Strategies to Help Students With Autism
Your class is running smoothly when a student erupts. He is shouting, kicking, hitting. The "tantrum" lasts 10-20 minutes. Afterward, you and your class try to recoup a sense of normalcy. The student, exhausted, is sleeping. The student, who has autism, had what is called a meltdown.
One of the fastest growing disability categories, autism spectrum disorder is a neurological developmental disability that affects social interaction, communication, and behavior. While estimates vary, experts say that 4 or 5 per 10,000 children have autism spectrum disorder. Most children with high functioning autism, also called Aspergers syndrome, participate in general education classes, while children with pervasive autism spectrum disorder or low functioning autism are most often taught in self-contained classes. However, these children may be placed in some general education classes to help them improve their social skills.
To meet the needs of this growing population, special and general education teachers need to know the many characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorder, the extreme diversity among these children, and strategies to work effectively with them...