Elise Bartz

Emory & Henry College

Dr. Diss

Table Of Contents

What Is Autism? - 3
Characteristics Of Autism 3
What causes Autism? - 4
Can Autism be prevented? - 5
Effects of The Disability on:
Young Children - 6
Adolescents - 6
Adults 6-7
Family - 7
How To Teach A Child With ASD 8-11
Teaching Accommodations for teaching students with ASD - 12
Resources 13-15
Support Needed By The Family 15-16
References 17-18

What is Autism?

Autism, as defined by IDEA, refers to a developmental disability

significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and
social interaction, generally evident before age three, that
adversely affects a childs educational performance. (6)

What Are Characteristics Of ASD?

Unusual fixation (for instance, only playing with round toys)

Inability to focus without first completing a routine
Disruptive behavior when ordinary schedule is interrupted
Unusual communication habits (from not talking at all to
repeating certain phrases)
Difficulty understanding social interactions (1)

Source Used: 1, 6

What Causes ASD?

First and foremost, we now know that there is not one cause
of autism just as there is not one type of autism. Over the last five
years, scientists have identified a number of rare gene changes, or
mutations, associated with autism. Research has identified more
than a hundred autism risk genes. In around 15 percent of cases, a
specific genetic cause of a persons autism can be identified.
However, most cases involve a complex and variable combination
of genetic risk and environmental factors that influence early brain
development. In other words, in the presence of a genetic
predisposition to autism, a number of nongenetic, or environmental
influences further increase a childs risk. The clearest evidence of
these environmental risk factors involves events before and during
birth.
They include advanced parental age at time of conception
(both mom and dad), maternal illness during pregnancy, extreme
prematurity and very low birth weight and certain difficulties
during birth, particularly those involving periods of oxygen
deprivation to the babys brain. Mothers exposed to high levels of
pesticides and air pollution may also be at higher risk of having a
child with ASD. It is important to keep in mind that these factors,
by themselves, do not cause autism. Rather, in combination with
genetic risk factors, they appear to modestly increase risk.

Source Used: 1

Can Autism Be Prevented?

While autism cannot be prevented, there are steps that can be taken
to help an individual with autism.
Intervention can involve behavioral treatments, medicines or
both. Many persons with autism have additional medical
conditions such as sleep disturbance, seizures and
gastrointestinal (GI) distress. Addressing these conditions can
improve attention, learning and related behaviors.
Early intensive behavioral intervention involves a child's
entire family, working closely with a team of professionals.
In some early intervention programs, therapists come into the
home to deliver services. This can include parent training
with the parent leading therapy sessions under the
supervision of the therapist. Other programs deliver therapy
in a specialized center, classroom or preschool.
Typically, different interventions and supports become
appropriate as a child develops and acquires social and
learning skills. As children with autism enter school, for
example, they may benefit from targeted social skills training
and specialized approaches to teaching. (4)

Source Used: 4

Effects Of
Autism

Children and young people on the autism spectrum (and their

parents and caretakers) face many issues and challenges on a daily
basis. However, it is important to remember that each child with
autism is a unique individual, with unique needs and abilities.
Because of this, he or she will experience those issues in a unique
way or may not experience them at all. (1)
Young Children and Adolescents:

cognitive problems
developmental/neurological conditions
genetic conditions
learning disabilities (although many individuals with autism
have normal or above average intellectual disability).
Mental health problems
motor difficulties including major motor skills (such as
standing upright) or fine motor skills (such as holding a
pencil between their fingers and thumb).
sensory problems (such as hearing and sound sensitivity,
visual disturbances). (2)
Adults:
Adults on the autism spectrum are reported to have difficulties
with two main areas.
Persistent difficulties with social communication and social
interaction. For example,

Source Used: 1, 2

they may find it hard to begin or carry on a conversation,

they may not understand social rules such as how far to stand
from somebody else, or they may find it difficult to make
friends.
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or
activities. For example, they may develop an overwhelming
interest in something, they may follow inflexible routines or
rituals, they may make repetitive body movements, or they
may be hypersensitive to certain sounds. (2)
Impact on The Family:
Family and caretakers of children on the autism spectrum also face
issues and problems. For example they may:
carry the worry and exhaustion of looking after someone with
autism.
face the frustration of trying to cope with other people's
attitudes, ignorance and prejudice (a problem also faced by
people with autism themselves).
become frustrated by the lack of high quality information
about interventions that can help.
become frustrated by the poor quality of some of the services
designed to help them. (2)

