AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS
Human beings are designed in a particular order to function in a specific way. During pregnancy, the developing baby is expected to operate in a specific healthy way. However, that is not the case for a percentage of individuals. Those who are not born healthy or develop some condition that is not normal are considered to have a disorder. For instance, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition that relates to the development of the brain. The section of the brain that is responsible for social interaction and communication is impaired. The person’s perspective of others in society is distorted, which makes them interact differently with others. ASD also leads to a limited kand/or repetitive behavior of the person. Additionally, the term “Spectrum” in ADS refers to the symptoms and severity that accompany the disorder.
ASD is a condition that develops in early childhood and gradually increases to affect the individual and how they interact in society – school and work. Early symptoms of the disorder appear within the first year of the child; Afterward, the symptoms progress between 18-24 months of the child. So far, there is no known cure for ASD; however, intensive early detection and management of the disorder creates a big difference in the life of the individual. As an educational psychologist, I believe that it is imperative to understand and ASD vividly since we interact with students from all walks of life, including those with underlying conditions. Therefore, better understand this topic; the following research articles will be evaluated.
Longtin, S. (2014). PRACTICE BRIEF Interdisciplinary Support Services for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 27(3), 333-342. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1048785
Longtin saw the need to develop this Practice Brief in a bid to address the needs of students with Autism. The primary purpose of this Brief was to provide more information on the assistance of students with ASD to promote their academic and social performance. It was also to outline the education training and supervision for graduate student mentors, provide in-service training for faculty and to act as a point of reference, a resource in the library, to its target population. Going through the Brief, I realized that it describes the work among different program partners that managed to offer interdisciplinary, collaborative services for the students who elected to participate in the initiative and reports both the positive outcomes and challenges of the program. This article concludes with suggestions for the expansion of the practice, advocates for research opportunities on the efficacy of the model.
It is imperative to note that there is an increase in the number of students with high functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger syndrome (AS) – also referred to as ASD. They attend the institution of higher education (IHE). Besides, the number is set to increase in the coming years, in as much as it is not well known at this point. Research confirms that there is a steady increase in the number of HFS and AS students who join IHE. Therefore, these institutions must prepare adequately on how to deal with these increasing numbers. This research, for instance, is geared toward providing more information on the subject, in a bid to increase awareness and preparedness on the issue.
Furthermore, the success of these students leans on the extent to which they can be supported in the IHE. On the other hand, most of these student’s educational interactions – from preschool to high school, depended majorly on family, teachers, and therapists. However, once they reached colleges, their actions become their responsibility: they are left to cater for their own needs. For instance, they are unable to secure reasonable and convenient accommodation facilities in the institutions quickly. They have to go through a stringent process to acquire one – providing information on their disability to the designated disabilities office of the institution and then self-advocate for the same rooms. Ideally, there should be programs crafted to back-up students with HFA/AS in situations such as this one.
Therefore, numerous researches are being conducted currently, in what is termed as emerging literature, to help in rectifying the current situation. However, these programs sometimes prove to be expensive – adding more stress to the disabled families’ financial statuses. According to this research, we learn that the infrastructure of the IHE could provide collaborative clinical services to HFA students. However, they outlined that more financial funding was necessary for the future, especially from the institution’s administration. The funding would help the program in specific areas and would ease the financial stress that the students have.
While going through the Brief, I realized that during its grant period, several people came together to look into the matter. For instance, the disabilities services and the clinical staff from different levels in the institution, along with the academic departments, came together and established a common ground to provide the needed services to the HFA/AS students. Consequently, much time and effort are required to maintain and manage the program beyond the Brief duration. In essence, the success of the program would require different personnel – such as the program coordinator, mentor supervisor, and graduate mentors, to step up and act accordingly.
The program encountered several challenges, such as the improper planning time and the short-term nature of the funding that they received. This hurdle led to the Brief’s rushing and led to a subjective finding. The research was done and concluded in four months, meaning that the results were subjective. Moreover, the co-applicants and other program partners did not have adequate planning time. Therefore, the outcomes of the research were not as detailed as would have been in the presence of time. Furthermore, many of the students required more time with their mentors.
On the bright side, all of the program partners accepted their added responsibilities in a bid to create change. They did not alter their standard working time and commitments in their institutions but instead incorporated the program into their daily routine. Despite the time frame for the project, it was considered a success by numerous sources.
One of the recommendations concerning the program was that the academic office should, in the future, come up with more strategies to identify students with HFS/AS and enroll them in applications that would aide their stay in the IHEs. More so, the program could be enhanced further if the program partners would join hands and provide additional services in a bid to help the selected population. This will not only increase the graduation and retention of the students but also enable them to have a fruitful learning experience.
