Running head: ACTION RESEARCH

Black and Latino Autistic Children and Their Experience with Educational Human Service

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Black and Latino Autistic Children and Their Experience with Educational Human Service

It is very important to evaluate and understand educational experience of autistic Black

and Latino children. In the past, it has been believed that autism is associated with family income

status, lifestyle and educational levels but this is not necessarily true. It is caused by diagnosis

and access to treatment services and ethnical background. Most Black and Hispanic children do

not have access to medical services as the White children. The question is, are Black and Latino

autistic children having a bad educational human service experience?

To establish the answer to the above question, I interacted with some of the children at

school through observing their behavior, how they are treated by other students as well how their

teachers handle them. Autistic children have the right to public educations the same way normal

children do. If it is evident that these children are not having a good time at school or even at

home, then one should ask themselves if something that can be done to improve their experience.

The opportunity to stay with them, ensures their experience are well understood therefore it is

likely to devise ways of helping them (Mandell et al, 2002)

Autistic students especially the Black and Latino find it difficult to keep up with their

peers and in most cases the feel isolated from the others. 3 out four autistic students were either

Black or Latino and in most cases they are found lonely. During break time they just sit alone, no

one to interact with. Their learning capabilities are relatively lower to those of normal children.

This makes them frustrated and in most cases these children

Autistic children require maximum attention from their teachers as well as support from

peers. I found that autistic children are more likely to excel if they are given enough attention.

They should stay close to their teachers or their academic assistants. A few children also claimed
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that teachers harass them in class when they cannot perform as expected. One Black student said

that his mathematics teacher always criticize him and gave him negative remarks every time he

answered a question. To ascertain myself, I took some observation and found that a few teachers

do not handle autistic students appropriately in a manner they deserve (Humphrey, & Symes,

2010).

Autistic children can do much better with graphical information. These children are

visual thinkers in most cases. Most of them can easily understand visual information and respond

to them correctly. This children also like art, music and computer studies, they can do well in

these fields. In other contexts, they could rarely ask or answer any questions in class.

After observing students patterns and collecting data it was found that the most affected

children were the minority groups, which are the Black and Hispanic children. Although the

White children can be excluded from these experience, the majority, say 75 percent of the

affected children were the Black and Hispanic children.

Additionally, I found that primary education is way favorable to autistic children. This is

because, at this level of education children are much closer to their teachers and the number of

students in class is small as compared to high school where the population of students in a class

is usually large. It is difficult for a teacher to be close to these students enough to identify their

difficulties. Most of the Black and Latino autistic students complained of bullying especially

from the other students. This makes them feel as if there is a barrier between them and the other

students. This perception creates a negative energy towards education (Humphrey, & Symes,

2010).

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Teachers and training assistants lack the required skill in handling autistic children. As

some children complained of having bad experience with their teachers and assistance, it is clear

that these teachers do not have enough training and skills of dealing with autistic children. It also

shows that they are not receiving support from their teachers as well as their peers in school.

To ensure their experiences are improved, parents and teachers should work closely with

these children. The first step is motivating them at school and even at home. Teachers should be

adequately trained to help handle autistic children. Good teaching and teacher support can help

them improve on their performance. Since it has been found that these children can do better

with visual information, they should be encouraged to undertake such studies like art, drawing

and computer studies among other studies with graphical content. Teachers should work very

closely with this children to identify their weakness and help them overcome them. Teachers

should avoid using long verbal instructions Eikeseth et al, 2002).

Parents should also be in the forefront in ensuring that these children are given enough

support. Parents should always consult with teachers to know the progress of their children.

While at home, autistic children should give be given academic support. This can be done

through giving them academic assistance to help them while at home.

More educational support from parents through assigning academic assistants at home

This research is very significant since it is aimed at obtaining the educational experience

of black and autistic children. This observation made and the analysis can be used to improve

what this children are experiencing. Implementing the recommendation above will improve their

educational experience as well as their performance in class. Undertaking this research involves

interacting with the children to observe their academic patterns. To obtain accurate results, it

necessary to involve at least 100 children who can then be divided to groups of 10.
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References

Eikeseth, S., Smith, T., Jahr, E., & Eldevik, S. (2002). Intensive behavioral treatment at school

for 4-to 7-year-old children with autism a 1-year comparison controlled study. Behavior

modification, 26(1), 49-68.

Humphrey, N., & Symes, W. (2010). Perceptions of social support and experience of bullying

among pupils with autistic spectrum disorders in mainstream secondary schools.

European Journal of Special Needs Education, 25(1), 77-91.

Mandell, D. S., Listerud, J., Levy, S. E., & Pinto-Martin, J. A. (2002). Race differences in the

age at diagnosis among Medicaid-eligible children with autism. Journal of the American

Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(12), 1447-1453.