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CHILDREN of 2011 teachers EDUCATING New A England with WITH are CHILDREN Autism AUTISM now finding Spectrum WITH themselves AUTISM Disordersresponsible for instructing 1 2 an ever growing population of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Approx imately 1 in 110 individuals is diagnosed with autism (Center for Disease Contro l and Prevention, 2009). ASD is characterized by impaired communication and soci al interaction, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. For many years resear chers and educators alike thought that educating people with ASD was best done i n an alternative special education setting. Currently, the trend in educating ch ildren with ASD is early intervention with individual inclusion within the gener al education classroom. Inclusion refers to teaching children with special needs together with typically developing peers. After all, shouldn't all children hav e the right to feel included? The following literature review attempts to demons trate and support this current trend while answering the following questions[JC1 ]: 2) 3) 4) 5) How What In 1) a When Are What Can How Does Does research general there does does ASD itASD inclusion be Affect Look article education affect an Like? all Children/ by children/ work really inclusive teachers Leekam, and mean? when what classroom? Prior prepared does does andit itnot? to Uljarevic look like? teach children (2011), two withspecific ASD? questi ons were addressed for guiding their study. First, how does ASD affect children? Second, can it be controlled to lessen the barrier to learning and social adapt ation? The focus of the study was on restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs), EDUCATING which is CHILDREN the core WITH AUTISM 3 feature of ASD. Leekam et al. (2011) explains RRBs as being a class of behaviors characterized by high frequency, repetition in an invariant manner, and desire for sameness in the environment. It is important when creating an individual edu cation plan for a child with ASD to be proactive in setting up their environment to best suit their needs. When thinking about including students with ASD in th e regular education setting it is vital to think about the rate that RRBs happen and what modification will have to be made. Leekam et al. (2011) found that RRB s can be subdivided into four subtypes (a) preoccupation; (b) repetitive motor m annerisms; (c) nonfunctional routines or rituals; and (d) persistent preoccupati on with parts of an object. After you get a baseline reading of your individual student, you can answer the first question of how do RRBs affect the child. Rese archers and educators alike have always thought that for many disabilities early intervention is the key; it has been found the same for ASD. It is important to figure out each individual's triggers, such as stress, anxiety, arousal, and en vironmental depravation, and figure out if it can be controlled. If RRBs are tho ught of as developmentally immature responses that have been maintained more str ongly within the behavioral repertoire of individuals with ASD, then we are bett er equipped to create education plans that work best for the child. Leekam et al . (2011) found that pharmacological interventions provide only limited benefits to RRBs, while behavioral interventions are more promising for long term success . It has been found that early behavioral intervention will reduce RRBs overtime , making the individual available for instruction in the regular classroom setti ng. The research EDUCATING CHILDREN isWITH still AUTISM relatively new and while 4 ther e is no way to totally stop RRBs, it is possible to lessen them, a huge success for When When and any Does Now individual Does Inclusion that it there Not? living Work is an with understanding an ASD. of the child's RRBs, it is time to fi gure out if inclusion into the regular education setting is appropriate. Eldar, Talmor, and Wolf-Zuckerman (2010) did a study examining the inclusion of childre n with ASD in general education classrooms and analyzed the factors related to i ts success and failure. Thirty-seven inclusion coordinators participated in the study and conveyed their view about their own experiences. The tendency to inclu de children with ASD in the general population has increased along with diagnose d children. It is strongly believed that every child should be an equally valued member of the school culture. Children with disabilities benefit from learning in regular classrooms, while their peers benefit from being exposed to children with a diversity of talents and temperaments. Eldar et al. (2010) found that chi ldren with ASD display more social behavior when among typical children then amo ng other children with ASD. They also found that early inclusion worked best for these students while learning how to act appropriately in a school setting. Stu dents who were fully included exhibited high level of engagement and social inte raction, give and receive high levels of social support, have wider social netwo rks, and have more advanced individual education goals then their counterparts i n segregated placement. Instances of success across all social and behavioral as pects were many although successes in the cognitive domain were few. Many times

