Disability Inclusion Paper: Autism Spectrum Disorder
By: Jessica Tanoesoedibjo
As their neurotypical peers, most young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) desire autonomy and participation in society (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019). Despite the hindrances that their disability would pose, there are those who are able to enjoy meaningful and productive lives in later years, having been recipients of intensive, continuous, and multidisciplinary early interventions, as well as community inclusion (Gargiulo, 2018). Although historically, people with disability had often been stigmatized and excluded from society, the past years have witnessed great progress in the treatment and regard for persons with disabilities, as provisioned in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004).
IDEA 2004 mandates that all children, regardless of disability, to be given the same opportunities and rights to free, public education, in the least restrictive environment (Blazer, 2018). As a result, classrooms are increasingly inclusive, and today, around 40% of students with ASD are taught in the general education classroom (Gargiulo, 2018). It is therefore the task of educators to learn to identify these students and their needs in the classroom, in order to deliver quality education that prepares children with ASD for their future.
Characteristics of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder
In order to provide students with ASD instruction that addresses their needs, the right diagnosis has to first be made. According to the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), a person with ASD will display persistent deficits in social communication and interaction, as well as be restricted to particular patterns of behavior, interests, and activities (McCalin, Otero, Haverkamp & Molsberry, 2018). A lack of being able to interpret nonverbal communication and to understand others’ thoughts and emotions (D’Amico & Lalonde, 2017), would make it particularly difficult for the child with ASD to make friends (Chang, Shih & Kasari, 2016).
Although in the past, autism spectrum disorder had been thought to be a form of childhood schizophrenia, ASD is a neuro-developmental, rather than psychotic, disorder. ASD is therefore usually identifiable by one’s first birthday—in the early developmental years of a child’s life (Gargiulo, 2018). Since the revision of the DSM-5, ASD has been categorized as a distinct disability, and so is to be differentiated from psychotic disorders. There, however, may be some overlap in characteristics with other disorders, as ASD tends to be accompanied by other externalizing and internalizing disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) (Schrott, Kasperzack, Weber et al., 2018). Some of the more severe cases of ASD would cause the child to be at risk of aggression, including self-injurious behavior (Pas, Johnson, Larson et al, 2016).
Contrary to common belief, however, children with ASD are not necessarily intellectually disabled. In fact, only 30% of children with ASD have some degree (ranging from mild to severe) of intellectual impairment, and 10% would possess extraordinary, highly specialized skills. This is explained by the empathizing-systemizing theory (E-S Theory), which suggests that individuals with ASD, although lacking empathy skills, tend to do better at systemizing (Wei, Yu, Shattuck & Blackorby, 2017). It is however, also misleading to believe that there is a “genius” in every child with ASD, as most individuals with ASD have normal intellectual functioning (Gargiulo, 2018). Nonetheless, every person is unique (Gargiulo, 2018) and so although these generalizations are helpful, educators need to address the individual needs of the child receiving instruction.
Interventions for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Once a child has been identified as having ASD, parents may seek intervention in order to minimize the difficulties that the child may have, especially those that would be a hindrance to his or her functional development (D’Amico & Lalonde, 2017). Early intervention (EI) is crucial, especially in alleviating the stress and pressures that the individual, parents, other family members, as well as the wider community, may experience as a result of the child’s disability (Vinen, Clark, Paynter et al., 2018). Intervention is often obtained through the school system, where teachers are expected to be more familiar with research-based interventions that have been known to work (McCalin, Otero, Haverkamp & Molsberry, 2018).
Approaches to intervention are broadly categorized into comprehensive treatment models (CTMs) and focused intervention practices. The National Academy of Science Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism has identified 10 CTMs (Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A. et al., 2015), including the UCLA Young Autism Program (Lovaas Model), Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH), Learning Experiences - An Alternative Program for Preschoolers and their Parents (LEAP), as well as Early Start Denver Model (ESDM).
