Running head: AUTISM 1

Autism

Jonathan F. Rubalcaba

Fresno Pacific University

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Autism

The evolution of the human gene is upon us. I believe the purpose of life has to come

back to the state in which it came from, a loving father that guides his children in life. We have

to come together as children of God and humble ourselves to help our current situation. The

main situation that will be addressed in this paper is autism. I will be addressing several topics

on the subject of autism.

The term autism is a term that is used for an umbrella spectrum of specific disorders that

fall under the spectrum of autism. Some of the specific disorders are Aspergers syndrome,

(PDD) pervasive developmental disorder, and childhood disintegrative disorder.

Some of the characteristics of autism include speech and language delay. Children on the

spectrum could have speech and language delays. In extreme cases a child could be nonverbal at

the age where children should typically have some speech. A typical developing child goes as

follows; When children turn 3, they have a grasp of approximately 300 words and use language

eagerly. When they reach age 4, they can speak completely comprehensibly, use questions

starting with Why? When? How? and listen to stories (Yavuzer, 2000). Another sign of autism

is no eye contact or limited eye contact. Another characteristic that falls under the autism

spectrum would be unusual behavior. Unusual behavior could be a number of things. Some

behaviors that would fall under unusual behaviors are repeated behaviors like spinning around in

circles, flapping of the hands and arms, self-regulation, and or verbal stemming. Another key

characteristic of unusual behavior would be if the child seems to be in a world of their own. This

is one of the main behaviors that would hinder education and learning. These characteristics are

key for doctors, psychologist, and field professionals to determine if a child is or is not on the

autism spectrum.
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In our society there are several steps to get a diagnosis of one of specific disorders that

fall under the umbrella of the autism spectrum. The first step would be to schedule an

appointment with the pediatrician. During the pediatrician they should have you fill out an

Autism Rating Scale and an Ages and Stages Questionnaire which will help the doctor get

information on your child. After all that is finished and completed just ask for a referral in

(CVRC) Center Valley Regional Center. CVRC will set up an appointment with the parents and

child and assess the child. During the assessment there should be about 3 professionals, a doctor,

a speech pathologist, phycologist. After that first assessment there will be one more assessment

one on one with a doctor or a phycologist that will give their diagnoses.

Education and children on the spectrum is such a wide spread variation just like the

spectrum itself. Children on the spectrum and their educational outcome could be two polar

opposites. Think of an umbrella when thinking of autism and children. You have high

functioning children on the spectrum and you have severe children on the spectrum. Some

children on the spectrum will need more help than others. Some children will need help even in

adulthood due to having a severe case of autism. Being on the spectrum will sometimes affect

the ability to learn life skills and social skills and is one reason why a child will need assistance

in adulthood. While others on the spectrum are so highly functional they can be considered to

have savant like characteristics.

Children on the spectrum and family can sometimes be a touchy subject. With any

condition that a child could have the family can react in different ways. In some cases, it could

bring the family that much more together. In some cases, the hardship of having a child on the

spectrum could have a negative effect on the family and family members. Some negative effects

on the parents could be a blaming one. For example, a parent could blame themselves or the
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other parent for a childs condition. Siblings could again have two different outcomes when

having a sibling on the spectrum. For example, a sibling can very easily fall into a roll of a

young sibling parent. Taking care of the sibling on the spectrum and watching out for them

constantly. This could generate suppressed emotions. If a sibling is taking care of another

sibling all their childhood life than this could cause those suppressed emotions. On the other

hand, if a sibling is taking care of a sibling on the spectrum they could have a strong and unique

bond. The bond could be such a good experience that it just strengthens their bond together and

bond to God.

Again with autism and the specific disorders that fall under the umbrella of autism could

have a wide spread outcome. Being active in the community and being a productive citizen

could be an achievable goal depending on the severity of the autism. As for the polar opposites

of the spectrum, on one side of the spectrum you could have a gold winning Olympic athlete or a

CEO of a billion-dollar computer company. On the opposite side of the spectrum you could have

an adult that might need assistances their whole life and work on life skills even in adulthood.

Again something to remember about being on the spectrum is that it is a spectrum and one

childs life is one childs life, and will have a different and unique outcome from the next child.

From experience and research the best and effective way to assist a child on the spectrum

is early intervention with ABA therapy. ABA or applied behavior analysis is the best researched

and evidence based type of therapy to assist children on the spectrum. This therapy if introduced

early could be the determining factor for a child on the spectrum to catch up to milestone before

the age of 5.

Applied behavior analysis is a researched based intervention that is being utilized by

many different programs in the central valley currently. Before the Autism Center at Fresno
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State closed down this year they were using this research based intervention therapy for their

clients. Another program in the central valley that using ABA therapy is The Village Preschool/

BIA Behavior Intervention Association. This is a combo program that using in-home services

and center based services with the bonus factor of having their own preschool that has the

inclusion factor for their clients is a high quality program that serves children in the central

valley. I have seen these programs in action and they both gave me hope. My children are

examples of the effectiveness of both programs working together with the parents to assist

children on the spectrum.

I believe that with a high quality ABA intervention at an early age could help a child to be

on track as that of a typical child. I also believe that if a child during their school years can get a

similar approach to their education like an early intervention than this approach would be the

best and more effective way to assist a child on the spectrum during their school years. One

thing to keep in mind again is that not all children will have the same outcome in life. Each child

will be unique in their own way. The outcome of a child will determine on several key factors.

I have seen different special education class rooms and regular mainstream class rooms

during my life. I have seen how mild to moderate special education classroom used the pec

system to assist their students. I have seen classrooms use the pec system to help give the

students a visual aid of their day. Autism has impacted our educational system in a huge way.

We have seen a boost in numbers of children being diagnosed with a form of autism. We have

seen the high need of qualified special education teachers.

Again, I believe that the evolution of the human gene is upon us. I believe the purpose of

life has to come back to the state in which it came from, a loving father that guides his children

in life. We have to come together as children of God and humble ourselves to help our current
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situation. Autism has help me do just that. I have humbled down for a better life with my

children. I believe that I have been working hard towards a more guiding life with my children.

I believe God has a plan for me and my children. I will continue to assist my children as God

would want me too.

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References

Turnbull, A, Turnbull, R, Wehmeyer, M., Shogren, K. (2013). Exceptional Lives (7th Ed.). Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Dr.. Horowitz, S (2013). The National Center for Learning Disabilities. What is autism spectrum

disorder, retrieve from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pp8jcQ97pY

Aydin, A. (2016). Development of the Parent Form of the Preschool Children's Communication

Skills Scale and Comparison of the Communication Skills of Children with Normal

Development and with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Educational Sciences: Theory And

Practice, 16(6), 2005-2028.