Student Profile
Child A is a 12 year old boy in Grade 7 with a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome, which is an autistic spectrum disorder, according to the criteria given in DSM IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). These criteria include impairment in social interaction; repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour; significant impairment in social, occupational or other areas of functioning; no clinically significant delay in language of cognitive development. It should be noted that DSM IV has now been superseded by DSM V which has removed Asperger’s as a specific diagnosis and incorporated it into autistic spectrum disorders (APA, 2013); however, many professionals disagree with this and continue to make use of DSM IV when diagnosing autistic spectrum disorders (Wing, Gould, & Gillberg, 2011).
Child A is cognitively highly intelligent, with particular abilities in maths. In reading and writing his levels are slightly above average for his age. He is verbally articulate, although the content of his speech is not always appropriate.
Child A has extremely sensitive auditory and visual perception. He finds noise extremely difficult to cope with; he is very sensitive to light levels and visual stimuli. For example, at primary school he had significant problems which were found to be due to the classroom décor, which incorporated very bright colours and vivid visual stimuli. He is very sensitive to any invasion of his personal space, and cannot bear to be touched; he finds crowds and large groups very hard to cope with. These types of sensory dysfunction are characteristic of autistic spectrum disorders (Rogers & Ozonoff, 2005).
In terms of social impairment, Child A’s difficulties are severe. He is virtually unabl...
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...C. E., Van Dyke, M., & Wood, J. J. (2011). Restricted interests and anxiety in children with autism. Autism, 16(3), 306-320.
Tasmanian Department of Education. (2014). Guidelines for Individual Education Planning - Students with Disability. Hobart: Tasmanian Government.
Troyb, E. O., Tyson, K., Helt, M., Eigisti, I.-M., Stevens, M., & Fein, D. (2014). Academic abilities in children and adolescents with a history of autism spectrum disorders who have achieved optimal outcomes. Autism, 35(4), 233-243.
Villani, V., Parsons, A. E., Church, R. P., & Beetar, J. P. (2012). A Descriptive Study of the Use of Restraint and Seclusion in a Special Education School. Child and Youth Care Forum, 41(3), 295-309.
Wing, L., Gould, J., & Gillberg, C. (2011). Autism spectrum disorders in the DSM-V: Better or worse than the DSM-IV? Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(2), 768-773.
It is essential that all students have access to a quality education and an inclusive education system should meet their diverse needs. The Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development [DEECD] (2014) stipulates that education providers must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to support students with disabilities to comply with the standard. Graduate teachers should also demonstrate an understanding of legislative requirements and be able to identify teaching strategies that support the involvement and learning of students with disabilities (AITSL, 2014). They should understand the importance of focusing on what a student with a disability can do and work with the student’s strengths. A graduate teacher should know what resources, agencies and assistive technologies are available to support the learning needs of a student with a disability.
Recently, controversial changes to the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V) have been the topics of heated discussions in the psychiatric world. The more recent Fifth Edition (DSM V) has been released with changes that now group all of the sub- categories of Autism in to one. Some of the community views this change as a personal attack on their identity while others are welcoming the change.
Slaughter, Virginia, Ph.D. "Autism." Magill’S Medical Guide (Online Edition) (2013): Research Starters. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Early intervention is effective in treating autism spectrum disorder in many ways. One important way it has been proven effective by research is by increasing a child’s cognitive skills. When a child is first diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, they will likely be diagnosed as having a cognitive delay. Research shows that early invention services, such as applied behavior analysis, occupational, and speech therapy has helped increase IQ scores in children with autism spectrum disorder. In one study, children who received up to twenty hours a week of early intervention services had an average rise in IQ points of 17.6 (Solis, 2010). This increase in cognitive skills benefited children in the classroom setting. After receiving extensive early intervention treatment, children typically performed better on standardized testing. With an increase in cognitive skills and better achievement on standardized testing, children were able to be placed in less restrictive classroom settings (Smith, 199...