inclusion comes down to a EDUCATING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM 5 school's ability to give a child with ASD one-on-one assistance from an aid that can be present with the child in the general education classroom. Y oung children with ASD need rigidly structured schedules with many modifications made throughout the day, like picture schedules, constant prompting and quick r edirection. This can be hard for a regular classroom teacher to do on their own, which is why many times an aid is needed for inclusion to be successful. Eldar et al. (2010) found that while full inclusion can be very successful in the prim ary years it gets harder as a child get older. For example, how to you teach or even modify a lesson on history when a child with ASD does not understand the co ncept of yesterday? When higher order thinking activities become regular, the id ea of full inclusion starts being more of a detriment to the child than not. At this point Williams, Fan, and Goodman (2011); Eldar et al. (2010); and Vakil, We lton, O'Connor, and Kline (2009), all agree that some individual instruction is needed The reasons outside full ofinclusion the regular does education not workclassroom. most times, is because of inappropriate behaviors, including violent behavior towards other students and staff. Eldar's et al. (2010) research correlated nicely with Leekam's findings that behavioral interventions are the most promising in long term success for children with ASD [JC2]. For each individual child the question should be asked, what are the func tional, emotional, and social benefits that justify investment in inclusion? In the primary grades for a child with ASD, the answer is almost always the same; t he Teach Are to EDUCATING successes General Children CHILDREN Education of inclusion with WITH Teachers ASD? AUTISM outweigh Prepared the failures. 6 Research pointing in the direction of inclusion for children with ASD has put general education teachers in a precarious position. Students with ASD often tim es will withdraw during instruction or demonstrate inappropriate and noncomplian t behaviors. Teachers often times find that trying to manage the social behavior s of these students interferes with classroom academic instruction. Not all dist ricts have the resources to hire an aid for every child with ASD. According to W illiams et al. (2011) teachers who need to educate students with ASD must posses s knowledge of specialized instruction techniques that are effective with this p opulation. Research has shown that a very low percentage of teachers are prepare d or have the knowledge it takes to include ASD students into their classrooms, but still they are expected to do so. It is questionable if there are any member s of a standard public school that are equipped to work with students with ASD. A lot of parents have started questioning those who are considered to be highly qualified as generic special education teachers, wondering if they are highly qu alified as teachers of students with ASD. Williams et al. (2011) explains that m any positive attempts to provide educators with information regarding effective practices for instructing students with ASD have been made, but educators' aware ness of this new information remains unclear. The most important factor that mig ht affect the impact of information provided to educators is their valuing of th is information and their willingness to implement the identified practices. Will iams et al. (2011) sent out informational packets and questionnaires that were c ompleted by 3,000 eligible educators. It gave them lists of known teaching strat egies that have been proven to work EDUCATING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM 7 for students with ASD and then asked them to implement the ones most a ppropriate Although them.[JC3] for teachers rated the strategies as highly acceptable, they did not necessarily implement them. Most teachers feel it is too big a job and that they do not have enough support from administration. District administers need to start by targeting areas of lesser knowledge to more effectively provide info rmation that will enhance educators' skill sets. Until this issue is fully targe ted as an area of need, general education teachers will continue to struggle whe n trying What Does When to Inclusion include inclusion ASDis Really students done Mean? right intoit their doesclassrooms. not mean solely including a student with special needs into a general education classroom. It also means including the student's whole service provider team into the general education classroom. Once a child with ASD is placed in a general education setting, service provisio ns for the students must be a collaborative effort. Service provision is a team effort and must include everyone; everyone means the educator, special education teacher, intervention specialist, related service providers, administrators and parents. Vakil et al. (2008) remind educators that inclusion is not a placement

