INE302 Notes on Autism Spectrum Disorder PDF

– –  Lifelong, complex developmental disorder resulting in disordere brain development autism–aut (Greek word)–self sm - state Person unusually absorbed in himself Symptoms usually present prior to 3 years Can occur along with any other cond...

– –  Lifelong, complex developmental disorder resulting in disordere brain development autism–aut (Greek word)–self sm - state Person unusually absorbed in himself Symptoms usually present prior to 3 years Can occur along with any other conditions (comorbidity) - Abnormal social skills, - Can range from poorly - Difficulties in adapting reduced sharing of integrated spoken and behavior to social interests, and failure to non-verbal contexts initiate or respond to communication to social interactions. abnormalities in eye - Difficulties in sharing contact, body language, imaginative play or - Children with ASD may and facial expressions making friends not make appropriate eye contact, leading to - Children with ASD - Absence of interest in misunderstandings of struggle with both peers their behavior. receptive and expressive language skills. - interpret language - Onlookers may literally, often failing to misunderstand the - Many struggle with non- understand social child's behavior, viewing verbal communication, context it as naughty or difficult including speech. when it's not. - Potential avoidance or - Communication needs to teasing by peers be taught about its purpose, means, and pragmatic rules. - Stereotyped or - Insistence on - Highly restricted, - Hyper- or hypo- repetitive motor sameness and fixated interests reactivity to movements. inflexible with abnormal sensory input or adherence to intensity or unusual interest - Use of objects or routines. focus. in environment's speech. sensory aspects. - Ritualized - Some children - Children with ASD patterns of develop special - Impacts home prefer spinning or verbal or non- interests in and school flinging objects. verbal behaviour. specific topics or environment, activities. influencing - Watching moving - Difficulty in responses to parts of toys or flexible thinking - New skills are changing machinery with and behavior. tied to the clothes/food, intense situation, noise. concentration. - Restricted requiring specific imagination and help for - Atypical eating, repetitive play generalization. including limited activities. food preferences and - Difficulty in hypersensitivity adapting to new to texture, is situations. common. - Preference for routine over change. Noticeable deficits in social Marked deficits in both spoken Severe deficits in both verbal communication and nonverbal communication and nonverbal communication Difficulty initiating interactions, Noticeable social impairments, Limited, if any, initiation of and atypical or unsuccessful even with support social interaction, with minimal response to others response to communication attempts from others with few intelligible words Limited interest in social Limited initiation of social Inflexible behaviour interactions interactions Inflexibility of behaviour, Reduced or abnormal responses Extreme difficulty in coping with interfering with functioning in to communication attempts change one or more contexts from others Difficulty in switching between Inflexible behaviour, making it Restricted/repetitive behaviours activities difficult to cope with change that interfere significantly with functioning in all spheres Problems with organisation and Restricted/repetitive behaviours Great distress/difficulty planning, which impacts that appear frequently enough changing focus or action negatively on independence to be obvious to the casual observer and interfere with functioning in a variety of contexts Distress and/or difficulty changing focus or action  Children with a family Pregnant woman with Up to 70% of ASD children member with ASD = at rubella = increased risk for = higher risk ASD baby Intellectual disability Rett syndrome, Angelman, Some medication taken Up to 20% of ASD children Prader-Willi, Fragile X, during pregnancy = risk = Tuberous sclerosis for ASD in unborn child Epilepsy DNA mutations Sleep disturbances are (DNA pieces missing or also common in children duplicated) with ASD ASD children are at 22/23 chromosomes = increased risk for important for ASD psychiatric disorders 2 (largest chromosome), 7 (language disorders), 15 (developmental disorders)  - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Used by professionals to make a diagnosis - Most current addition = DSM-V - Social interaction - Difficulty with social - Communication interaction - Restricted - Difficulty with language interest/repetitive behavior and communication - Restricted interests/repetitive behaviours - Sensory processing issues  Break tasks into Reward small manageable appropriate pieces Tell social stories beahviour and to demonstrate break behaviour appropriate social into steps Give multiple behaviour short time limits Encourage social Place learner in Be calm, interaction front of class and predictable, direct questions compassionate at them and patient Have clear visual boundaries Give frequent feedback and Teach in a encouragement directive manner (try not to use Try minimizing Avoid speaking in metaphors) unnecessary visual abstract terms and auditory distractions  Visual schedule to Create predictable help organize the routines = give a day sense of security AAC strategies are useful Use learner's own vocalization and Clear structure and gestures to expand set daily routine on Multi-modal use = Speech, natural gestures, manual signs and graphic Remain consistent symbols and avoid change AAC strategies are useful – – – - Intensity, frequency and duration interferes with optimal learning - Limits participation with peer/adults - Places safety of self/others in jeopardy - Restricts access to ordinary community - Negatively effects quality of life of person/family - Emotion = natural