Pre-Service Teacher Bachelor of Education (Primary)
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ALL THINGS EDUCATION
Australian pre-service teacher studying a Bachelor of Education (Primary).
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Figure 1: Potential Social and Physical Barriers in schools.
Initial Prototype:
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My prototype is exploring learning beyond the classroom for a cohort of grade three students. It will explore how accommodations can be made to assist the learning of students who may have ASD, to assist these students to feel comfortable with learning when in unfamiliar places or environments that are different to their typical classroom space. Although the prototype is targeted at a group audience, many of the strategies will be directed to a particular student in the class, Sam.
How does it impact the learning of grade three?
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In current times, there has been a noticeably positive shift in children with ASD being enrolled in mainstream Australian Schools, including better inclusive educative practices and provisions of support for students (Hodges, Joosten, Bourke-Taylor & Cordier, 2020). Despite, these improvements research suggests that students with ASD are continuing to experiences additional difficulties in schools due to their disability. Hodges et al. (2018), refer to these difficulties as “barriers” (p.2) which in many ways are compromising a student’s ability to participate and be actively engaged in classroom procedures. The barriers being referred to relate to the social and physical conditions that a student is being taught.
Below is a visual diagram that I created which highlights many of the social and physical barriers that may affect the educative performance of students with ASD whose learning needs are not being addressed.
How is Autism Spectrum Disorder presented in the classroom?
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Due to the nature of autism, it is not a one size fits all model. Therefore, when examining the characteristics of ASD in a classroom setting it makes it very difficult to pinpoint certain characteristics that may be presented in the classroom, as each person with ASD is very different, hence the term “spectrum”.
However, these are characteristics of a school environment for Primary-aged students:
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Classroom Routine:
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Students with ASD can become distressed when there are changes in routine. Therefore teachers need to create “predictable environments” and “familiar routines” for a child with ASD to feel safe (Raising Children, 2021, n.p.).
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Figure 2: Example of a visual classroom routine (The Autism Helper, 2020).
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Sensory Overload:
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Students with ASD often have particular “sensory sensitives” to certain senses, most commonly touch (Raising Children, 2021, n.p.). Schools need to create environments that allow children with ASD to be exposed to certain senses to help them feel secure.
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Students can also become overwhelmed or upset if there is too much “sensory overload” from things such as noise and light (Raising Children, 2021, n.p.).
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Figure 3: Example of sensory objects suitable for the classroom.
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Activity Transition:
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Students with ASD can often find it difficult to change from one classroom activity to another (Raising Children, 2021, n.p.). Teachers must provide clear and explicit communication when transitioning to different lessons.
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Figure 4: Example of an individualised learning plan to support activity transition (The Autism Helper, 2020).
Social Relationships with peers:
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Students with ASD sometimes prefer “solo play” rather than with others (The Spectrum, 2021).
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Facts and Statistics about Autism:
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In Australia 1 in 100 people are living with ASD (Scope, 2021).
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Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with Autism (Autism Speaks, 2018).
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1 in 34 boys identified with ASD in the USA (Autism Speaks, 2018).
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1 in 144 girls identified with ASD in the USA (Autism Speaks, 2018).
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It is estimated that 40% of people with ASD are non-verbal (Autism Speaks, 2018).
Figure 6: The percentage of the proportion of the top five difficulties for people with ASD in Education (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2017).
Figure 5: The Prevalence of ASD in Australia in 2009, 2012 and 2015 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2017).