Laura Thurman

40468807
Module ITE105 Triad of Impairment and Strategies

The triad of impairments are three areas in which children and adults who have autism share difficulty in, these three areas are: Social Interaction Communication/Language Rigidity of thought/Inflexibility of thought (Imagination)

Social Interaction To a neurotypical person social interaction becomes natural as we progress in life, however for a person who has autism this is not the case. People with Autism may have good expressive verbal communication but they may have difficulties in a twoway conversation, they may talk at you and have no interest in others opinions if they are not their own beliefs. They may talk obsessively on a topic of interest to them and be unable to draw the conversation to an end independently. Despite often having good expressive language skills people with Asperger Syndrome can take the spoken word literally, this can lead to confusion and misunderstandings. Builder (2012) tells us that in order for autistic children to progress within the social aspect of life they need to be taught specific social skills explicitly and have the opportunity to practice them, they also say that it is critical for educators and caregivers to make a conscious effort to specifically teach social skills to children with ASD. IANS (2013) state that according to an Australian study the interaction of animals can significantly increase positive social behaviour in children with autism; they found that when interacting with animals ASD children demonstrated social behaviours such as smiling, talking, looking at faces and making physical contact. Ncset (2004) states that creating a positive school climate is an effective strategy to improve social skills within autistic children. So, how do you create a positive school climate?

Learn and use students names and know something about each student: This can make a student feel individually special, and as long as a student feels like you respect them and pay attention to you, they will hopefully do the same. Hold brief morning meetings: This can build a sense of community and give the students (especially if the child has ASD) a chance to interact with each other and get to know each other better with activitys like show and tell or what did you do at the weekend. Encourage Journal Writing: This will create self awareness and will allow the children to look back on situations and decide whether the way that they handled that particular situation was appropriate or not. Provide unstructured time for children to practice their social skills: Sometimes when children are made to socialise in situations regarding learning it can cause pressure for them to be as clever as the rest or to know how to do something, and this can cause some children to shy away from talking and acknowledging the rest of the group. Provide opportunities for students to socialise non competitively: Avoiding unnecessary competition among students in extra curricular

Laura Thurman

40468807

activities allows them to socialise under circumstances that arent to do with education but in fact has a huge impact on helping them become friends. In conclusion to using a positive school climate as a strategy to improving the social deficits in an autistic childs life, I believe it is beneficial because using social situations in a constructive way like I have mentioned previously will improve the social situation of a child with ASD.