. Rather, it is a method of delivering services which include developmentally ap propriate practices that are age, individually, and culturally suitable for the child and effective special education support services. Administration plays a h uge role by facilitating and supporting the team with whatever they need to succ essfully include the student with ASD. Those early childhood educators who inclu de all children promote a climate that increases sensitivity and acceptance of d iversity while decreasing teasing and bullying based upon physical or ability di fferences. Unquestionably, the EDUCATING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM 8 partnership of administration, special and regular education will co ntinue Can Most There strategies to be an valuable All Inclusive that have for been all.Classroom? proven to work with students with ASD also work w ith typically developing students. The TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autist ic and Related Communication-Handicapped Children) method was developed by psych ologist Eric Schopler in 1960, and is used by many public schools today. In a se nse it is a modified, all inclusive, general education classroom that benefits e veryone. Blubaugh and Kohlmann (2006) explain the TEACCH classroom as very struc tured, with separate, defined areas for each task, such as individual work, grou p activities, and play. Children with ASD tend to have stronger visual processin g as compared to auditory processing skills so many visual supports are used in the classroom. Tube lights are used in many classroom and can easily distract ch ildren with ASD so softer lights or lamps can be used. Many of these techniques capitalize on the child's strengths rather than the child's deficits. These are just a few modifications that can be made to any primary grade classroom to incl ude ASD students. Blubaugh et al. (2006) stresses that the TEACCH method respect s the culture of ASD and embraces a philosophy that people with autism have char acteristics that are different, but not necessarily inferior, to the rest of us. TEACCH is more focused on accommodating a child's ASD traits rather than trying Inclusion to overcome provides them. a supportive environment in which young children can grow and learn side be side with their peers. As the literature has shown, supportive, E DUCATING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM 9 coll aborative environments are based on developmentally appropriate practice where c hildren feel accepted, cared for, and supportive in not only their learning, but also their physical, emotional, and social well-being. The procedures used with inclusive practices meet the mandated requirement of providing education servic es in the least restrictive environment. With the number of children being diagn osed with ASD it would make sense that autism education be an expectation for ed ucators. When thinking about creating an educational plan for students with ASD it is important to take into consideration the pros and cons for each individual . It is also crucial to plan ahead and be proactive. Inclusion has been proven t o improve social behaviors in the primary years but can be detrimental in later years because the gap in cognitive ability becomes too great. Inclusion should a lways be the goal, especially in the early years if at all possible. It has been shown to be the best option for almost all children with ASD even though it is extra work for the administrators and teachers. It is exciting to see the trend in education be inclusion for everyone, it will lead to a more tolerant world wh ere people do not feel ashamed for being different and most importantly feel inc EDUCATING luded. Blubaugh, References CHILDREN N., & Kohlmann, WITH AUTISM J. (2006). TEACCH model and children with 10 autism. Teac hing Elementary Eldar, E., Talmor, Physical R., & Wolf-Zukerman, Education[JC4],T. v17, (2010). 16-19. Successes and difficulties in the individual inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the eyes of their coordinators. International Journal of Inclusive Education, v14, 97-114. S. Leekam, doi: R., 10.1080/13603110802504150 Prior, M. R., & Uljarevic, M. (2011). Restricted and repetitive b ehaviors in autism spectrum disorders: A review of research in the last decade. American Vakil, S., Psychological Welton, E., O'Connor, Association, B.,v137, & Kline, 562-593. L. S.doi: (2009). 10.1037/a0023341 Inclusion means ever yone! The role of the early childhood educator when including young children wit h autism in the classroom. Early Childhood Educational Journal, v36, 321-326. do i: 10.1007/s10643-008-0289-5 Williams, C. M., Fan, W., & Goodman, G. (2011). Preliminary analysis of the "sur vey of educators' knowledge and value of research-based practices for students w ith autism". Assessment for Effective Intervention, V36, 113-130. doi: 10.1177/1 [JC1]Good job in your introduction laying out the thinking and the focus of your 534508410391079 [JC2]Again, [JC3]To [JC4]Unlike review!them? good book Or and job article for comparing, students? titles, contrasting the titles and of linking periodicals the various should studies. have word capitalization. Fix this throughout the page.