Rachel's

From the group work my friends and I have done, I have learnt and understand better Autism/autism spectrum disorder and children who is having this disability. From the group findings, “They find it difficult to express their emotions and thoughts…” tells me a lot on autism as having difficulty to express emotions and thoughts, meaning that children who has autism lack social and emotional skills. The lack in these skills causes them to have difficulty interacting with their friends. The negative impact on the classroom is due to lack of social and emotional skills is that teachers may find it challenging to handle autistic child because their behavior are unpredictable and it requires a lot of time and effort for them to establish a relationship with the child. At the same time, other children may be judgemental towards this child and unwilling to befriend with the child because the child is “different”.

Based on my reflections, the positive impact I would bring into the classroom is perhaps to create an environment where distractions such as bright lights and loud sounds are prevented as they may interfere with learning or comfort. In curriculum aspect, I would also explore a variety of sensory environment with the child to determine which one is most conducive to learning since some children learn better when moving or using their hands, while other children may require silence in order to concentrate. As for the curriculum, I would try to plan a similar area of interest where the children are interested in to improve attention and focus during activities. It would also be helpful if I use pictures and other visual aids during teaching, as children with autism are visual learners. Lastly, I will also ensure to have consistent and fixed routines so children with or without autism will feel secure, as even the slightest disruption in schedule can cause tantrums. Most importantly, it is to be patient with both the child, and myself so that I could help the child to reach his/her fullest potential.

In conclusion, I feel that everyone has an opportunity to learn together despite whether the child has a disability or not. In the case of having a child with disability, it is important for the teacher to be understanding and responsible by planning activities like having to read stories to normal children about autism for them to understand and accept that could include the child in, despite any challenges faced.

Jacqueline's

Through the group findings on the characteristics of the disability, I learnt autism is characterized by the lack of social and emotional abilities. Due to this disability, they tend to be alone as establishing a relationship is difficult for them. Children would not want to play with children with autism due to the inability to express themselves well. They are also unable to handle when there are changes in something they do daily and find it too overwhelming. Even their surroundings with minimum noise being made, it is still overwhelming to them.

In the classroom, routines will be strictly followed according when there is a child with autism. A partner, who is more developed in cognitive domain, would be paired with the autistic child. The partner would be able to understand that the autistic child is special and try his/her best to help the autistic child in every way. The classroom that has an autistic child would also be far away from the noisy areas in the centre such as the shower area and waiting area. Group work would also be more frequent. By involving children to do group work, they will open up to the autistic child and accommodate the autistic child. In another way, the autistic child will slowly learn to express himself/herself and wont left out.

Szer Chyi's

As there are different types of autism and it ranges in severity, the characteristic of each individual would be different as well. In general, children with classical autistic disorder often face difficulties in acquiring social and interacting skills. They find it difficult to understand other people, thus hindering them from forming good relationships with others. They do not know how to express their thoughts and feelings and have difficulties controlling their emotions which eventually affects their social interaction with people. Furthermore, it is difficult for them to communicate with others as they do not have the necessary language skills. They are always in their own world and are also inflexible in their behaviors. They flaps, get fascinated by spinning objects and get attached to certain objects.

In order for autistic children to learn effectively, we have to create a well- structured and supportive environment.  Sudden changes would increase anxiety in the child, thus such changes need to be avoided. Furthermore, providing individual time table with visual aids for these children would be good.  It tells them about what is going to happen next and thus, they are reassured and prepared. We need to always encourage children to participate in activities. This allows them to form relationships with others and practice necessary social skills. Peers around could also help to aid the autistic child as well. The autistic child would also be less isolated and is able to form friendships with the rest. We have to take physical environment into considerations too.

Different floor mats and soft furnishing allow us to create a calm and soothing environment for children. Furthermore, it could also serve as boundaries which help children to better recognize which activities take place at which corners. Materials like stress balls are also good for children as it helps them to retreat when necessary. As an autistic child can be very sensitive to lights, smell and noise etc, it is important for us to create a calm environment for them. Our voices and body language could cause anxiety in them, thus we need to pay attention to it and make the necessary changes when handling an autistic child. Also, most children with autism are visual learner, they need more demonstrations rather than verbal instructions.

Angela's

I understand from this assignment that children with autism are very different from other children. Not only do they need more guidance, they need a different approach to learn. Children with autism learn better with clear visual instructions. Hence it is best to provide them with instruction sheets that have pictures as they do not learn well with abstract instructions. The instructions should be number and arranged according to the number so that they will not have a hard time following it.

I also learnt that sometimes teachers tend to neglect an autistic child from the rest of the class because they are different or requires different help. The child might be slower than the rest and lose focus easily. Due to this, teachers might want to go back to them after they finish teaching the rest of the class. However, time might not allow them to do so. This is when adaptations for the child with autism become important. Teachers will need to think of adaptations to include the child with the rest of the class. So in the same period of time, all the children can complete the work together at the same time.

Adaptations can be providing the child with autism with a picture instruction sheet, while the rest of the class listens to verbal instructions. Also do not choose an activity that is too time consuming. The teacher can break down the lesson into different parts and implement it over several periods. This will give the child some time to regulate and not be too overwhelming.