Autism: Definition, Causes, Characteristics, and Accommodations in the Classroom
Autism has been defined as a developmental impairment that evolves from a neurological disorder that influences the normal functioning of the brain. It is featured by the unusual development of social skills, communication skills and logical reasoning. The impact on males is more i.e four times than that of the females. (What is Autism) It was until the year 1943 that there was no name for a disorder that presently affects about one of every five hundred children. Dr. Leo Kanner of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, during the year, analyzed a group of 11 children and adopted the concept of early infantile autism. Simultaneously, a German scientist, Dr. Hans Asperger, narrated about somewhat a milder form of the disorder that became recognized as Asperger Syndrome. These two types of disorders presently finds place among the five pervasive developmental disorders -- PDD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR and more popular now-a-days as the Autism Spectrum Disorders. (Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders))All such disabilities are differentiated by the changing magnitude of the impairment in social interactions, communication skills, confined, repetitive
Many teachers of primary and secondary schools appear to be well aware of the mode of incorporating students with cognitive disabilities, learning impairments, emotional and physical disabilities in general education classrooms; however, they remain perplexed to address the problem of inclusion of students with autism. Some tips in this regard assist the teachers and are to be commonly followed by them irrespective of the grade level or subject area plan lessons and design a safe and comfortable classroom for students having autism and other specific learning characteristics. Most of the time, the educators seeking information about a student normally refer to the educational records. (Education: Supporting Students with Autism: 10 Ideas for Inclusive Classrooms) Research has revealed that parents are generally right when witnessing the developmental disorders irrespective of the fact that they many not acknowledge the specific nature or degree of the problem. The pervasive developmental disorders or autism spectrum disorders, spans from a serious form, called autistic disorder, to a mild form known as Aperger syndrome. While a child has symptoms of each of these disorders but does not cater to the particular symptoms of either, it is known as Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified -- PDD-NOS. Other serious forms of disorder under the category of spectrum disorder considered very rare are Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder. Rett syndrome impacts exclusively the females and the symptoms occur normally after the normal development of 6 to 18 months. The mental and social development of the girl child goes on declining, her reaction to the parents is negligible and she withdraws from social contact. She stops talking and has no control over her feet and twists her hands. (Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders)) It has been depicted that the babies with higher levels of testosterone had a smaller vocabulary and made eye contact less often when they grew older to 1 year of age. At the age of four of such children they are found to be less developed socially, and the interests of boys more restricted than girls. The high fetal testosterone levels push brain development towards an enhanced ability to visualize the patterns and analyze systems. Males appear to be better at such tasks than females. However, the high levels are considered to inhibit the development of communication empathy those are allegedly typical female skills. Andrew Wakefield developed the Vaccine theory that establishes a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Robert F Kennedy in June 2005 brought out that it is not the vaccines themselves; however, mercury based preservative known as thimerosal applied in some vaccine preparations that may be a cause of autism. However, in case of students with autism such records may not always suffice the requirements. The teachers desirous of becoming aware of the student with autism are required to ask the students to provide the information. Some students are found to be quite desirous of and able to share information while others necessitate coaxing or support and encouragement from family members. The teacher is to depend upon a short survey or sitting
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