The Lovaas Model uses an Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) that focuses on managing a child’s learning by building upon a previously-mastered skill. This approach is appropriate for students between the ages of 2-12, and is usually incorporated into the child’s learning for 20-40 hours per week (Gargiulo, 2018). TEACCH encourages students to complete tasks by ensuring that teachers provide the students with clear instructions, which includes visuals, within a structured environment. In this program, parents are co-therapists, who alongside teachers, would identify the students’ needs and develop a program that suits the child’s strengths, interests and learning style (National Research Council, 2001). This program may be done in a separate demonstration room for up to 25 hours in the week (Gargiulo, 2018). LEAP, similar to the Lovaas Model, is a behavioral training program, but is the first to be implemented in the general classroom. Rather than placing the child with ASD in a separate resource room for a given period of time, LEAP makes use of peer-mediated social skills interventions (Strain & Hoyson, 2000). ESDM is an early intervention model that utilizes behavioral management to improve the child’s social engagement and active learning. Teachers are encouraged to correct students’ misbehaviors, including inattention, and to teach them to share their toys with their classmates (Vinen, Clark, Paynter et al., 2018).
Focused intervention, on the other hand, addresses single skills or goals that students with ASD would like to achieve. These are methods that may be incorporated into the CTMs, such as how peer-mediated instruction is included in LEAP (Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A. et al., 2015). Other focused interventions include discrete trial training (DTT), social narratives, visual supports, as well as social skills training groups.
DTT requires the student to complete smaller-scale, manageable tasks, until mastery, before continuing to more difficult tasks. While social narratives uses systematic stories to convey messages, including teaching a skill or concept, to students with ASD. The important components of a social narrative includes using descriptive, perspective, directive, and affirmative sentences, that would explain and guide the student in greater detail of any task (Gargiulo, 2018).
Visual Supports as a Strategy to Teach Mathematics
Contrary to common perception, a skill that educators may encourage students with ASD to pursue is mastery of mathematics. As the E-S Theory would suggest that students with ASD generally have better systemizing skills, it would make sense for the students to undertake the STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Wei, Yu, Shattuck & Blackorby, 2017). Although the repetitive tendencies that students with ASD have is often seen as a hindrance to their learning, 10% of students with ASD evidence extraordinary skills beyond their peers in math, memory, art and music, as well as reading (Gargiulo, 2018).
A strategy that may be used in teaching math is the use of visual supports (Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A. et al., 2015), such as in requiring the student to draw up a graphic organizer that breaks down the components of the math question. As some math questions may be quite complex, especially in solving word problems, breaking them down to simpler tasks would be helpful for the student (Delisio, Bulkaty & Taylor, 2018). The teacher may first explain math equations simply, prior to putting the different components together into a complex question, then allow the student to solve the problems in a guided, and then, independent way. Providing students with ASD with these skills would go a long way as the students learn to solve complex problems independently (Gargiulo, 2018).
Art Therapy as a Social Skills Training Group
For the child with ASD, as communication deficits characterize his or her disability, social skills become an important competency to be taught (Gargiulo, 2018). One of the strategies that may be used is a social skills training group, such as through art therapy. Art therapy seeks to help children process information in an unconventional and nonverbal manner. In an example of a study on art therapy that was conducted for students with ASD, students were to identify different facial expressions by drawing and creating masks, observing their own expressions in the mirror, and playing games that would require them to categorize their masks to particular emotions (D’Amico & Lalonde, 2017).
From this exercise, students with ASD are taught to identify nonverbal expressions, with the hope that it would improve his or her social engagements (Delisio, Bulkaty & Taylor, 2018). Some other strategies that may be added into the exercise include role play, which is a common feature of a social skills training group. Furthermore, these activities may likewise increase social acceptance, when done in the regular classroom, as other students without ASD are taught to understand the thoughts and emotions of the children with ASD. Learning to express one’s emotions appropriately has also proven to be an effective method to improve social interaction and to reduce hyperactivity and inattention (Doody & Patty, 2017).
