AUTISM

BY GROUP 2
Causes

• Numerous causes of autism

have been proposed over the
years.

• For a long time it was thought

that parents who were
indifferent to the emotional
needs of their children caused
autism.
• During the 1950s and 1960s Bruno Bettelheim perpetuated the
notion that autism could be attributed to the psychopathology of
parents.
• Bettelheim (1967) theory of psychogenesis claimed that autism
was an outcome of disinterested, cold parents.
• Mothers of children with autism were called “refrigerator
mothers”
• But it was never been discovered.
• In 1977, the National Society for Autistic Children (today the
Autism Society of America) stated, “No known factors in the
psychological environment of a child have been shown to cause
autism”.
• “it is clear that autism reflects the operation of factors in the
developing brain”(National Research Council)
• Experts now suspect that genes may make a child more
susceptible to autism but that environmental factors may trigger
it.
• It is not known what causes autism.
• The current theory among autism genetics researchers supports
the idea of complex inheritance.
• Multiple genetic factors are likely to be involved, in addition to
having the right combination of autism-related genes, exposure to
certain environmental factors might lead to the development of
autism in some individuals.
• Some hypothesis leads to involve immunization in the factors that
causes autism but no evidence has been found.
EDUCATIONAL APPROACHES

• In recent years, a great

deal of exciting and
promising research is
contributing to better
futures for children
with autism and their
families.
CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF EARLY INTENSIVE
BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION

• One of the earliest and most powerful examples of the potential

of systematic early intervention on the lives of children with
autism with autism is the work f Ivar Lovaas and his colleagues at
the University of California at Los Angeles.
• In 1987 Lovaas reported the results of a study that provided a
group of 19 children with autism with an intensive early
intervention program of one-to-one behavioral treatment for more
than 40 hours per week for 2 years or more before they reached
age 4.
• When compared with a similar group, the children
in the early intervention group had gained 20 IQ
points and had major advances in educational
achievement.
• Although some questioned the validity of this
research the work was a landmark
accomplishment in the education of children with
autism.
APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

• The methods used in the Lovaas early intervention

project were derived from applied behavior analysis
(ABA).
• ABA is a systematic approach for designing, conducting,
and evaluating instruction based upon scientifically
verified principles describing how the environment
affects learning.
• The perspective of ABA, “autism is a syndrome of
behavioral deficits and excesses that have a biological
basis but are nonetheless amenable to change through
carefully orchestrated, constructive interactions with
the physical and social environment.”
• ABA uses behavioral principles such as positive
reinforcement to teach children skills in a planned,
systematic manner.
• Because of the documented accomplishments of
some children with autism after receiving
intensive ABA therapy, many have been
advocating for ABA programs.
• But, misunderstandings about ABA are
widespread.
• One of the misconceptions is the belief that ABA consists only of
discrete trial training (DTT).
• ABA programming uses a variety of procedures to
help individuals with autism acquire and
generalize new skills.
• The following is a partial list of systematic
strategies based on ABA.
 Strategies for shifting control over a student’s responses
from contrived stimuli to naturally occurring stimuli and
events he encounters in his environment
Peer-mediated interventions for social relationships
Methods of errorless discriminating learning.
Development of stimulus equivalence class in which
students learn relationships that are not thought directly
Pivotal response intervention
Naturalistic language strategies.
STRATEGIES TO HELP CHILDREN WITH
AUTISM COPE WITH SOCIAL SITUATIONS
AND INCREASE THEIR INDEPENDENCE
IN THE CLASSROOM
Social stories and Picture activity schedules are
two relatively new and promising interventions
for students with autism.
Social Stories

• Social stories explain social situations and concepts,

including with ASD. (Autism spectrum disorder)
• It can answer a child’s question about concepts and
provide information about social behavior.
• It can be used to describe a situation and expected
behaviors, explain simple steps for achieving certain
goals or outcomes, and teach new routines and
anticipated actions
•
Storytelling
Picture Activity Schedules

• Most behavioral problems associated with

children with autism seem to stem from a limited
communication repertoire. In other words they
are not able to tell you their wants or needs.
An activity schedule consists of pictures or
words that describe a sequence of activities.
Example of visual activity schedules
EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENT
ALTERNATIVES
REGULAR CLASSROOM

• Inclusion is a necessary, but not likely

sufficient, condition for social
interaction interventions for young
children with autism.
ACTIVITY SCHEDULES AND ACTIVE KIDS

• Activity schedules can be a major tool for

promoting independence.

• An activity schedules essentially exchanges

one form of prompting for another.
Multimedia Activity Schedules

• Children with autism attend very well to

two-dimensional images such as what
appears on television or computer monitors.
Children with autism have not only learned to independently follow
computer schedules but also learned skills such as:
• Slight word reading
• Spelling
• Daily living skills
• Functional play routines
• Social-communication skills
HOW TO GET STARTED
NOTEBOOK SCHEDULES

• Prerequisite skills, preparing a first

schedule, proceeding from teaching a child
to follow schedule to using them to foster
social skills.
MULTIMEDIA SCHEDULES

• Teachers should be comfortable with Microsoft

Powerpoint and with handling digital cameras and
images.
Resource Room

• A resource room is a separate,

remedial classroom in a school where students
with educational disabilities, such as specific
learning disabilities, are given direct, specialized
instruction and academic remediation and
assistance with homework and related
assignments as individuals or in groups.
Resource Room
CURRENT ISSUES AND FUTURE TRENDS

• The highly unique characteristics of individuals

with autism have fueled debates.
• A hotly debated current issue revolves around the
question of whether or not children with autism
can improve and permanently considered as
“recovered” from autism from the result of
effective education.
DISTINGUISHING UNPROVEN
INTERVENTIONS FROM
EVIDENCE-BASED
TREATMENTS
FACILITATED COMMUNICATION

• Facilitated communication, supported typing or

hand over hand, is a discredited technique used
by some caregivers and educators in an attempt
to assist people with severe educational and
communication disabilities. The technique
involves providing an alphabet board, or
keyboard.
FIVE STRATEGIES THAT WORK
TEACH COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL
COMPETENCE

• Use the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

 PECS teaches children to communicate with pictures and symbols

• Provide systematic instruction in imitation skills

 Imitation is critical to learning from and relating to others
• Plan opportunities for students with
disabilities to interact directly with typically
developing peers.
USE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES THAT
MAINTAIN THE CLASS’S NATURAL FLOW

• Rather than isolating children with disabilities to

provide individualized instruction, teach within
the context of developmentally appropriate
activities and routines.
TEACH AND PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR
INDEPENDENCE

• While interdependence is appropriate and normal

in human relationships, we also expect children
to become increasingly independent as they grow.
BUILD A CLASSROOM COMMUNITY THAT
INCLUDES ALL CHILDREN

• Classrooms are learning communities where

everyone can make a valuable contribution and
has something to learn.
PROMOTE GENERALIZATION AND
MAINTENANCE OF SKILLS

• Unless skills are demonstrated across a variety of

situations and maintained over time, children will
have limited ability to participate meaningfully in
inclusive environments.