Standard 3 Diversity

Title of Artifact: Autism Paper

Description of Artifact:
I wrote and presented a paper about Autism in my Strategies for Effective
Inclusion class in the Fall of 2004 at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. The
following artifact is the Autism paper that dealt with different degrees of Autism,
ones that you will encounter in schools, and how to teach students with Autism.

Alignment:
I believe this experience best aligns with Wisconsin Teaching Standard 3:
Diversity. The teacher understands how pupils differ in their approaches to
learning and the barriers that impede learning and can adapt instruction to meet the
diverse needs of pupils, including those with disabilities and exceptionalities.
As a teacher, I will adapt lessons so that all students can understand for learning.
For example, in a lesson plan that addresses both letter recognition and phonics, I
incorporated clay into the lesson for the student that needed to build fine motor
skills. The teacher also has to provide and create opportunities that are adapted to
learners with exceptionalities. For example, the student with exceptionalities, in
that same lesson, I would allow the student to use the class computer to work on a
more challenging instruction to keep their interest.
While researching, studying and reviewing for this specific Autism paper, I found
out how there are different levels of autism, and different strategies that work for
the students. I also based my paper on some personal experiences with children
that I have observed and taught through many of my teaching experiences. This
study of autistic children helped me fully understand that even though children had
barriers that impeded their learning, I could adap my instruction to help them learn.
While teaching I adapted numerous lesson plans so that every one of my students
was given an equal opportunity to receive the instruction at a level that best met
their need When teaching at the childrens center, each student would get their
own dry erase board and marker each morning. They would sit on the rug and

write out the words I want to play with My student who was autistic, I would
fill in part of the letters/words for him to make the task more feasible. It is
important to try to meet the needs of all my students no matter how challenging
that can be.
UW-Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skills, and Disposition
Alignment:
KS1.f: Assesses Student Learning
Explain what you learned about teaching from this experience:
This autism paper represents some of the knowledge and skills that I have learned
through Standard 3: Teachers understand that children learn differently. I learned
the value of respecting each child for who they are and realizing that each child is
unique in their own way. I also learned that given the proper opportunity, every
human being, regardless of the degree of mental or physical disability, can learn.
The individual with Autism is no exception.
Explain what you learned about yourself as a prospective educator:
As a prospective teacher, I learned that you need to be flexible when teaching. I
will be a versatile teacher. I will set my instructions so that they can be modified
or adapted to meet the specific learning needs and abilities of each pupil in my
classroom. As a teacher, you have to understand how each individual student is
different in their own learning abilities, and be able to include all in the class.