Parent Training as Intervention
Lastly, the earliest intervention that can perhaps be done for a student with ASD is to instead engage with their parents. Where in the past, parents had often been objects of blame and exclusion, training parents early on would prove to be greatly beneficial for the child (Sankey, Derguy, Clement et al., 2019). Some strategies that parents can be made aware of are classical behavioral approaches, such as reinforcement and extinction, and to encourage positive relationships with the child (Schrott, Kasperzack, Weber et al., 2018).
Providing parents with the necessary skills to educate their children with ASD at home has been proven to not only foster healthy engagement, but also in alleviating parental stress. This is particularly important, as parents of children with ASD are reported to be faced with more stress than parents of neurotypicals as well as other children with other disabilities (Schrott, Kasperzack, Weber et al., 2018). Some examples of these parental training that had been utilized include therapeutic education (which includes self-care for the parents and equipping them with psychosocial skills), as well as applied behavior analysis (ABA) that the parents may make use of at home (Sankey, Derguy, Clement et al., 2019).
Assessment and Progress Monitoring
Generally, educators have used formal assessments as a means to measure student performance. Standardized tests are often administered for the majority of the student population, who are considered to be of similar aptitude and who have similar levels of comprehension. To numerically pinpoint how a student is doing, the test score of the student is compared against the rest of his or her peers. This is called norm-referenced testing, where the norm is the average score of like-peers—those of a similar age, gender, grade, and so forth. However, if the goal of testing is to be informed of student content mastery within a particular curriculum, norm-based tests will not be helpful—teachers should administer a criterion-referenced test instead (Boutot & Myles, 2011).
Informal assessments, on the other hand, are focused on evaluating individual performance, rather than comparing student capacity to the rest of the class. Criterion-reference assessments may therefore sometimes be referred to as informal assessments, as the criteria that a student is measured against may be tailored to the what is expected of the particular student. Another type of informal assessment is curriculum-based assessment, where results are measured against a specific curriculum. In the place of tests, students may instead be assessed based on an analysis of their work-sample, by being given a specific task to complete, or by submitting a portfolio. Lastly, a dynamic assessment is one where students are assessed against their expected learning potential, and so both performance and progress are measured (Boutot & Myles, 2011).
To assess students with disabilities, it would not be fair to use a standardized test where the norm referenced is the average score of neurotypical peers. It is important for teachers to consider the disabilities that may affect a student’s ability to acquire and master certain skills (Boutot & Myles, 2011). Norm-standardized testing therefore may be an indicator that a student is behind, or ahead, the rest of the class. This may be taken into consideration prior to assessing the student for exceptionality (Gargiulo, 2018). Once the diagnosis had been made, it would be important to measure student progress, rather than performance, and so a process-oriented assessment should be used (Boutot & Myles, 2011).
Assessing Students with ASD
As autism spectrum disorder is a judgment-based disability, it cannot be medically tested. However, medical testing may rule out other possibilities, such as hearing or vision impairments. An intellectual assessment would also not be accurate as ASD is not an intellectual disability, but may be helpful to identify if the student has other needed services that the educator has to cater for. Although there is no single definitive test that diagnoses ASD, it is identifiable in the early years, between the ages of 1-3. These diagnoses are done through both a developmental screening and an assessment by a multidisciplinary team (Gargiulo, 2018). It is necessary to include a team from multiple disciplines, consisting of educators (including the general and special educator), psychologist, neurologist, pediatrician, speech pathologist, etc., as what needs to be assessed for a child with ASD ranges from more functional behaviors to nonverbal literacy (McCalin, Otero, Haverkamp & Molsberry, 2018).
Following the initial assessment, progress monitoring need to be done in order to assess whether particular interventions that had been made were helpful for the child to overcome individual difficulties (Gargiulo, 2018). It is important that the student’s progress be monitored consistently over a period of time as there is a possibility of regress. There are a number of assessments available, that may be utilized, depending on the areas that want to be assessed: whether social and emotional, language and communication, physical, or cognitive (Vinen, Clark, Paynter et al., 2018).