"A Parent's Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder." NIMH RSS. N.p., 2011. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
3. Mesibov, G., Lynn, A. and Klinger, L. 1997. Autism; Understanding the Disorder. New York: Plenum Press
II. In addition, every autistic child is recognized by particular symptoms and each patient is treated differently
Asperger’s is one disorder of many in the Autism Spectrum. The Autism Spectrum includes early infantile autism, childhood autism, Kanner’s autism, high-functioning autism, atypical autism, pervasive developmental disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and Asperger’s (“American Psychiatric Association,” 2013). All disorders found in the spectrum are neurodevelopmental disorders. These types of disorders deal with impairments of development and growth of the brain and nervous system (Lord & Bishop, 2010). Each disorder found in the spectrum may have similarities, but are different from one another too. Asperger’s was not a part of the Autism Spectrum until the latest update of DSM-5 in 2013. It was classified as its own category, but now is an Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD (Macintosh & Dissanayake, 2004). The moving of Asperger’s Syndrome into the Autism Spectrum took place because of the various similarities to ASDs.
The classroom is a diverse place where learners from all different genres of life meet. Included in these learners are those that display learning disabilities. According to the British Columbia School Superintendent’s Association, ‘learning disabilities refer to a number of conditions that might affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information. These disorders affect learning in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average abilities essential for thinking and/or reasoning’. They also posit that ‘learning disabilities result from impairments in one or more processes related to perceiving, thinking, remembering or learning. These include, but are not limited to language processing,
Seltzer, M. M., Shattuck, P., Abbeduto, L., & Greenberg, J. S. (2004). Trajectory of development in adolescents and adults with autism. Mental retardation and developmental disabilities research reviews, 10(4), 234-247.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that effects the brains development. It is characterized by affecting communication, cognition and social interaction. The spectrum of the disorders ranges from a mild condition called Asperger’s syndrome to a more severe form, which severely impairer’s development. The Office of Communications and Public Liaison states that the disorder affects one and eighty-eight children, however ASD effects boys more frequently than girls (Office of Communications and Public Liaison, 2013). ASD emerges in all age, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. The significant varied character and severity of the disorder is why ASD is considered a spectrum that poses a broad range of symptoms.
These five developmental disorders are commonly known as Autism Spectrum Disorders. “The most common are Autism, Asperger's syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) (www.learningdisabilitiesinfo.com).” Severe Autism, Rett Syndrome, and CDD are usually recognized before a child reaches the age of three. However, high-functioning Autism and Asperger’s are often times not discovered until a child enters school. High-functioning Autism and Asperger’s are frequently compared, considering children with these disorders express the same traits and characteristics. Conversely, the main difference between the two disorders is pragmatics, or language skills. A child with Asperger’s Syndrome is capable of communicating, but due to their social and developmental impairments, they cannot appropriately communicate with their peers. On the other hand, a child with Autism lacks language skills and requires spec...
One precious little girl, charming responses, and thirty well spent minutes adds up to a successful Piaget project. The time spent on interviewing a child for cognitive development was insightful, and gave me a first hand look at how a child’s mind matures with age.
Child A struggled the most with writing, including spelling and pronunciation of words as well as counting and recall of number facts in maths. Provisions that the class teacher and school put in place included intervention groups outside of the classroom, where the child would go with an adult to a separate room to complete the class task or to use online support programmes suc...
A child with a disability is having someone that has been diagnosed whether at birth, from an illness, or an accident that can leave a person with a disability. Sometime a person may not be diagnosed until years later. This disability which will not allow a person to function on a regular day to day basis. Therefore, someone has to take on that responsibility to assist that child to make sure they are taken care of. A child can be born with multiple disabilities and this is only to name a few: Down’s Syndrome, Autism, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD), Mental Retardation. Each disability can be different. Some can be more severe than others. they can come from different cultures and financial status. Even as a person grows older a disability can occur.