Autism
What is autism?
Autism disorder is a common term for a group of difficult disorders of brain development that is affecting many children today. The disorder can be characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction,
verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors (Autism Speaks, 2013)
Over the years the
number of children who have been diagnosed with autism has grown. Although
there are some programs out there that are geared to children with autism, I
have found that there are many children who families are not in the position to
have their children in those programs and these children end up in childcare
centers where the workers are not trained to work with children with autism. The
lack of knowledge of autism in childcare centers in the urban areas is causing
these children who are in these centers not to receive the quality care that
they need.
I enjoyed reading your blog about autism. I agree that the lack of knowledege about children with autism is the biggest issue. As a society we need to do better in educating teachers and adminstrators.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you acknowledge that there is a direct correlation between lack of knowledge and lack of quality care. The simple fix is to educate the childcare staff about autism and hope that they are equipped to better serve that population. The one thing that troubles me about professional development solutions is how much responsibility and accountability we place on teachers after inadequate trainings. Often times these trainings are one and done and there is usually no followup support.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lack of knowledge about what to do when these children come to our classrooms and that leads to a lack of quality in what we can provide for them in a program. One day trainings, one class in special education does not cut it, you need monthly trainings over a year, a certificate or degree, and follow up with a monthly quality coach in the classroom who can give additional help and observation to teachers.
DeleteThis is why I went back to school and got another master's degree in special education with a certificate in Autism because of all the children that I was getting in my classroom that have Autism. In Southern California were I live there is an increase in Autism due to what people feel are the environmental concerns of our area. Thank you for having this blog dedicated to Autism.
ReplyDeleteThis certainly is an informative post about autism. I would like to add that other potential barriers to early intervention include community shortages of specialists who can perform diagnostic evaluations and of appropriate therapy programs available (Autism Speaks.org, 2015). “Early screening is an important first step,” says Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Rob Ring. “But without timely diagnostic follow through, this isn’t enough to ensure that families are getting access to the quality intervention programs they want. Autism Speaks’ researchers are working for families in this area by helping to understand the causes of these disconnects in order to avoid them in the future…Jay
ReplyDeleteReferences: Autism study finds advances towards early screening, concerns about path to intervention. Retrieved from https://www.autismspeaks.org/about-us/press-releases/autism-speaks-study-advances-early-screening-concerns-early-intervention