Autism Diagnosis and symptoms Theories of autism Instructional strategies.
-
Upload
isaac-hurst -
Category
Documents
-
view
237 -
download
4
Transcript of Autism Diagnosis and symptoms Theories of autism Instructional strategies.
Autism
Diagnosis and symptomsTheories of autism
Instructional strategies
Diagnosis and prevalence
Affects 1/165 Canadians DSM-IV-TR Criteria
At least 2 impairments in social interaction Impairment in communication Engage in restricted and repetitive
behaviour, interests, and activities Non-triad impairments
Restricted interests, obsessive desire for sameness, preoccupation with parts of objects, exceptional proficiency in very specific skills
Academic profile Strengths
Visual reasoning Vocabulary knowledge Word reading Math
Weaknesses Working memory Processing speed Reading comprehension Written expression Graphomotor abilities
Theories of autism
Theory of mind Weak central coherence Executive dysfunction Hyper-systemizing Excess neural excitation
Evaluation of theories
Explanatory Power: how well does it account for the FULL pattern of symptoms?
Universality: Is this deficit evidenced in ALL individuals with autism?
Specificity: Is the proposed deficit evidenced ONLY in individuals with autism
Impairments in theory of mind
Baron Cohen (1985)
Theory of mind
Theory of mind: the ability to attribute independent mental states to oneself or to others in order to explain or predict behaviour.
In the Sally Anne test, 80%of children with autism failed to demonstrate theory of mind.
Explanatory power
• Triad of impairments
Impairments in social interaction
Impairments in communication
Restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviour
Explanatory power
Non-triad Impairments
X Restricted interests
X Obsessive desire for sameness
X Islets of ability, idiot savant abilities
X Excellent rote memory
X Preoccupation with parts of objects
Universality and specificity
X Universality
X Specificity
Impairments in central coherence
Frith (1989)
Impairments in central coherence
Central coherence theory asserts that autism is characterized by an imbalance in the integration of information at different levels; individuals with autism see the parts rather than the wholes, and lack the cognitive capacity to integrate the parts into the wholes.
Explanatory power
• Triad of impairments
Impairments in social interaction
Impairments in communication
Restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviour
Explanatory power
• Non-triad Impairments
Restricted interests Obsessive desire for sameness Islets of ability, idiot savant abilities Excellent rote memory Preoccupation with parts of objects
Universality and Specificity
Universality
Specificity
Impairments in executive function
Ozonoff (1991) Tower of Hanoi Test
Impairments in executive function
Executive function is defined as the ability to maintain an appropriate problem solving set for attainment of a future goal. It includes:
planning impulse control inhibition of irrelevant responses set maintenance organized search flexibility of thought and action
Explanatory power
• Triad of impairments
Impairments in social interaction
Impairments in communication
Restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviour
Explanatory power
• Non-triad Impairments
Restricted interests Obsessive desire for sameness Islets of ability, idiot savant abilities Excellent rote memory Preoccupation with parts of objects
Universality and specificity
Universality
Specificity
Hyper-systemizing
Baron-Cohen (2006) According to this theory all individuals fall
on a continuum in their ability to process systemizable (law-governed) information.
1 8
process information that is systemized and unsystemized
process highly-systemized information
Hyper-systemizing
Baron-Cohen (2006) According to this theory all individuals fall
on a continuum in their ability to process systemizable (law-governed) information.
1 8
process information that is systemized and unsystemized
process highly-systemized information
Explanatory power
• Triad of impairments
Impairments in social interaction
Impairments in communication
Restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviour
Universality and specificity
? Universality
? Specificity
Neurological explanations
Courchesne (2010) – Excess neural excitation
My thesis
Word level decoding summary Very poor phonological processing Word reading/spelling performance
ranges from 10th-12th percentile Uses a visual route more than
phonological route Does not use semantic knowledge
to help identify words
My thesis
Reading comprehension summary Ranges from 12th to 14th percentile Strengths
Literal and vocabulary based comprehension
Weaknesses Inferential comprehension when
implicit Evaluative comprehension when a
feeling
My thesis
Explanation of findings CG performed better
when the task was law governed Ease with literal and
vocabulary-based comprehension
Difficulty with understanding feelings and inferences
Ease with whole words Difficulty with reading
phonetically Theory of hyper-
systemizing (Baron Cohen, 2006)
CG was only able to engage one processing center at a time In word reading she
engaged visual system and neglected phonological and semantic
In reading comprehension she had difficulty integrating knowledge from different areas
Theory of excess neural excitation (Courchesne et al., 2007)
Importance of theory
Intervention
Early intensive behavioural intervention (EIBI)
Most widely recognized approach McEachin, Smith, & Lovaas (1993)
found that after 4.5 years of EIBI treatment, 9 of the 19 participants were indistinguishable from their peers
Involves discrete trial training (breaking down teaching steps and systematically, repetitively teaching each step).
Exercise
Follow the program procedure on your handout and teach a classmate the skill using discrete trial training.
Discuss which theory/theories of autism could account for the success of EIBI
Discuss what elements are involved in EIBI that could translate to teaching practice.
Intervention in schools
Once children are school, EIBI often ceases
Teachers are not trained in EIBI Philosophical differences Requires one-on-one instruction, which
is largely not available
Interventions based on excess neural excitation theory
Education needs to be Law-governed, explicit instruction Provide more support for abstract tasks Ensure automaticity of each distinct task
prior to requiring integration across tasks
Explicitly require integration when several processes are required to complete one task
Reading example....
Instructional strategies
Language Anchor instruction in visual cues Video-modelling Take advantage of echolalia
echolalia, delayed non-functional echolalia, delayed functional echolalia
Modeling Explicitly teach pragmatic language skills
(i.e., respond to the intended message rather than correcting grammar, practice asking questions, etc...)
Have students practice noticing non-verbal signals
Instructional strategies
Social behaviour Social stories Video modelling Explicit practice in social situations Preparation (visual schedules, practice
for situations, etc...) Modelling emotion recognition in social
situations
Instructional strategies
Restricted, repetitive, stereotyped behaviours, interests, and activities
Reducing 'stimming' Redirect attention (incompatible behaviour) Replace with socially acceptable alternative Provide safe space for stimming
Limit perseveration on particular interest and activity.
Encourage development of new interests and activities
May use those interests and activities to motivate learning in difficult areas
Differentiated instruction
Visual supports
Video-modelling
Explicit teaching
i.e, teaching theme identification
Task analysis
Could use graphic organizers to help work on each part and then draw together
Reinforcement for motivation
Pre-teaching
Predictable classroom environment (schedules, transition preparation)
Cognitive credit cards (with visuals)
Exercise
Imagine that you have a student with autism in your class and for your lesson plan:
Task analysis – determine all of the steps needed to complete the task
Plan how you will ensure understanding of each step of each task and how you will support your student with autism in integrating all the steps involved.
Identify which steps might be more difficult and suggest ideas to support your student.
Reflection
In one short paragraph outline: The concepts from the readings/course
notes that you were hoping to apply Your contribution How your contribution successfully
applied those concept