Autism

Spectrum
Disorder

Harpreet Kang
The area of student diversity that teachers are most likely to encounter in a classroom is Autism
Spectrum Disorder. Autism Spectrum Disorder is also known as ASD thus, throughout this composition
the term ASD will be used as an inclusive term.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2015 there was an estimated amount of 164,000
Australians living with autism (AIHW 2017). In recent years autism in Australia has drastically increased
with the estimated amount now totalling of 230,000 (Autism Spectrum Australia 2018). It is critical to
understand this type of diversity as there is a growing increase of people being diagnosed with ASD
(Gibbs 2017). In order to successfully cater support and provide inclusion for students in the classroom
teachers need to have adequate knowledge on autism.

General Information
In this section there will be discussions on;

 What is ASD
 What causes ASD
 Characteristics
 Inclusion for ASD

What is ASD

ASD is a term used to describe a condition that affects development of an individual across their
lifespan (Hyde, Carpenter & Conway 2014). ASD impairs a person’s ability to socially interact,
communicate fluently to others (Autism SA 2018) along with having unproductive behaviour and
sensory processing differences (Sealy 2016). The word ‘spectrum’ defines the diverse range of
difficulties the person may experience in their life and the degree to which they may be affected
(Autism Spectrum Australia 2018a). Meaning that no two people with autism are the same. Depending
on the person and where they are positioned on the spectrum, they may live a relatively normal life if
they are positioned as mild on the spectrum. Normal life meaning they will not need any support from
specialist. However, if a person is diagnosed of having severe ASD they will need to be accompanied
with specialist support for their lifespan.

What causes ASD

According to scientists they are unclear of what the exact causes of ASD could be. Which means
minimal knowledge is known on what causes ASD however, their extensive research suggests ASD may
perhaps occur from genetics (NIH 2018). If a parent carries the genes of having autism the chances of
their child inheriting autism in extremely high (Autism Speaks 2018). In most cases autism tends to
run in the families. Although there are times when neither parents carry the genes of autism and the
child will spontaneously have ASD (Autism Speaks 2018). As it is underdetermined what truly causes
ASD perhaps the environment plays a significant key role. Scientists suggest ASD can occur when there
are complications from birth. Such as if a child lacks oxygen deprivation around time of birth or is born
premature (Autism Spectrum Australia 2018b). If these outcomes are true and the reason why people
have ASD is based solely on the environment.
Characteristics

Characteristics for autism is categorised into three core sections; social interaction, communication
and behavioural (Humphrey & Lewis 2008, p.30). It is vital to keep in mind that the characteristics
associated with ASD it not the same for everyone as it varies for each person.

Social interaction; In my previous placement there was a student in my classroom who had ASD. Their
social interaction skills were extremely poor. Due to poor social skills, he had difficulties forming and
sustaining friendships as he struggled to respond to non-verbal signals. The non-verbal
signals/communication consisted of facial expressions, physical gestures and eye contact. The reason
why he struggled to respond to other people’s non-verbal signals was he had limited understanding
of what non-verbal signals were. Because he had no idea what non-verbal signals were, he was unable
to identify them when other people tried to include him in social settings. He also avoided physical
education or physical fitness majority of the time as the social setting meant he had to interact with
other students. He was very withdrawn as he did not want any centre of attention.

Features of difficulties with social interaction:

 Limited use and understanding of non-verbal communication (eye contact, tone of voice and
gestures)
 Difficulties maintaining friendships
 Difficulty in social and emotional interactions (playing games and taking turns)
 Lack of discussions with other people of their interests and hobbies (Autism Spectrum
Australia 2018c).

Communication; when people with autism communicate, they can either speak fluently, are speech
impaired or some who are unable to speak at all. For those able to speak they tend to use limited
language to express their views and opinions (Autism Spectrum Australia 2018c).

Common features of impaired communication;

 Repetition (repeating words or phrases)

 Delayed speech and language development
 Difficulties starting and maintaining conversations (Autism Spectrum Australia 2018c).