Source Used: 2

How To Teach A
Child With ASD

Educating students with autism is usually an intensive

undertaking, involving a team of professionals and many hours
each week of different instruction and therapies to address a
students behavioral, developmental, social and/or academic needs.
Students with autism often require explicit teaching across a
variety of settings to generalize skills.
Most school classrooms incorporate elements of several
established approaches. It is important for schools to evaluate
prospective interventions for a student on an individualized basis,
as well as keep in mind the need to use evidence-based methods
and strategies. (5)
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
ABA is the name of the systematic approach to the assessment and
evaluation of behavior, and the application of interventions that
alter behavior.
The principles of analyzing behavior to understand its function,
controlling the environment and interactions prior to a behavior
(antecedents) and adjusting responses (consequences), and using
positive reinforcement (rewarding what you want to see) are all
ABA techniques that are often used in shaping behavior in
individuals with autism. Many programs use the principles of ABA
as a primary teaching method, or as a way of promoting positive
and adaptive behavior. (5)

Source Used: 5

Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) or the Lovaas Model:

Named for its pioneer (ABA-based) Teacher-directed DTT targets

skills and behaviors based on an established curriculum. Each skill
is broken down into small steps, and taught using prompts, which
are gradually eliminated as the steps are mastered. The child is
given repeated opportunities to learn and practice each step in a
variety of settings. Each time the child achieves the desired result,
he receives positive reinforcement, such as verbal praise or
something that he finds to be highly motivating.

Floortime, or Difference Relationship Model (DIR):

The premise of Floortime is that an adult can help a child expand
his circles of communication by meeting him at his developmental
level and building on his strengths. Therapy is often incorporated
into play activities on the floor and focuses on developing
interest in the
world,
communication
and emotional
thinking by
following the
childs lead. (5)

Source Used: 5

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS):

The PECS system allows children with little or no verbal ability to
communicate using pictures. An adult helps the child build a
vocabulary and articulate desires, observations or feelings by using
pictures consistently. It starts with teaching the child to exchange a

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picture for an object. Eventually, the individual learns to

distinguish between pictures and symbols and use these to form
sentences. Although PECS is based on visual tools, verbal
reinforcement is a major component and verbal communication is
encouraged.
Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT)
(ABA-based) PRT is a child-directed intervention that focuses on
critical, or pivotal, behaviors that affect a wide range of
behaviors. The primary pivotal behaviors are motivation and
childs initiations of communications with others. The goal of PRT
is to produce positive changes in the pivotal behaviors, leading to
improvement in communication, play and social behaviors and the
childs ability to monitor his own behavior. Child-directed
intervention
Relationship Development Intervention (RDI)
RDI seeks to improve the individuals long-term quality of life by
helping him improve social skills, adaptability and self-awareness
through a systematic approach to building emotional, social and
relational skills.
Social Communication/Emotional Regulation/Transactional
Support (SCERTS)
SCERTS uses practices from other approaches (PRT, TEACCH,
Floortime and RDI), and promotes child- initiated communication
in everyday activities and the ability to
Source Used: 5

learn and spontaneously apply functional and relevant skills in a

variety of settings and with a variety of partners. The SCERTS
model favors having children learn with and from peers who
provide good social and language models in inclusive settings as
much as possible.

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Training and Education of Autistic and Related

Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH)
TEACCH is a special education program using Structured
Teaching, a process designed to capitalize on the relative strength
and preference for processing information visually in individuals
with autism, while taking into account the recognized difficulties.
Individualized assessment and planning is used to create a highly
structured environment (organized with visual supports) to help the
individual map out activities and work independently.
Verbal Behavior (VB)
(ABA-based) VB employs specific behavioral research on the
development of language and is designed to motivate a child to
learn language by developing a connection between a word and its
value. (5)

Source Used: 5

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Teaching Accommodations For

Teaching Students With ASD
Although knowing the general characteristics of ASD is
helpful, teaching strategies for students with ASD still need to be
individualized, and it is important for teachers to realize their
expectations of their students. Children with ASD often have
visual-spatial strengths.5 Knowing this, teachers can modify their
instructional strategies in a number of ways. First, teachers should
demonstrate and model expected skills. For example, if the teacher
wants a student with ASD to place his book bag in his cubby when
he gets to class in the morning, the teacher should demonstrate
exactly how to do this. Next, teachers should provide visual
schedules of the days events in a location easily seen by the
student.
Additionally, teachers should work to make eye contact with
the student and expect to acquire the students attention. This can
be challenging because students with ASD may have difficulty
maintaining eye contact due to difficulties with modulating visual
input. Close proximity with a verbal reminder a gentle, Josh,
look at me can work well. However, even if the student is not
looking directly at the teacher, the teacher should know that he or
she may still be listening. Checking frequently for understanding
can give the teacher assurance that the student is, in fact, paying
attention.
Teachers can adopt other strategies to increase motivation in
students with ASD, such as allowing short breaks between teaching
sessions and providing time for the student to be alone if needed.
(4)

Source Used: 4

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How Can I learn More About Autism?