Diagnostic Assessments for Students with ASD
The first assessment that would be given to students who are at risk of having ASD are diagnostic assessments (Boutot & Myles, 2011). Some examples of such standardized assessments include the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Mullens Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). The ADOS, for example, assesses whether a child is behaving neurotypically when given imaginative use of materials to interact and play with. The Mullens Scales, on the other hand, is a cognitive assessment that seeks to evaluate the visual reception, motor and receptive skills, as well as use of language (Chang, Shih & Kasari, 2016). This initial testing will be used to identify the student’s atypicality and to identify various interventions that are to be implemented.
Components of a Core Assessment for Students with ASD
Particularly for students with ASD, the important aspects of an evaluation would include cognitive, speech and language, and behavioral functioning assessments (Boutot & Myles, 2011). These assessments are necessary because ASD is to be differentiated from a mental disability (though the disabilities are not necessarily exclusive of), and affects a child’s communicative and behavioral aspects (Gargiulo, 2018). A cognitive assessment that may be utilized are IQ-type assessments, such as the Stanford-Binet Intelligent Scales, Fifth Edition (SB-5), which is a standardized test that assesses a wide range of skills, including working memory. This IQ test is widely used because it caters to a wide age range, that is, 2 to 85 years (Boutot & Myles, 2011).
To assess speech and language fluency, an assessment that may be utilized is the Brigance Inventory of Early Development II (2004), which is a criterion-based test. The test may likewise be used to assess self-help skills and socio-emotional development, which may also be useful in evaluating other ASD characteristics (Boutot & Myles, 2011).
As most children with ASD face behavioral challenges, it is good to insert a functional behavioral assessment component in the early assessment stages (McCalin, Otero, Haverkamp & Molsberry, 2018), such as the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS). The ESCS is used to assess social interaction, joint attention and behavior regulation skills, through examining the student’s initiations and responses to particular tasks (Chang, Shih & Kasari, 2016).
Other Practical Assessments for Students with ASD
For a parent who desires to regularly monitor a child’s progress, a comprehensive assessment tool that may be utilized at home is the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC). It is available online for free to use (http://legacy.autism.com/ari/atec_report.htm). As a general screening, ATEC is economical and time-efficient, and may be utilized to assess progress following an intervention, as it is sensitive to change (the other tests, such as the ADOS, are not sensitive to change) (Magiati, Moss, Yates, Charman & Howlin, 2011).
Other more informal assessments that educators can use in the classroom include self-assessment, as well as the setting up of a rubric to determine whether the student has achieved progress as expected. Self-assessment would also allow the student to express his or her own thoughts and emotions, and reduce the likelihood of outbursts (D’Amico & Lalonde, 2017).
Based on these progress reports, instructional and intervention decisions may then be made. If a child with ASD fails the IQ test, for example, it may indicate the prevalence of either an intellectual or learning disability, which would require special educational services. Not scoring well on the speech and language assessments, may indicate eligibility for speech therapy. Furthermore, if a child with ASD continues to seem distant and has prominent difficulty in engagement when given the behavioral assessment, a good response would perhaps be to pair the child with a helpful student in the class while the class is divided into large groups.
Inclusion and Classroom Management
As the IDEA 2004 requires that students with disability are given rights to education in the least restrictive environment, children with ASD are to be included in the general classroom, unless special accommodations are necessary. Inclusion is important for the child with disability as it fosters prosocial behavior that would be beneficial for the learning of conflict resolution skills and for the individual to develop positive affect (Chang, Shih & Kasari, 2016). It is in the classroom that these children would learn both social competence and acceptance—research evidenced that inclusion also supports higher academic outcomes as students are challenged to succeed as their neurotypical peers (Wei, Yu, Shattuck & Blackorby, 2017). Young people with ASD had likewise voiced their concern and desire for friendship with peers (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019). The general classroom would therefore provide various opportunities for children with ASD to learn nonverbal communication and play skills through practice, as they engage with like-peers (Vinen, Clark, Paynter et al., 2018).