Behavioural; typically, people with ASD behavioural problems occur when they hear or touch an object
due to sensitivity (Autism Spectrum Australia 2018c). People with ASD are not meaning to be
unproductive but they tend to display unproductive behaviour of yelling out loud, disrupting others
and being aggressive is sometimes a coping mechanism for them to communicate by actions of their
feelings. They tend to do this because they have difficulties verbally communicating when they are
upset, angry or frustrated.

Behaviours that may be displayed:

 Moving constantly (getting up from their seats, tapping their foot, having objects in their
hands)
 Extreme adherence to routines and rituals both verbal and nonverbal (doing things in the
same order)
 Refuse or ignore requests
 Displays tantrums/ outbursts
It is common when a student diversity is dissimilar from others in the classroom or the teacher, the
teacher can portray the student negatively. For example, for a student with autism they are portrayed
as hard work to support and accommodate in a classroom compared to a student without autism who
is seen as easy to manage in a safe and supportive learning environment. It is vial for all teachers to
not exclusively look at the weakness in a person’s diversity but to observe and take notes of their
strengths. For a person who has ASD their characteristics strengths could be:

 Having a good rote memory

 Visual-spatial abilities
 Intense focus is around special interest (drawing)
 More likely to follow rules and routines
 Sense of humour (Autism SA 2018).

There is a checklist that teachers can use in the classroom to identify/ have evidence of characteristics
students may display of having ASD (Król-Gierat 2014, p.1482). To observe the checklist, see figure 1.

Inclusion for ASD

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians provides the policy framework
for the Australian Curriculum (ACARA 2018). The policy identifies Australians educational goal to
promote equity and excellence for all young Australians (ACARA 2018). It is vital for teachers to
accommodate and readjust their lessons to students with diversity in order to meet their individual
needs (ACARA 2018). This means inclusion is based on meeting the child need to ensure they have the
best opportunity of a high-level quality of education.

A fundamental component for classrooms to be inclusive is teachers building positive attitudes for
catering students’ diversity (Hyde et al 2014, p.354). Teachers need to be willing to be open minded
to new ways to support students learning needs. If a teacher who has a child in their class who has
autism and is unsure on how to facilitate the child needs, they can either pursue assistance from other
teachers at the school, leadership team, principal, school districts, parents and members from the
community (Hyde et al 2014, p.355). Teachers are not alone they can seek guidance from inside and
outside the school to manage a safe and productive learning environment.
Modifications/adaptations in the classroom
Before creating modifications and adaptions in a lesson plan/ activity the teacher must first design a
curriculum (Tarbox et al 2014, p.180). After establishing a curriculum design for a unit, it is crucial to
then generate a meeting with the child parents/ guardians and school leadership to hear their
thoughts along with their opinions on particular supportive strategies that will help design
modifications and adaptions for tasks/ activities for the child to accomplish (Hyde et al 2014, P.356).
By incorporating the parents/ guardians into the process they can provide insights into what
intervention strategies work best for their child (Hyde et al 2014, P.356). Their knowledge of the child
and their diversity of autism is crucial information. By discovering the child strengths and weaknesses
from the meeting. The teacher can then focus on working with the child weaknesses by combining
their strengths into the curriculum design (Prior & Roberts 2006, p.3). A benefit from this approach is
recognising that no one child with autism will have the same learning abilities as another. It is vital
teachers take this into consideration in order to create a successful individual variation plan (Prior &
Roberts 2006, p.3).

Appreciatively there are several approaches/ strategies teachers can use in a classroom to support
students with autism such as visual, establishing routines, using play and sensory sensitivities. Majority
of children with ASD have greater strengths in visual compared to other areas (Larkey 2018a). Temple
Grandin is an American professor who has ASD. She has shared her experience of what is it like to live
with autism. She says verbal language is confusing and prefers pictures/ visual as they are like movies
in her head (Grandin 2013). She finds visuals more engaging and assists her with learning new topics.
The term visual includes real objects, photographs, drawings, computer generated symbols and
charts. If students in the classroom was learning about 3D shapes, I would incorporate real life 3D
objects of the shape to assist students with ASD. The visual objects assist students to comprehend
what the shape looks like and relate it to other objects that can be found inside and outside the
classroom.

