Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

Autism Integrations Strategies Rachel Davey University of New England EDU 600

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

1. Autism Integration Strategies 2. I currently have an autistic student in my classroom that is nonverbal. We have a team that works together to create his program. It is my first time having an autistic student in my classroom and I was curious about new, systematic approaches to increase his success and progress. 3. Motivational Questions What are the specific environmental needs to help with an autistic childs success? What strategies work best with autistic students to promote progress and success? How do we provide the best education for autistic students within a general education classroom setting? 4. Search Strategies To obtain the information for this research project I first searched the ERIC database, for autism integration strategies. I only searched peer-reviewed material from January 2008 through January 2010. To locate additional information I searched for autism integration strategies in Google Scholar. 5. Abstracts from ERIC Sam Comes to School: Including Students with Autism in Your Classroom Inclusion in the general education classroom is becoming the placement of choice for many students with autism. Autism is a disorder that can impact many aspects of a child's learning experience. A child's profile along the continuum of Autism Spectrum Disorders dictates the

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

severity of impairment in language engagement, social connectedness, sensory integration, and cognitive skills. This can often be overwhelming for teachers who are uninformed and untrained in the unique issues of autism. Teacher awareness and understanding of behaviors and perceptions unique to these disorders can facilitate the development and implementation of strategies created specifically to ease this potentially overwhelming situation for students and teachers. Strategies for Supporting the Sensory-Based Learner Prevention of behavioral problems in school settings is essential. When the function of behavior communicates a sensory-based need, as it does for many learners with autism, teachers need to know what to do. Therefore, it is important for teachers to have varied strategies available for use in the support of such learners. The authors present behavioral descriptions and specific interventions for the sensory seeker, under responder, and over responder. In addition, the authors discuss techniques regarding the effective application of the strategies in the framework of behavior theory to address the dilemma of accidental reinforcement of problematic behaviors with sensory-based activities. The importance of meeting individual learner needs as the basis for comprehensive behavior change that balances environmental modification and skill development is the foundation of the approaches that the authors describe. Reports of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Following Intensive Behavioral Intervention Using the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK[R]) The current study presents case reports of six children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that received intensive applied behavior analysis within the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS[R]) system and successfully integrated into

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

mainstream education. The participants' interventions followed curricular objectives from the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK[R]), an empirically validated assessment tool and curriculum that improves outcomes for children with ASD and prepares for mainstream integration. Each case study presents acquisition of curricular objectives, rates of learning annually and results of independent psychological measures throughout the intensive behavioral intervention. This paper examines the variables (age of treatment onset, duration of treatment, presence of stereotypy or challenging behaviors prior to treatment), which may have influenced the successful integration of these participants into mainstream education settings. Transition from School to Adulthood for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Review and Recommendations The transition from school services to adulthood can be particularly difficult for many adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although some individuals with ASD are able to successfully transition, most are faced with significant obstacles in multiple areas as they attempt to negotiate their way into college, work, community participation, and independent living. This article contains a review of research related to the transition from school to adulthood for youth with ASD in the areas of education, employment, community living, and community integration. These key areas of the transition process are crucial for success in adulthood. A summary of principal conclusions drawn from the current literature and suggestions for future research are provided. Concept Mastery Routines to Teach Social Skills to Elementary Children with High Functioning Autism

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

Children with autism are included in general education classrooms for exposure to appropriate social models; however, simply placing children with autism with typical peers is insufficient for promoting desired gains in social skills. A multiple baseline design was used to explore the effects of concept mastery routines (CMR) on social skills for four elementary-age boys with high functioning autism. Visual and non-parametric analyses support the conclusion that small group instruction with typical peers via the CMR was effective for increasing responses, initiations, and recognition of emotional states. The skills taught in small groups generalized when the visual strategy of the completed concept diagram was taken to another setting. Most importantly, the four boys experienced improved social status following intervention. Increasing Independence in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Three Focused Interventions The features of autism that inhibit the independent demonstration of skills, as well as three effective interventions for increasing independence, are explored in this review article. Independent performance may prove difficult for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) due to the core deficits of the disability, as well as executive function deficits that impact initiation and generalization. These difficulties, coupled with intervention strategies that encourage over-reliance on adult support, contribute to poor long-term outcomes for adults with ASD in employment, housing, and relationship development. Self-monitoring, video modeling, and individual work systems each emphasize a shift in stimulus control from continuous adult management to an alternative stimulus and have proven successful in addressing executive function deficits and increasing independence.