Furthermore, having students with disability in a general classroom encourages the rest of the class to learn empathy and to grow in respect towards others who are neurodivergent—although that is not always the case, and some have recorded occurrences of bullying (Blazer, 2018). It remains a voiced concern for people with ASD to be mistreated by society (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019) and so this is something that general educators need to be aware of and to try to prevent and address to their best ability. So even if inclusion is often regarded as best practice, some instances would require that the student with ASD be educated in a separate classroom, be it because of the severity of their disability, or the maturity of the classroom.
Therefore, although inclusion is a good ideal, inclusion in the general classroom is not for all. However, knowledge of inclusion and how to effectively manage the classroom is important for all educators, as there will always be a possibility that a student with disability sits in one’s class. As a result, it is crucial to identify these special needs and to address them appropriately.
Classroom Management for an Inclusive Class with an Individual with ASD
As children with ASD tend to have difficulty in communication, it is important to encourage engagement with the rest of the class. Unfortunately, children with disability are less favored as playmates, when compared with peers who are neurotypical. It is therefore important for educators to encourage inclusion, both passively and actively. Some passive examples include creating a buddy system, calling out misbehaviors, or to shuffle seats and require discussions with one’s seatmate. Active engagement involves the teacher inserting oneself into the interaction, engaging with discussions with a group of students (Chang, Shih & Kasari, 2016). The latter tend to show more promising results as often times teachers would be able to guide the conversations better, especially for a younger group where students are less understanding of the difficulties of having a disability (Delisio, Bulkaty & Taylor, 2018). However, this, too, may backfire, as children with ASD may gravitate towards interacting with adults instead of their peers (Chang, Shih & Kasari, 2016).
Furthermore, as students with ASD tend to be less well-versed in nonverbal cues, it would be important for teachers to structure the classes well, avoid irregularities and unnecessary changes in the course, and to avoid abstract ideas and words that may be misinterpreted (such as idioms, sarcasm). Providing the student with opportunities and time to respond would also be beneficial for the student to gain confidence (Pas, Johnson, Larson et al, 2016). Helping the student to break down tasks would also be important, and to prepare the student for any changes that would occur in the classroom (such as having a substitute teacher) and may be done on a one-to-one basis, before the class starts. Teachers must also be aware of physical distractions that may be present in the classroom, including noisy corners of the class—the teacher may address this by seating the student nearby the teacher’s desk (Gargiulo, 2018).
Collaboration Between Schools, Parents, and Communities
An old proverb says, “it takes a village to raise a child,” and this is true particularly for children with special needs. Even as raising a child is a difficult task, children with disability such as ASD will require a collaborative effort in understanding the exceptionalities that the child is characterized by. Understanding these differences and addressing them well will be significant in helping a child grow into adulthood.
Family Involvement
In the past, parents, especially mothers as the main caregivers, had been victims of blame of a child’s disability (Sankey, Derguy, Clement et al., 2019). However, recent years have began to acknowledge the importance of parental involvement in the education and care for children with disability. Young people with disability have themselves referred to their family, particularly parents, as having significant roles in their lives and being their longtime support system (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019).
It is important to note that in the first few years when the child had first been diagnosed, family members would be in an adjustment period where they are figuring things out. Many families are unprepared to care for a child with disability, and having a family member with a disability will affect the rest of the family dynamics: parents, siblings, even grandparents. Siblings are to be given understanding, as often times attention would immediately be shifted to the child with the disability. Often left out of the picture, grandparents can be a source of great help, especially in caring for the parents of the child (Gargiulo, 2018).
However, as the main caregivers, parents often feel overwhelmed by the stress in caring for their children with disability. As they would need to play the role for the long term, parents are often affected in their physical and psychological health (Sankey, Derguy, Clement et al., 2019), and may especially feel the pressures and judgment of others who do not know or understand about ASD (Doody & Patty, 2017). For example, when a child is misbehaving because of one’s autism spectrum disorder, strangers witnessing the tantrum may perceive the parent as being incompetent.
