Teaching Autistic Children

Running Head : TEACHING AUTISTIC CHILDREN

Teaching Autistic Children in a Regular Classroom

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INTRODUCTION

Autism is a mental dis that rarely occurs and is poorly understood is disables a person 's language ability and communication skills . It mostly affects males and becomes evident at 30 months of life . The cause of autism has a biological basis and is not merely caused by an emotional mother-and-child traumatic or dysfunctional relationship Notably , 80 are mentally retarded . Moreover , a much distinctive attitude of an autistic child is

his deprivation or detachment from the world . That is why autism comes from a Greek word meaning self ' In addition , autistic children differ from the mentally retarded since they are more occupied with inanimate things and usually exhibit unusual postures and mannerisms (Rimland , 1994

There are three types of autism . One is the Fragile X syndrome that denotes characteristics of an autistic child though it is much classified as mentally retarded and occurs mostly with the male gender On the other hand , the Rett Syndrome affects mainly the female gender and symptoms appear in early childhood . Lastly is the Aspergers syndrome , now recognized as a subgroup of autism . These individuals exhibit an eccentric attitude compared to normal individuals . Because autism results in language difficulties , most individuals with this dis are mute or speak wisely once or twice in their lifetime . There is also the Kanner 's syndrome , which exposes early infantile autism characterized by reversal of pronouns such as you for I . Children affected by Kanner 's Syndrome exhibit excellence in memory skills , art calculation and music (Rimland , 1994

Scientists look at some probable causes of autism which include hereditary factors , representing it as an autoimmune disease that prohibits the neurotransmitter serotonin or degeneration of brain cells A finding suggests that Magnetic Resonance Imaging reveals a deficiency of brain cells in the cerebellum area of the brain , specifically the vermin . Since autism is associated with mental retardation , there is also a speculation of prenatal abnormal conditions . For example , a mother having exposure during pregnancy to endocrine deficiencies toxins , X ray and infectious diseases . Para natal conditions and factors involve cerebral hemorrhage , anoxia (oxygen deprivation ) and mechanical injury of the brain during birth (Anastasi , 1970

Behavior modification programs serve as the primary treatment for autism . In this method , reinforcements and visual /verbal cues distinguish the behavior category of an autistic child . This method can convert autistic children into normal developing youths when such programs are begun at an early age (Rimland , 1994

INCLUSION

The idea of inclusion suggests that autistic children have education in a regular classroom . In 1994 , autism was not a famous condition and children with this type of dis did not mingle with normal children in a regular class . Imposing this approach can benefit both normal children and the special ones . Special children may experience conversing and interacting with normal children , which is also true for normal children being given the opportunity to mingle with autistic children . Through subsequent...