way in which one reacts to environment - Emotional regulation = How one controls their feelings - Emotional intelligence = being able to display “best reaction” to a situation - Emotional reactions = how one responds to situations which acts as a cue (learnt) - Occurs in response to a - Learned behaviour stimulus - Response to particular - Involves central nervous event system (heart rate, - Child realizes all sweating, blinking) behaviour have consequences  Gather as much info as possible about the history and background of the behaviour Gathering info can lead to knowing the cause of the behaviour Info can be gathered through direct observation, reviewing records and files, interviewing parents and caregivers Find out about when the behavior started (onset) and the changes in behaviour No intervention = severity and duration increase of behaviour IFD – Intensity, Frequency and Duration = used to monitor and track challenging behaviour  No learner is challenging – only the behaviour is Describe the behavior, do not LABEL it (good, bad, aggressive) Do not focus on the learner personally Reminder! Behaviour serves a particular function for the learner, it does not become him Aim to include description of the type of behaviour, the severity and when it takes place (e.g. Every time the bell rings “name” bites his hand slightly) Behaviour should be described in measurable and observable terms (NO always or never)  2 Types of antecedents (Triggers and Events) Triggers = happens just before challenging behaviour occurs Setting events = do not directly result in challenging behaviour but increase the probability of it happening Setting events = Environmental (temperature, noise level, seating arrangements), biological (illness, pain, allergies, lack of sleep, medication, hunger), social (demands placed on learner, newness in situation, unexpected changes in routine) Recognition of triggers and events = better understanding on how to predict and change challenging behaviour Use an A-B-C chart (Antecedents, Behaviour, Consequences)  Behaviour serves a specific purpose Behaviour = child’s way of communicating Put yourself in the learner’s position (what did you gain by engaging in this challenging behaviour?) Answering above mentioned question directly leads to triggers In order to find anything, you must be looking for something Try to determine the function of the behaviour Four main areas of communication summarized on following page - Seen during aversive situations - When children are ignored or have to - Used as request to terminate, little contact with others postpone or withdraw from activity - Attempt to request attention or interaction - Attempt to request proximity and - CB increases as demands increase interaction with others - Task creates intolerable feeling of - CB gets the child the attention they panic, no control want (serves its purpose) - Seen when children are denied access - Behaviour aiming to provide specific to an object or activity sensory consequences (auditory, - Self-injurious behaviour is often a visual or tactile) reaction to frustration or feeling of - Seen when encounter with too much powerlessness and injustice sensory stimulation - Stereotypic body-rocking can provide kinaesthetic stimulation - Ignore behaviour to determine if it is sensory feedback motivated …  Represents the supports all learners need to develop emotionally and socially Explain to parents how emotions develop as kids will look to them as example Parents should help shape children’s character (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship) Learners need to be taught how to safely and affectively seek attention Teachers can build emotional intelligence by being warm and attentive Teachers need to teach emotional vocabulary for children to be able to express themselves  All learners must learn coping skills allowing them to safely, effectively and diplomatically negotiate adversity Both parents and teachers should help learners learn to cope with negative emotions by helping develop their social skills Consistency is very important – rules should always apply Teachers can create daily routines and visible schedules for learners to be able to anticipate what comes next Teachers should try and keep activities interesting and can adapt the physical environment to better suit the activities Ignore minor inappropriate behaviour, make sure to provide a lot of positive attention and encouragement and praise where needed  Parents should set consistent limits and provide effective instructions. Parents should foster socio-emotional skills like cooperative play, empathy, self- calming, and conflict resolution. Teachers should follow a four-step assessment strategy: describing the behaviour, triggers, functions, and setting events. Choice-making interventions are effective as they provide learners with efficient ways to exert control, express preferences, and indicate wants and needs. Teachers should avoid emotionally overwhelming situations and help individuals identify activities and tasks that induce stress. Make use of contingency mapping which depict the antecedent, the challenging behaviour, and the natural consequences of the behaviour Integration of Social Stories to describe a behaviour and the anticipated behaviour associated with each.  