Autism and Inclusion, Outline Example

Introduction

• Chart of the spectrum of autism.

The Importance of Inclusiveness

• “Inclusion is not the same as contact per se. Just being in the same classroom is not enough…Teachers need to have adequate skills to create supportive conditions to ensure that children benefit from and experience full social inclusion” (5).
• Friendships are harder to obtain for children with ASD (2).
• Positive peer relationships are helpful for children to progress socially and academically (2).
• The importance of acceptance (2).

Inclusive Classroom Environments

• Importance of Education
• “Inclusion is not just about ensuring that students with disabilities have access to regular education; it also includes ensuring that society also recognizes that these individuals have a right to an education enjoyed by their peers without disabilities.” (1)
• Importance of understanding and acceptance (2).
• “Belonging” in a community (2).
• Chart of behaviors often exhibited by children with ASD that may confuse or frighten others (2).
• Educate the students before the arrival of a child with ASD (2).

Involved Principals and Competent Teachers

1. Teachers can be intimidated by the challenge of teaching children with ASD (1).
2. Important to acknowledge the struggles of the student with ASD (2).
3. Not necessary for teachers to be “experts” on ASD (6).
4. Amount of support from principal directly relates to amount of inclusion (4).

Parental Support

• The first level of acceptance children with ASD experience, and therefore very important (1, 2).

The Techniques

• “As schools compete for parental confidence, barriers to learning and perceived ‘learning disabilities’ will need to be removed and preventable ‘teaching disabilities’ must be overcome (5).
• The Applied and Embedded Theories (1)
• Chart about full inclusion vs. non-full inclusion classrooms (3)
• “Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching” (7)
• More research is necessary (8).

Conclusion

• “Understanding and getting it right for children with ASD can be a way of getting it right for everyone” (6).