Routines play a key role in the lives of people with ASD. Routines provide structure for people with
ASD as they are aware what is to come. People with ASD rapidly adapt to new routines and are then
driven to repeat them (Autism Spectrum Australia 2018d). In the classroom the element of presenting
a routine may look as the following;

Routine for every lesson

Start of the lesson State the objective of the lesson
Explain what the task for the lesson is going to
be
Middle of the lesson Ask students if they have any questions before
they start their task
Allocated time for students to accomplish their
objective/ task for the lesson
End of the lesson Warn students there is 10 minutes left for the
lesson
Debrief of the task the students achieved

This format is very brief but precise. There are only a few main elements in each stages of the lesson
in order to keep the lesson flowing. In each lesson the routine structure will be the same to cater
students’ people ASD. Meaning this process will continue daily, weekly and monthly of the same exact
structure of how each lesson will run in a classroom (Autism Spectrum Australia 2018d). Another
example is every morning at 8:40am one person in the morning will drop off the lunch box to the
canteen. Then at 12:00 two people will go to the canteen and collect the lunch box and bring it back
to the classroom. Again, this routine is a process that will occur daily, weekly and monthly. All routines
for other areas in the classroom would be the same process.

Physical activity is essential for all students. However, modifications can be implemented to support
students with ASD. It seems students with ASD have exceptional visual memory meaning they can
recreate shapes and objects without any hesitation (Autism Spectrum Australia 2018e). A game that
a teacher can introduce to the student with ASD and other students in the class is ‘Tic Tac Toe Relay’
(Fit Kids Healthy Kids 2015). See figure 2 for the details of the game. This is a great game as there is a
combination of visual memory and physical fitness. However, the child does not always need to be
running around outside. Another modification for play is playing inside with activities such as jigsaw
puzzles, card games (snap), drawing, chess, snakes and ladders and other board games (Autism
Spectrum Australia 2018e). By allowing students with ASD to play games inside the classroom it opens
up the opportunity for the child to practice their social interaction and communication with other
students.

Children with ASD tend to seek sensory items to be calming (Larkey 2018b). It is found children with
ASD who hold an object in their hands will concentrate better, be less disruptive and it can reduce
anxiety levels (Larkey 2018b). By allowing students with ASD to fiddle with an object it will also
enhance their learning and extend the attention span. Sensory sensitives include;

 Curtains - touch
 Posters around the room - visual
 A variety of sensory tools that you can use (fidget cube) - touch
 Seating, space (cushion, couch, beanbag) – touch
 Healthy snack – taste
 Candle in the classroom - smell

Support learning for students with ASD:

 Identify strengths and weaknesses

 Setting realistic short- and long-term goals
 Work as a team – work with families, school and the community
 Celebrate successes (Larkey 2018a).
 Use clear and simple language
 Give one instruction at a time
 Take time to listen to the child on what they need
 Simplify the environment where possible – physical arrangements of the classroom (seating
arrangements)
 Offer a quiet zone – a place where the student can sit down or lay down by themselves
 Warn of changes/ transitions (Hyde et al 2014).
Resources/services
Resources/ services for inside the classroom

My Diffability Australia – is a place where teachers can search and purchase sensory items to assist
students with ASD (My Diffability Australia 2018). Sensory items consist of touch, visual and auditory.

Autism Awareness – this resource is for teachers. This website has extreme detail for signs of autism,
early intervention, support and understanding the assessment process (Autism Awareness Australia
2018).

Other supportive resources include:

 Autism Spectrum Australia

 The Flashcards
 Autism Speaks
 The Little Black Duck

Resources/ services for outside the classroom

Autism SA – has a family support program where families can go for emotional support by talking and
listening to others (Prior & Roberts 2006, p.9).

Other supportive resources include:

 Positive Partnerships
 AEIOU Foundation
 Autism Society
 References

AIHW 2017, Autism in Australia, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government,
viewed 4th October 2018, <https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/autism-in-
australia/contents/autism>.

