. body rocking, hand flapping, finger movements, fascination of objects& parts. 3.) Onset before age 3 (must not meet criteria for Retts or CDD).

Autism is a developmental disability-appears during first 3 years of life. Considered very severe. Range in ability level is varied. Some function independently. No real physical features displayed. Manifested in language& personal, social behavior.

A teacher’s Advice for Working with Students w/ Autism -6.1 Don’t let the behavior overwhelm you. Talk to student’s parents, other teachers. Systematically expect more& more of the student. Develop a picture& word schedule for daily activities. Use peers to help redirect student’s behavior. Student should feel like full member of the class.

Rett Syndrome: To be diagnosed with Rett a student must have: 1.) Normal prenatal, perinatal development. 2.) Loss of skills occur btwn months. 3.) Deceleration of head growth. 4.) Loss of hand skills. 5.) Loss of social engagement. 6.) Poor trunk movements. 7.) Severely impaired communication. IS VERY RARE& OCCURS ONLY IN GIRLS!

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder: To be diagnosed with CDD a child must have: 1.) Normal development thru. Age 2. 2.) Btwn child’s skills must regress in lang., social skills, bowel or bladder control, play or motor skills. 3.) Must not meet criteria for PDD, schizophrenia.

Asperger Syndrome: Child must exhibit behaviors in six areas (p. 147): 1.) Impaired social interaction. 2.) Stereotypical behavior. 3.) Clinically significant impairment. 4.) No significant delay in lang. 5.) No delays in cognition. 6.) Not meet criteria for schizophrenia.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS): A child is diagnosed w/ PDD-NOS when: 1.) Delays exhibited in soc. interaction, commun. 2.) Stereotypical behaviors develop. 3.) Does not meet criteria for other PDDs.

Prevalence of ASD: ASD diagnosis have risen dramatically last 10 years. ASD is now 6 th most common disability in U.S. In 2003, 141,022 ASD students recv’d Spec.Ed. Services. This is SIX FOLD INCREASE in last 10 years. Unclear why such big rise in diagnosis. Some research indicates connection to measles-mumps vaccines.

Identification and Assessment-ASD Students: Initial ident.& assess. most likely occurs before child attends school before age 3. Teachers usually involved in ongoing assess.s& re-eval.s. Assessment of contextual variables also important.

Curricular& Instructional Guidelines for ASD: To develop effective instructional programs for ASD students, consider the following key processes: 1.) Assess Preferences (p. 149). 2.) Establish a Classroom Routine (p. 149). 3.) Teach Communication Skills (p. 150). 4.) Teach Social Skills i.e. social problem solving, social story interventions etc. (p. 152).

Tips for Teachers-6.3 Working with Paraprofessionals: Keep your Para informed. Educate your Para. Create a Schedule. Communicate clearly. Vary responsibilities (p. 155).

Addressing Challenging Behaviors: Many students who are diagnosed w/ ASD engage in chall. behaviors i.e. Self-injury or injury to others Causes damage Interferes w/ learning, socially isolates child Disruption, aggression, non-compliance Hitting, kicking, biting, head banging, eye poking.

Challenging behaviors are often a form of communication for students w/ disabilities. Students use chall. behavior to obtain desired things i.e. pencils, computer time, attention, laughter. They also use this behavior to escape non-preferred activities i.e. reading aloud, homework, non-favorite teacher. Consequences of behavior is called functions of behavior (see Tips 6.4).

Tips for Teachers-6.4 Managing Challenging Behaviors. Understand why behaviors are occurring. Be consistent. All should be aware of student’s Behav. Intervention Plan. Monitor challenging behaviors closely.

Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBA) FBA helps determine functions of challenging behaviors in three steps: 1.) Indirect assessments (parent& former teacher interviews, completion of rating scales etc.). 2.) Direct assessments (observing& documenting sequence of behaviors around the chall. Behaviors i.e. ABC Analysis). 3.) Functional analysis (manipulate one variable in classroom to determine its effects on chall. Behaviors).