Teaching Communication Skills to Students with Autism

Autism Communication

According to Avramidis and Norwich, (2002), there are an array of factors that deter educators from fully accepting and embracing the inclusion principle when teaching in regards to children with special needs. It is assumed that for a program to be successful in schools especially with regard to inclusive policy, there is much dependence on the positive attitude of the educators. In this case children with special educational and intellectual needs’ integration and inclusion in the school curriculum as well as mainstream school, in relation with the educators’ attitudes displayed. For tutors to be able to successfully teach students with special needs, they ought to embrace a positive spirit and attitude towards the job through acceptance.

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Although the educators’ attitudes may be positive, it is influenced in a great way by the severity of the student’s special needs. On another front, the availability of educational aspects such as human as well as physical support tend to influence the success and inclusion attitudes of the teachers. Special needs education require the availability of educational facilities that ease the training and learning of the students and also the teachers’.

De Boer, Pijl &Minnaert (2010), explain more on the school teachers’ important role when it comes to dealing with and implementing an inclusive education when it comes to the case of special students with intellectual disabilities. They go ahead to stress more on the importance of positive attitude in regard to see the end success of the all-inclusive education change for the special students. A positive attitude influences the students to learn faster and embrace the school curriculum. It also affects the social participation of the students both in school and beyond the education surroundings.

Students With Special Needs

In as much as the attitude of school teachers have an impact on the teaching of students and pupils with special needs, there is also needs to look at the aspects that result in the different attitudes portrayed by the educators. Among them is tutors educational training in dealing with students with special needs, there is experience too that comes with time, this enables educators gain skills on how to handle different cases of students’ with special needs (Mechling, 2007). The type of disability of the students too have an influence in the way teachers view the education program.

Next, there are different methods through which students with special needs can use be easily incorporated into the school curriculum. Agran, Cavin & Wehmeyer (2006) argue that the self-determined learning model of instruction (SDLMI) is the new found approach through which students with intellectual disabilities ranging from moderate to severe cases, can use to in improve on their academic skills thus overflowing to social and communication skills.

They further give evidence pertaining the success of this strategy. For instance a few students under the special needs category were chosen with disabilities ranging from moderate to severe, and instructed to take part in the a self-regulated directed learning as well as other activities related to general life such as problem solving and creative thinking. The results were profound as the students acquired remarkable academic skills and continued maintaining the level till mastery level (Agran, Cavin & Wehmeyer, 2006)). With the self-determination model, students with special needs do not have to rely on others as they develop their skills and grow with academic skills. This developed a positive attitude and perception from all stakeholders including the teachers as it promotes independence on both ends not relying on educators but rather just following instructions to the latter.

Social participation is essential for all students. The focus on special needs students as written and explained by Koster, Pijl, Nakken & Housten, (2010). They explore the different aspects pertaining social participation such as friendships with both fellow pupils with special needs and those without special needs, interactions, the individual student’s self-perception when alone or in a group of peers and the being accepted by classmates. It is discovered that most of the aspects are higher with students without special needs compared to the students with special needs. It is essential to teach the special needs students communication skills as it can be applied in all aspects of life both in education and outside class with friends, family members and eh society without having to feel out of place.

References

Avramidis, E., and Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers’ attitudes towards integration/inclusion: a review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17(2), 129-147

Brantlinger, E., Jimenez, R., Klingner, J., Pugach, M. & Richardson, V. (2005). Qualitative studies in special education. Exceptional children. 71(2), 195-207

Agran, M., Cavin, M., Wehmeyer, M., &Palmer, S. (2006). Participation of students with moderate to severe disabilities in the general curriculum: the effects of the self- determined learning model of instruction. Research and practice for persons with severe disabilities, 31(3), 230-241

Carter, E.W., & Hughes, C. (2006). Including high school students with severe disabilities in general education classes: perspectives of general and special educators, paraprofessionals and administrators. Research and practice for persons with severe disabilities , 31(2), 174-185

De Boer, A., Pijl, S.J. & Minnaert, A. (2011). Regular primary schoolteachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education: a review of the literature. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(3), 331-353

Koster, M., Nakken, H., Pijl, S. J., & Van Houten, E. (2010). Social participation of students with special needs in regular primary education in the Netherlands. International Journal of disability, Development and Education, 57(1), 59-75

Mechling, L. C. (2007). Assistive technology as a self-management tool for prompting students with intellectual disabilities to initiate and complete daily tasks: a literature review. Education and Training in Development Disabilities, 252-269