Young people with ASD have noticed their parents to be less warm and supportive when they are under high stress (Schrott, Kasperzack, Weber et al., 2018). It is therefore important for educators to help relieve parents of their burdens by providing them with proper information and resources to support their children (Lee & Shivers, 2019). Teachers must be willing to make an effort to include the family of a child with ASD, such as through home visits or parent-teacher conferences. It is important that all members are present and involved in these parent-teacher conferences (Gargiulo, 2018). Some things that may be discussed in those meetings include the child’s assessment, progress, referrals to professional help, as well as funding options (Vinen, Clark, Paynter et al., 2018).
Contribution of Teachers and School Staff
Students with ASD have likewise acknowledged teachers and the school staff as having been contributors of their good school experience (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019). Teachers, likewise, face a lot of pressure as the student’s professional educator. Many teacher feel unequipped in having to deliver instruction in an inclusive classroom (Blazer, 2018), and so schools should make an effort to train teachers and provide them with the support necessary to deliver successful inclusive instruction.
An example of a professional development program that may be helpful is through guided practice in a mixed reality simulator (Pas, Johnson, Larson et al, 2016). Teachers are therefore given the experience of teaching in an inclusive classroom, without the risks of having real students in the class. Other possible ways of training teachers include shadowing and observing, or coaching and mentoring by a more senior educator, as well as pairing up with a special educator (Gargiulo, 2018).
The Role of Special Educators and Practitioners
Special educators and other professionals, including therapists, psychologists, etc., are also important stakeholders in caring for a child with disability. As it is important that an interdisciplinary team diagnose the child with ASD, different expertises would be needed to help the child overcome his or her challenges. A child with ASD may need to work with health professionals (Vinen, Clark, Paynter et al., 2018), or, a speech-communication therapist, which has been identified to be the most common service that is being offered to secondary students with ASD (Wei, Yu, Shattuck & Blackorby, 2017). Regardless of the service being offered, practitioners must take great care when working with parents, or the main caregivers of these children. It is easy to engage them as experts in the field, but often times such an approach may be unhelpful and perhaps hurtful for parents who are inclined to be deeply invested in their children’s lives. Experts must be willing to listen to the concerns of parents, and to consider their observations and opinions, and to provide them with referrals if necessary, to community resources and services (Lee & Shivers, 2019).
Collaboration Between Caregivers and Educators
Communication between the main caregivers and the formal educators are therefore important, so that both the school and the home may provide the child with ASD a consistent level of care and intervention. For example, when a teacher identifies another student in the classroom as being a potential friend for the child with ASD, the teacher may communicate this to the parents, who may arrange a separate playdate outside of the classroom (Chang, Shih & Kasari, 2016). Such an example would provide both the parent and the child with support beyond the four walls of the classroom. Referrals to formal counseling (Lee & Shivers, 2019), or a support group of families with similar experiences might likewise be helpful (Gargiulo, 2018), so that parents may also develop a sense of community and be empowered (Doody & Patty, 2017).
Collaboration with Communities for Post-School-Age Support
Although autonomy is desired, rarely do children with ASD grow to achieve full independence as adults. Many continue to live with their families, who often remain their default lifelong support system (Gargiulo, 2018). This is often because of a lack of support from communities as the child transitions to life post-secondary. Many have noted a loss of friendship, after the end of the school years (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019) as well as a lack of services that are offered (Wei, Yu, Shattuck & Blackorby, 2017). Independence, therefore may only be achieved after community resources have been considered, including vocational training and a supported employment. In the latter, the individual with disability is employed alongside neurotypical peers, and is given intensive coaching and training while on the job (Gargiulo, 2018). Community events will also be important, such as a museum-ran event for people with ASD that was held once a month in New York (Doody & Patty, 2017).