Autism Awareness Australia 2018, Information, Education, Inclusion, Awareness, Autism Awareness
Australia, PO Box 1544 Double Bay NSW 1360, viewed 19th of October 2018,
<http://www.autismawareness.com.au/>.

Australian Curriculum 2018a, Student Diversity, Australian Curriculum, Australian Curriculum,

viewed 20 August 2018, <https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/student-diversity/>.

Autism Speaks 2018, What Causes Autism?, Autism Speaks, Autism Speaks Inc, viewed 18th October
2018, <https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-causes-autism>.

Autism Spectrum Australia 2018,

2018a, What is Autism, Autism Spectrum Australia, Australia, viewed 15th October 2018,
<https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/content/what-autism>.

2018b, What causes Autism, Autism Spectrum Australia, Australia, viewed 15th October
2018,<https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/content/what-causes-autism-0>.

2018c, Characteristics, Autism Spectrum Australia, Australia, viewed 15th October 2018,
<https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/content/characteristics>.

2018d, Establishing Routines, Autism Spectrum Australia, Australia, viewed 15th October 2018,
<https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/content/establishing-routines>.

2018e, Using Play, Autism Spectrum Australia, Australia, viewed 15th October 2018,
<https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/content/using-play>.

Autism SA 2018, WHAT IS AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER?, 1/262 Marion Road Netley SA 5037 Sign
In, viewed 10th October 2018, <https://roadmap.unisa.edu.au/electronic/web/webpage>.

Fit Kids and Healthy Kids 2015, Tic Tac Toe Relay, Fit Kids and Healthy Kids, viewed 29th of October
2018, <https://fitkidshealthykids.ca/node/533>.

Gibbs 2017, Autism On The Rise?, Autism Spectrum Australia, Australia, viewed 10th October 2018,
<https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/blog/autism-rise-0>.

Grandin, T 2013, Dr. Temple Grandin Describes Thinking in Pictures, AccuTrain Corporation, viewed
23rd of October 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ90_mX8qQk>.

Humphrey, N & Lewis, S 2008, ''Make me normal': The views and experiences of pupils on the autistic
spectrum in mainstream secondary schools', Autism, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 23-46.

Hyde, M, Carpenter, L & Conway, R 2014, Diversity, inclusion and engagement, 2nd edition, Oxford
University Press, South Melbourne, VIC.
Król-Gierat, W 2014, Checklist For Autism Spectrum Disorder As An In-Class Observation Tool For
Teachers, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of
Humanities and Social Sciences Vol:8, No:5, pp.1482-1485.

Larkey, S 2018

2018a, Why and How to Use Visuals, Learning Media, viewed 18th of October 2018,
<https://suelarkey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Why-and-How-to-Use-Visuals.pdf>.

2018b, USING SENSORY TOYS TO IMPROVE LEARNING AND BEHAVIOUR, Learning Media, viewed 18th
of October 2018, <http://suelarkey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tip_Sheet_-
_Using_Sensory_Toys_to_Improve_Learning_and_Behaviour.pdf>.

My Diffability Australia 2018, Sensory, My Diffability Australia, viewed 19th of October 2018,
<https://www.mydiffability.com.au/>.

NIH 2018, Autism Spectrum Disorder, National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, viewed 23rd of October 2018,
<https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml>.

Prior, M & Roberts J 2006, Early Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Guidelines
for Best Practice, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, viewed 22nd October
2018, <file:///C:/Users/happy/Downloads/Prior_and_Roberts_ealy_int_ASD_Aus_2006.pdf>.

Sealy, L 2016, My Answer to the Question ‘What Does Autism Feel Like?’, The mighty, viewed 8th
October 2018, <https://themighty.com/2016/04/what-does-autism-feel-like/>.

Tarbox, J 2014, Handbook of early intervention for autism spectrum disorders: research, policy, and
practice, Springer, New York, NY.
 Appendix
Figure 1
Figure 2

A visual of the game Tic Tac Toe Relay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-BsoLCEc34