Websites:
Autism Speaks www.autismspeaks.org
Autism Society www.autism-society.org
American Speech and Language Association www.asha.org
AutismLearn AutismLearn101.com
Autism Now AutismNow.com
Care Care.com
My Autism Team MyAutismTeam.com

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Organizations:
Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT)
Not-for-profit organization of parents and
professionals committed to improving the education,
treatment, and care of people with autism.
Families for Early Autism Treatment (FEAT)
FEAT is a non-profit organization of parents,
educators, and other professionals dedicated to
providing Education, Advocacy and Support for the
Northern California Autism Community.
Organization for Autism Research (OAR)
OAR was created in 2001 by parents and
grandparents who shared a common belief that
applied research would answer the questions that
parents, families, individuals with autism, teachers
and caregivers confront daily. No other autism
organization has this singular focus.
Books:
Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew:
Updated and Expanded Edition - By: Ellen Notbohm
1001 Great Ideas for Teaching & Raising Children
with Autism or Aspergers: Expanded 2nd Edition By: Ellen Notbohm and Veronica Zysk
The Child with Autism at Home & in the Community:
Over 600 Must-Have Tips for Making Home Life and
Outings Easier for Everyone - By: Kathy Labosh and
LaNita Miller

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Source Used: 7

Thinking Persons Guide to Autism - Edited by

Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Jennifer Byde Myers, Liz
Ditz, Emily Willingham and Carol Greenburg. (7)

Support Needed By The Family

A diagnosis of autism begins the
most profound series of changes
that a family will probably ever
experience. It is a journey of
sadness, frustration, joy, and love,
through which parents will likely
experience tremendous personal
growth.
It is clear that caring for a child
with autism is difficult for families
and that there is a need, not only
for mandated early intervention
and education services for their
children, but for other supports and
services to assist families in their
homes and in the community.
Families should be referred to their
local Family Support Network and
Partners for Success Centers, as well as to local parent-to-parent
programs and support groups such as those run by the Autism
Society of America.
Families of children with autism may require additional family
support services such as respite and child care, in-home behavioral
training, adaptive equipment and assistive technology, social and
recreation activities, and other services and supports unique to each
familys needs.

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Source Used: 3

Families should be referred to the Developmental Disabilities

Administration (DDA) Regional Office in their area or a local
service provider regarding Family Support Services that are often
critical services in avoiding family crises that become much more
costly, both emotionally and financially. Parents should know
that family support services are not an entitlement, which means
they may not be available to all eligible families because of limited
funding. Limited funding also means that although Family Support
Services typically cant meet all of a familys needs, they can help
in very significant and important ways. Family support Services
are provided by local service providers with funding from the
DDA. To apply for services, families should contact a local Family
Support Service provider directly. For a list of agencies providing
Family Support Services, call a regional DDA office. (3)

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Source Used: 3

References
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association | ASHA. (n.d.).
Retrieved April 16, 2016, from http://www.asha.org/ (Source
1)
Autism Society. (2015, July 15). Retrieved April 16, 2016, from
http://www.autism-society.org/ (Source 2)
Happe,R.A.(2016,March28).FactsAboutASD.RetrievedApril
16,2016,fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html
(Source3)
HowIsAutismTreated?(n.d.).RetrievedApril16,2016,from
https://www.autismspeaks.org/whatautism/treatment
(Source4)
Inclusionstrategiesforstudentswithautismspectrumdisorders.
(n.d.).RetrievedApril16,2016,from

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/everylearner/6692
(Source5)

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TheDefinitionofAutismUnderIDEAPartC|SpecialEducation
Guide.(n.d.).RetrievedApril16,2016,from

http://www.specialeducationguide.com/disability
profiles/autism/(Source6)

The Top Five Autism Books for Parents and Educators. (2013).
Retrieved April 16, 2016, from
http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2013/04/05/the-topfive-autism-books-for-parents-and-educators/ (Source 7)