Individualized Education Program (IEP) for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
As an autism spectrum disorder is often identified in a child’s early development stages, it is important that the needs of the family be met in the onset of diagnosis. In the early years, parents would often have to face various issues such as health crises (if any), and atypical behaviors of the child with ASD. Following diagnosis, parents would also often go through a process of grief as one feels a loss in dreams and aspirations that had been placed on the child (Lee & Shivers, 2019).
Individualized Family Service Plan for Early Childhood
The Public Law 94-142 addresses the needs of early intervention, through the provision of an individualized family service plan (IFSP) that revolves around providing the family of a child with disability with the appropriate services that the child would require. The IFSP has a family focus and addresses early needs within social and functioning skills, as well as communication and behavior, through the provision of early intervention and early childhood special education (Gargiulo, 2018).
Individualized Education Program for School-Aged Students
Once the child reaches school-age, the IDEA 2004 mandates that he or she be given rights to free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. This is inclusive of students with disabilities, and so, for the student with ASD, some measures will have to be taken, and services offered, so that the child may receive proper education, even if he or she is placed in the general classroom (Gargiulo, 2018). The services that are offered must not only be limited to what the school is able to provide, but if, for example, a parent believe that the current public school that the child with disability attends is not adequate, he or she may request that the child be sent to a private school at public expense (Lee & Shivers, 2019).
To address the specific needs of children with disability, it is required that each child that is eligible for special education be given an individualized education program (IEP). Although a child with ASD has a right to learn in the general education classroom, placement will be determined by the IEP team, which consists of parents, teachers (including the general and special educator), the district representative, and a member of the multidisciplinary evaluation team (Bateman, 1995). As the goal is to provide the student with appropriate education, the program has to be individualized, that is, tailored to the students’ needs. The student will, therefore, not be expected to learn the same material (in content and testing) as the rest of the class, and educational objectives will be determined in these IEP meetings (Blazer, 2018).
In the IEP meeting, parents, teachers and the district representative will have to discuss the needs of the child and develop a program that will address these specific concerns, and formulate a document that will include: a description of the student’s present performance, annual goals that the student is expected to achieve, a statement of the specific special education services that will be required, a transition plan into post-secondary setting, projected dates and duration of the services that will be offered, and objective criteria and evaluation that would keep track of the student’s progress (Bateman, 1995). Some questions that should arise in the IEP meetings include discussion about the student’s distractibility and the classroom setting—whether the learning environment is conducive for the child with ASD to learn. Classmates may also be another source of concern, as to whether the classroom would be welcoming and inclusive of the child with disability, or if it would hinder the child’s progress (Blazer, 2018).
The goals and objectives that are written in the IEP must be measurable and realistic to the specific needs of the child, and may be reevaluated and modified as the concerns arise. Throughout the implementation of the plan, parents are allowed to monitor the child’s progress and request for a review of the IEP, as the goal of an IEP is a collaborative effort in meeting the needs of the child (Goodwin Procter LLP, 2017), and so the IEP must not be stagnant, but dynamically following the child’s progress (National Association of Special Education Teachers, 2019). The more intentional the IEP team are about developing and implementing the IEP, the better prepared would parents and teachers be in addressing the needs of the child.
Transition Planning for Post-Secondary, Employment and Independent Living
Prior to age 16, the IDEA 2004 requires that the IEP team have had discussions about the student’s transition planning into post-secondary life. These include living arrangements (whether the student would be able to live independently apart from one’s parents), social skills, community participation and vocational competencies (Gargiulo, 2018). This discussion can be particularly difficult for families as in most cases, students with disability would be increasingly dependent on family members, if participation in society was not possible (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019), especially due to the comorbidity of ASD with other health and mental health issues (Lee & Shivers, 2019).
Generally, it is the lack of interpersonal skills for a person with ASD that result in long term challenges, especially as one transitions outside of school and into independent living (Lee & Shivers, 2019). As any young adult, individuals with ASD desire autonomy and independence as they transition into adulthood (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019), but often times are hindered by atypical characteristics (Gargiulo, 2018). Transitions also require change, and as difficult as change is to any person, for the individual with ASD, irregularities would pose as a greater obstacle. Some have even voiced their concerns of having to face new challenges of meeting strangers outside of the classroom who would not understand nor empathize with disabilities (Gaona, Palikara & Castro, 2019).
