Autism Summary

According to the Autism summary document provided in this week’s module, Autism was recognized as a disability by IDEA in 1990, but the disability has been recognized since the early 1900s. The document also states, “There is a 5% risk that if one child is autistic, the family will have a second autistic child,” meaning that there is a genetic cause in Autism. Symptoms for Autism can range from Asperger’s, (high functioning) to a severe levels of dysfunctionality and constant care. Some symptoms can show starting at birth, but sometimes they become apparent until ages 2 ½ - 3years and the areas that are affected are language skills, intrapersonal skills, affective behaviors, and intellectual functioning. According to the document, infants are …show more content…
Another way to assist an autistic student would be to let all of my students know ahead of time when they are going to be required to work in teams or when they will change groups to avoid anxiousness. To have a successful group or on-to-one sessions I would maintain the teams small with one or two partners and gradually add on when I see that he/she has gained …show more content…
Also, there is technology that assist students, one example would be the Voice Output Communication Aid (VOCA) in which this” device can be programmed to produce synthetic speech” (Gargiulo 350). This device is effective because it requires little training on the part of the user and there is no cause of stress or anxiety. The video for this part of the course gave me knowledge on observing what a child with autism appears and behaves in home or social situations. Also, the video stated “There are no proven causes of autism and no proven ways to cure it” and the Autism Speaks organization mentioned its four pillars which is awareness, advocacy, families and research for finding the cure and cause of autism. The video presented to me the 32 states that have insurance that covers autism and provides ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) and I was glad to see that Illinois makes part in that. In the documentary I saw family member commenting about putting their loved ones in homes and their main concern was worrying if the caregivers would abuse their loved ones because of their lack of communication. I enjoyed that there was one parent in the video who owns a car wash and hires workers with Autism which is great because these adult have trouble finding jobs and since they graduate out of the school system at 22,