Autism

2. Autism By: Denae Wiley and Heather Gamble

3. What is Autism? • APA definition: • Clinically significant, persistent deficits in social communication and interactions, as manifest by all of the following: • Marked deficits in nonverbal and verbal communication used for social interaction. • Lack of social reciprocity • Failure to develop and maintain peer relationships appropriate to developmental level. • Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least two of the following: • Stereotyped motor or verbal behaviors, or unusual sensory behaviors. • Excessive adherence to routines and ritualized patterns of behavior • Restricted, fixated interests. • Symptoms must be present in early childhood.

4. Characteristics • Impaired Social Interaction • Deficits in social responsiveness • Babies/toddlers don’t respond normally to being picked up/cuddled. • Might not show differentiated response to parents, siblings, or teachers, compared to strangers. • Smile/laugh when something isn’t funny • Might not learn to play normally • Might not develop typical attachment to parents/ friends

5. App’s to help… • Social Stories Creator • Students are able to create their own stories through the use of different scenarios which teach vital social skills. • This app is helpful to the teacher and the students.

6. Characteristics • Impaired Communication • Communicative intent: desire to communicate for social purposes • Mute: use no, or almost no, language. • Speech sound robotic • Echolalia: echoing what they hear • Reverse pronouns • Lack eye contact

7. App’s to help… • iCommunicate: • Uses flashcards for children with speech impairments. • Allows for communication through various pictures and sentences. • You can upload personalized photographs/audio for certain requests or verbal cues.

8. Characteristics • Repetitive Patterns of Behavior • Stereotyped motor or verbal behaviors: repetitive, ritualistic motor behaviors. • Ex.) twirling, spinning objects, flapping hands, and rocking • Extreme fascination or preoccupation with objects and a very restricted range of interests. • Impaired Cognition • Difficulty in coding and categorization of information. • Rely on literal translations • Remember by location in space • Might have exception capabilities in playing music, drawing, or calculating

9. App’s to help… • iPrompts-Visual Supports, Schedules and Picture Prompts for Autism and SPED • Contains a detailed schedule of the day including timers and alarms. • Contains a variety of choices.

10. Characteristics • Abnormal Sensory Perceptions • Either hyper-responsive or hypo-responsive to particular stimuli in environment. • Hyper= overly • Hypo= under

11. App’s to help… • The Calm Counter- Social Story and Anger Management Tool • Used as a visual and auditory tool to help calm students down when they are angry or anxious.

12. Asperger Syndrome: • Asperger Syndrome is much like Autism. • Children with Asperger Syndrome have symptoms much like Autistic symptoms just less severe. • There is also an absence of language delay in Asperger Syndrome. • Interests may border on the obsessive. • Students with Asperger Syndrome want to fit in, but simply do not know how.

13. Diagnosis • When? Typically from 6 months - 2 years. • Early signs: • 6 months: No big smiles or joyful expressions • 9 months: No back-and- forth sharing of sounds, smiles, other facial expressions. • 12 months: No consistent response to own name, no babbling, no back- and- forth gestures (pointing, showing, reaching, waving) • 16 months: No words • 24 months: No two-word meaningful phrases

14. Where are they educated? • Public schools • Through special programs in the public schools • Ex.) TEACCH: employs an approach called Structured Teaching, which emphasizes a highly structured and predictable classroom environment and the use of visual learning. • Inclusion in the general education classroom • Self contained classrooms • Resource classrooms

15. Educational Considerations • Due to the varied symptoms of Autism, it has been fertile ground for faddish and unproven treatment methods. • As one authority says, “The ASD field is particularly well known for its willingness to embrace and/or maintain a liberal tolerance toward unproven and controversial interventions and treatments. A number of these purportedly effective methods apparent to have neither empirical nor logical foundation. Simpson, 2004, p.139)

16. How will we educate students with Autism academically? • Through the use of Direct Instruction: • Highly structured, direct approach; use basic principles of behavioral psychology. • Applied Behavior Analysis: highly structured approach focused on teaching functional skills and continuous assessment of progress. • Positive reinforcement/rewards for desired behavior • Instruct in the natural setting: • Behavioral psychology is more effective when taught in the natural settings and with natural interactions by which children normally learn language and other social skills. • What would this look like in your classroom?

17. How do you manage behavior? • Many students with autism display highly inappropriate behaviors, such as biting, hitting, or screaming. • A combination of functional behavioral assessment and positive behavioral intervention and support may reduce or eliminate these behaviors. • Functional behavioral assessment (FBA): determining consequences, antecedents (trigger), and setting events that maintain such behaviors. • Positive behavioral intervention and support (PIBS): ways to support positive behavior rather than punishing negative behaviors.

19. Earliest Sign of Autism • Did you know that you can detect Autism in infants as earlier as 2 months of age? • A New York Times article informs readers that a new study shows that infants who later developed Autism spent less time looking at people’s eyes as they grew older. • Now lets take a deeper look at the new study: http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000002543364/spotting-autism-in-an-infants-gaze.html

20. Resources: • http://www.defyingthespectrum.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/AutismAwareness2013FACTS.jpg • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002494/ • Hallahan, Daniel P, James M. Kauffman, and Paige C. Pullen. Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2009. Print • http://educationnext.org/autismandtheinclusionmandate/ • http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000002543364/spotting-autism-in-an-infants-gaze.html • http://www.autism-society.org/about-autism/aspergers-syndrome/