Furthermore, research shows that from the 23.3% of students who received speech services in their high school years, only 13.6% would receive continued services in their post-secondary years (Wei, Yu, Shattuck & Blackorby, 2017). It is therefore important that the IEP team begin addressing these transitions and engaging the students and the respective networks (e.g. communities and employment) in these conversations early.
Developing IEP Goals for Students with ASD
For a student with an ASD diagnosis, it is important that parents and teachers address the communication needs of the child, and to assess the child’s progress as a result of interventions. The IEP may therefore be categorized according to the academic, social, and behavioral developments of the student. The IEP team then has to identify the current performance of the student in these categories, before setting individualized goals and a plan on intervention.
A sample IEP for a student with ASD as provided by the National Association of Special Education Teachers (2019) breaks down goals into areas that student progress will be monitored by. As a lack of social skills is characteristic of a student with ASD, “social skill area goals” constitute of most of the IEP. The sample IEP includes monitoring the student’s progress in social understanding (“___ will increase social awareness of environment by stating what is taking place in environment or imitating actions of others”), social emotional skills (“___ will identify various simple emotional states in self”), social communication skills (“___ will spontaneously seek assistance”), and narrative discourse skills (“___ will relate information sequentially”). Following these goals are strategies that will be utilized in achieving the identified goals.
Similarly, in addressing the needs of a middle school (13-year-old) student with ASD, particularly, who is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, who is intellectually exceptional (Gargiulo, 2018) but lacks conversational and social skills and often displays inappropriate behaviors, the IEP team may break down goals in the following way:
A. Academic Goals:
1. The student will continue to maintain a grade average above B.
2. The student will be prepared to enroll in AP Math.
3. …
B. Social Skill Goals:
1. The student will work cooperatively in small groups.
2. The student will be able to name a best friend at the end of the school semester.
3. The student will refrain from interrupting others in the middle of conversations.
4. The student will be able to deliver a speech by the end of middle school.
5. …
C. Behavioral Goals:
1. The student will refrain from making inappropriate comment in class.
2. The student will refrain from throwing tantrums in the classroom.
3. …
After outlining the specific goals, the IEP team may then discuss about the need for potential accommodations that would have to be made for the student’s success. These may include the following strategies:
1. Making accommodations for alternative testing and assessment (Goal A(1)).
2. Teaching the student to use Visual Supports (e.g. Graphic Organizers) to break down difficult Math questions (Goal A(2)).
3. Continue providing student with speech therapy (Goal B(4)).
4. Utilizing Social Stories as a means to instruct student on what is appropriate and inappropriate conduct (Goal C(1)).
5. Using Art Therapy for the student to express one’s own emotions to peers (Goal C(2)).
Furthermore, as the student is of 13 years of age, in early planning, the IEP team may begin to discuss possible transitions for the student’s post-secondary life. Having identified the student’s exceptional Math abilities, the IEP team may consult various universities that would be able to accommodate for the student’s post-secondary education as an option. The IEP team may also encourage the student to begin participating in communities outside of the classroom, such as joining a youth group at church.
Conclusion
Raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorder for success in life is an achievable goal. As their peers, children with ASD would desire autonomy and independence in their later years, and as educators, this is a dream that one must always hope for every child. However, to ensure that each student receives appropriate education that they have a right to, as according to the IDEA 2004, some adjustments must be made for students with exceptionalities in the general education classrooms. These include setting individualized programs by which these students will be instructed, assessed, and monitored by, which is the result of a collaborative effort between a multidisciplinary team who have been entrusted to care for the child. It is important that parents and teachers work together to identify the needs of the student with ASD, without stigmatizing the disability, nor being biased against the student’s atypicality. Rather, in understanding the student’s differences, the hope is for all, classmates included, to support exceptional students to reach their extraordinary goals and pursuits.