On the other hand, this research was vital in the sense that the assessment for the mentees could be expanded to include quality of life measures. This could lead to a more improved acquisition of knowledge and skills that would be a significant difference for the students. An evaluation of the HFS and AS students is something that the researchers factored in. The assessment would provide information on their retention, graduation, and career paths. Some of the areas that the assessors could consider are specific clinical knowledge and skills that they would have acquired during their learning process. Additionally, it was noted that further research on other institutions would be necessary for the sense that it would widen the scope of the study. This Brief took place in a small pilot study and could be employed to other institutions – all this in a bid to broaden the interdisciplinary model.
In essence, this research Brief should be the first of many others that aim at employing a comparison on a control group of students with HFS/AS. They should also consider the demographic characteristics when narrowing down on their sample group. The sample group would help the research to explore more questions that are related to the efficacy of the support system that he programs have to offer in campuses and IHE.
Wei, X., Wagner, M., Christiano, E.R.A., Shattuck, P., & Yu, J.W. (2014). Special education services received by students with autism spectrum disorders from preschool through high school. Journal of Special Education, 48(3), 167-179. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED575739.pdf
Wei and his associates realized that there is little information on Autism Spectrum Disorder concerning the education services that the children get. For instance, ASD differs from person to person – on age, disability levels, and to some extent, the demographic characteristics. They, therefore, sort of finding out how special education for ASD is administered using three set national datasets. They also considered the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS), the Special Educational Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS), and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2). The purpose of the study was to examine the age trends in special education services received by students with ADS from preschool through high school.
The study realized that Elementary-school students with ASDs had higher odds of receiving adaptive physical education, specialized computer software or hardware, and special transportation, but lower odds of winning learning strategies/study skills support than their preschool peers. Secondary-school students had lower odds of receiving speech/language or occupational therapy and of having a behavior management program, but higher odds of winning mental health or social work services than their elementary-school peers. Both disability severity and demographic characteristics were associated with differences in special education service receipt rates.
In the recent past, the diagnosis of ASD has been on the rise in the United States. There has also been an increase in support systems and services to help manage its symptoms. This research also showed that educational facilities, especially schools, play a significant role in helping students with ASD. The schools provide readily available services and provide a platform where outside assistance can be obtained concerning the management of the disorder. However, schools that offer support systems to the ASDs sometimes get too overwhelmed by the rising numbers of students who suffer the condition.
The literature review section of the research showed that ASDs significant symptoms such as communication difficulties, social interaction difficulties, and repetitive behavior could become a stumbling block for the students while in school. Therefore, to combat this hurdle, many schools ensure that they incorporate communication, social, and behavioral services to the students – offering them life skills to fit into their immediate group. Unfortunately, very little information is given on the specific special treatment and studies that the ASD students receive in the institutions of learning – preschool through high school. This reason prompted the need for this particular research, which focused on examining the differences in the receipt of special education services across a wide age span. It also examined the relationship to disability severity and considered the demographic characteristics using a selection of national data.
According to the research, families that are affected by ASD often seek treatment for their children. They tend to their level best in that they would find several therapy sessions to try and improve the state of their children’s lives. Further literature suggested that the services received for the ASD students differed with age, confirming that more services were rendered to the younger children as compared to the older ones. Additionally, the literature suggested that as the children aged, they moved from occupational therapy sessions to receive para-educator support.
Therefore, considering these results, it is clear that the educational priorities that the ASD students received shifted as they entered their adolescent stage. It also shows that age is a significant factor when it comes to how students experienced ASD services and support. Furthermore, the subsidy varies with the extent to which the student is disabled.
I realized that this study is one of its kind since it focused on the receipt rates for students with ASDs from preschool to high school, basing its arguments from three national datasets. It also unraveled that the second standard special education services that the ASDs in the study received were occupational therapy. The occupation therapy is imperative to these students since it was unraveled that there was a consistency in the high proportion of ASD students who received language and occupation treatment vis a vis those that had a severity of communication impairments. In other terms, these challenges could be improved with the therapy sessions that the students received.
The significant finding of this research was that age was a substantial factor in how ASD students received educational services. Additionally, it showed that the elementary students with ASD received less learning supports as well as attention due to their increase in numbers in recent years.
This research is essential in the sense that it will come in handy for policymakers, school personnel, and service providers to put more emphasis on how they treat and take care of the ASD students. It also acts as the backbone for which families can use to assess their involvement in taking care of their own. Ideally, the research outlines the changes, and the support needs that the ASDs need from preschool through high school. Therefore, it helps educators have a head start on how to deal with those transitions and alterations.
Conclusion
Any professional must understand how to go about their work. For instance, in Education psychology, it is critical to understand the human body functioning from a cognitive and behavioral perspective. Therefore, the two types of research have fostered my understanding of individual intelligence – under cognitive development and have also enabled me to unravel human motivation and self-regulation in the societies interaction. Furthermore, the quantitative method that was employed in the study fosters my ability to test and measure the behavioral outcomes of individuals in an educational and institutional level. It also promotes classroom management and improves assessments, which in the long run, help to facilitate the learning process.