Very useful for children with delays/persistent challenges Intervention = replacing challenging behaviour with socially appropriate behaviour Help children pinpoint more appropriate messages that will be more acceptable for people around them Those lacking verbal skills will need to use symbols, gestures or devices to communicate effectively New communication alternative needs to be as effective and easy to perform as the challenging behaviour Escape motivated: alternative signs for asking for help or time out (symbol) Attention seeking: Calling device (teacher should react promptly to the calling device) Tangible-consequence: Encourage choice making Sensory-feedback: Try preventing/reducing as this one is very challenging – – – - Difficulty in - Neurological factors understanding written or - Inherited factors spoken word - Educational factors - Difficulty in speaking, thinking, reading, writing and numerical skills - Dys = difficulty with - lexia = language or words - calculia = calculus or maths - graphia = writing - praxia = action or doing - Language: word sounds, grammar, meaning - Reading: visual diff between similar letter shapes, auditory diff in sounds, blending of sounds - Spelling: bidirectional with reading, also affect writing  – Strength in areas controlled by right side of the brain Poor speech Might have a natural flare for 1 or more of the arts Difficulty with fluent reading May have well-developed narrative skills Difficulty with spelling High level reasoning skills Difficulty with writing and copying words Well-developed spatial-orientation skills Poor organization and expression in Observation skills written work Poor rhyming skills, letter-sound Listening skills and phoneme knowledge Memory skills Poor decoding skills Short term and working memory, Phonological awareness, Speed processing, Sequencing skills, Auditory and/or visual perception, Spoken language, Motor skills  Multi-modal approach (visual, tactile, auditory) Group work to encourage collaborative thinking Assigning a study buddy Encouraging remedial/occupational Difficulty with reception number therapy tasks Encouraging and praising when Difficulty with comprehension of appropriate numbers or arithmetic Positive support = reduces anxiety Difficulty with production of quantitative and spatial Avoidance of to much of the to difficult information work Apply curriculum differentiation strategies Poor written skills Customized pencil grips Messy handwriting Wide-ruled paper Strange wrist, paper, body Providing types copies of classroom notes positioning when writing Providing a scribe Poor pencil grip Providing assistive technology Poor letter formation Providing extra time for tasks Mix print, cursive, upper and lower case Assessing orally Inconsistent spacing Adapting test formats Tires quickly when writing Trouble keeping track of thought - Affects fine and gross motor skills, motor planning and coordination - Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) - Inability to plan, organize and execute coordinated voluntary motor activity (absence of intellectual or neurological condition) - Hidden handicap Delays in motor milestones Obstacle courses Difficulty with motor activities Physical activities Difficulty with dealing with complex Practice fine motor skills tasks Focus on organizational skills Difficulty in functional tasks Slow and hesitant in most actions Anxious, highly distractable and poor - Poorly organized attention span - React to all stimuli - Poor attention span - Poor performance in math - Unable to follow instructions - Diff fluent and legible handwriting  Use different colours Assist with memory for each subject recall Review tasks before Mnemonic devices aid in due date retention and retrieval of learned info Keep time logs – maximum times for Teach with SCREAM hand-in variable: Encouragement to S= structure build up learner self C= Clarity esteem R= Redundancy E= Enthusiasm Learner contracts A=Appropriate rate M= Maximized Reduce homework engagement Monitor time spent Systemic use of Teach problem solving repetition ensuring new skills acquired Teach reading becoming automatic comprehension strategies and consolidated Allow learners to practice reading ahead of time Introduce a personal dictionary of key terms Reduce copying tasks Allow extra time or create shorter tests Grade only on content not spelling or handwriting – – - Personal - Environmental - Related directly to the learner - Imposed by society or the - Require varying levels of environment support - Classified as socio-economic - E.g. disability or personal barriers support system - Have far-reaching negative effects on learning - Provides an understanding of the importance of a child’s basic needs - These needs have to be met for children to be able to exercise their true strength and potential - The theory can be used to identify what unmet needs of a child would impede ther learning - Useful in understanding the social context of the child and the role of various stakeholders in a child’s development - Explains the multidirectional of relationships within the microsystem and mesosystem - Children influence and are influenced by the systems - Can be used to identify the factors that impede a child’s learning at each level of the system along with necessary support Changes in social structures have negatively impacted communities, family life, employment, educational opportunities and the education of children Increasing levels of poverty Lack of proper health care Unemployment Insecure living conditions Unplanned urbanisation Breakdown of family life Violence, abuse and Disease corruption Death and increasing moral Effects of HIV decline Education through medium Increase in crime of second language  Health and safety risks Disabilities and difficulties: Poverty Barriers to learning Contextual Poor educational disadvantage: conditions: Barriers to Barriers to learning learning  - 53.8% is earning less that the “poverty line - Unemployment rate = 27.1% - Children are prone to health and safety risks (e.g. malnutrition, disease, infection, injury) - These risks can cause physical, cognitive, neurological or sensory problems - Cycle can also be followed in an anti-clockwise direction - Overcrowded housing - Large families, sick caregivers, - Poor water supply teenage pregnancies - Poor sanitation and hygiene facilities - Unemployment (long distance work) - Insufficient and nutritionally poor - Lack of supportive networks food resources - Alcohol abuse, family violence and - Poor health access physical and sexual abuse of children