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

The ASD Nest Program: A Model for Inclusive Public Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders The rate of children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has risen dramatically, to an estimated 1 in 150 children. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA), children with ASD are entitled to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. To ensure this, school districts are looking for ways to educate children with ASD that address their core challenges in least restrictive settings. The New York City Department of Education developed the ASD Nest Program to facilitate successful learning in an inclusive classroom. Essential to the success of this program are classroom modifications and a variety of strategies designed to meet the specific academic, behavioral, sensory, and social needs of students with ASD. This article describes the key elements of the ASD Nest model in order to demonstrate how intensive and multi-disciplinary programming can work in a large, urban school district. The Use of Social Story DVDs to Reduce Anxiety Levels: A Case Study of a Child with Autism and Learning Disabilities The study outlined here was an attempt to examine the use of Social Story DVDs as a singleintervention approach in addressing the issue of anxiety around turn taking in a child with dual diagnosis of autism and learning disability. The child selected was in a school for children with additional needs. The child was taught in a daily session focusing on the Social Story DVD materials around "turn taking" and accompanying "turn-taking" activities. Immediate peers were also included in the "turn-taking" sessions and the child would incorporate these skills with his peers in the classroom setting. The results showed that only through combining strategies and

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

combining interventions can the diverse range of individual needs of those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and learning disability be met. Using a sole intervention to address specific social deficits misses the complexity of ASD and each individual's uniqueness.

6. Other Abstracts Class Wide Peer Tutoring: An Integration Strategy to Improve Reading Skills and Promote Peer Interactions among Students with Autism and General Education Peers There is currently a strong educational movement to integrate students with autism and other disabilities with their general education peers. Research suggests that successful integration depends on the careful planning, development, and implementation of programs that emphasize both the academic and social needs of students with disabilities (Gaylord-Ross, 1989; Gresham, 1986; Sailor et al., 1989). In addition, for integration.

Foundations of the TEACCH Structured Teaching Approach The concept of structure has been fundamental to the TEACCH programs approach to working with individuals with ASD since its beginning. Eric Schopler and his colleagues, recognizing that the clinical approach of unstructured therapy based on psychoanalytic theory was unsuccessful, chose to pursue the opposite course. That is, the focus of their intervention efforts was developing highly structured settings for learning. The use of structure has continued to evolve in the four decades since the Schopler program was initially funded, and the TEACCH

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

method of working with individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has come to be called Structured Teaching (Schopler, Mesibov, & Hearsey, 1995). 7. References Friedlander, D. (2009). Sam Comes to School: Including Students with Autism in Your Classroom. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ821073). Hendricks, D. & Wehman, P. (2009). Transition from School to Adulthood for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Review and Recommendations. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ838045). Hume, K., Loftin, R., & Lantz J. (2009). Increasing Independence in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Three Focused Interventions. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ851635). McGarrell, M., Healy, O., Leader, G., OConnor, J., & Neil, K. (2009). Six Reports of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Following Intensive Behavioral Intervention Using the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK[R]). Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ838322). Mesibsv, G.B., Shea, V., & Schopler, E. (2004). Structured Teaching. In The TEACCH Approach to Autism Spectrum Disorder. (pp. 33 -51). New York, NY: Springer Science and Business Media Inc.

8. Article Summary and Review

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

Increasing Independence in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Three Focused Interventions Research has found that children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have both social and communicative impairments. Individuals with ASD also engage in repetitive and restrictive behaviors. All of these factors contribute to difficulties for students to perform individually. Students with ASD are often disengaged or redirected from these repetitive behaviors by an adult aide that is with them throughout the day. This creates a situation in which the autistic student is not always able to disengage themselves from these behaviors. It becomes difficult to fade away the intensive support provided by the aid or caregiver. This further impacts the students ability to demonstrate independent functioning. I found this particular article to be especially useful to me because there were three specific interventions highlighted to assist with building autistic students independence. The primary goal for this student is to wean him off from the dependence of his aide and to become more able to stabilize his daily routine independently. The first intervention I learned about was self-monitoring. Self-monitoring for ASD students, is learning to apply attention to their own behavior. This may be a behavior that the individual does not normally focus on. The self-monitoring intervention is designed to either increase a desired behavior or to decrease a problematic behavior. These self-monitoring strategies must be taught very specifically. The target behavior must be defined, a selfmonitoring intervention needs to be put into place, a reinforcer needs to be set, and the individual needs to be taught to self manage this process. When self-monitoring interventions have been

Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

successful it has been known to change the behavior of ASD individuals. They increase their daily living skills and reduce some of their repetitive behaviors. The next intervention suggested was video modeling. Video modeling would serve as a visual aid for the ASD student. A short video would be made with a model performing a task that the ASD student would be expected to perform. The model could be either a person that works with the ASD student or the student them self. There would be not prompts in the video. The video would simply show a model performing a task independently. The ASD student would then watch the video, perhaps several times to observe the task they are expected to perform. The ASD student can watch the video as many times as necessary to acquire the skill modeled in the video. The final intervention noted was individual work systems. An individual work system would include activities that an ASD student has already mastered with adult assistance. The student would be shown how to work the system, how much work there is to be completed, how to know when they are finished with the task, and what to do when finished. The work system would work in a left-to-right format. This would allow students to locate the to do pile on the left and move their completed work to a finished location on the right. Studies have shown that individual work systems have increased ASD students on task behavior and decreased the number of adult prompts needed. Having an autistic child in a general education classroom can be challenging for a teacher. This article helps to give some specific strategies to increase the childs independence. Studies show that the more independent an ASD student can become the more their repetitive

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Running head: AUTISM INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

behavior decreases and on task behavior increases. This is beneficial to the student as well as their teacher and peers. Hume, K., Loftin, R., & Lantz J. (2009). Increasing Independence in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Three Focused Interventions. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ851635).

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