Professional Learning

Journey Plan
Catering for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Presentation for Junior School Staff

Some facts about Autism:

Autism is a developmental condition that affects a person for the rest of their lives.
The word spectrum describes the range of difficulties that people with autism may
experience and the degree in which they may be affected (Autism Spectrum
Australia, 2015). While some live fairly normal lives, others require continued
support as their social communication, interaction and restricted or repetitive
behaviours and interests are the main areas of difficulty. Early diagnosis and
intervention can increase the quality of life for people with Autism by using
evidenced based treatment.
According to Autism Spectrum Australia, one in one hundred people have Autism,
which is almost 230,000 Australians. It is four times more common in boys than
girls.

Identified gap in professional development:

What is the gap?
During my professional placement at Tatachilla Lutheran College (TLC), I was faced
with a challenge I hadnt yet experienced on my previous placements; catering to
children with disabilities, in particular, Autism. I had a 6 year old boy in my class,
whos disability confronted my knowledge and threatened my confidence in being
able to manage every child in my class. I was immediately eager to learn more about
the traits of children with autism, as I was intimidated by his reactions to certain
situations.
Why is this a gap?
I feel as though this is a gap in my professional development, because as a student
teacher, I did not feel as though I was prepared for the extent of developmental
disabilities in todays classrooms. The ASD spectrum presents an array of
characteristics and emphasises that each individual has different triggers and coping
mechanisms. Although I had completed significant research about ASD for an essay, I
had not worked with, nor seen this disability in action, so had no first hand experience
with using the appropriate tools to help this child. Reading about the disability did not
help me in a real life situation. Not only is the behaviour a new concept, but the way
in which students with ASD learn varies, and I was not sure how to cater to the
students educational needs.

Strategies for achieving future learning goals:

What can be done to close the gap?
To be successful in closing the gap in my learning, I need to determine my strategies
by first understanding the internal, external and environmental factors that affect the
situation and then make informed choices;
- Internal factors (what are other staff saying and doing with children with Autism?)
- External factors (what are the families doing at home?)
- Environmental factors (norms of conduct, class size, culture, task, routine and
stimulation)
- Advantages of these factors
- Disadvantages of these factors
I was not aware that Aspergers Syndrome was categorised on the Autism spectrum. I
would like to explore this in greater detail for Assignment 2.

Strategies for achieving future learning goals continued:

To be successful in achieving my future learning goals, I need to;
- Talk to parents about strategies which they use at home to successfully motivate
and manage their child.
- Speak with previous teachers of the student to gain their input regarding
management within the classroom.
- Converse with the school principal about their knowledge of the particular student
or students with similar characteristics.
- Attend Professional Development seminars about children with Autism, such as
Early Days Understanding Behaviour, Positive Behaviour Support, Early Days
Play and Social Learning by Autism Spectrum Australia and Autism Structured
Teaching by Compass Australia.
- Make time to develop relationships with students with Autism by firstly
understanding their personalised characteristics in order to develop learning
activities around their interests and needs.

Mentor Teacher comments on my identified gap:

*Pseudonym name Joe has been used to protect the identity of the student being discussed.

Working with a student with Autism can be challenging at times, therefore confidence
in dealing with behavioural problems, is a must. Do not be afraid to discipline a child,
and try different approaches, as it is trial and error. You almost have to pre-empt
whats going to happen at some stages, for example, Joe lashed out at another
student in our class over a piece of paper which he saw as a game piece and the other
child did not. Joes behaviour frightened the other student, who was in tears, hiding
under the back table away from Joe, yelling I hate you! Fortunately, Joe moved
himself to the middle of the mat where his classmates were listening to a story, and
he did not react any further to the situation. Claire did the right thing by stopping the
story, checking on the upset student and letting him know he could stay under the
desks until he felt comfortable to come out. She reinforced that the situation would
get sorted very soon. Due to having a whole class full of students, it could not be
dealt with immediately, but cool down time was needed for each child anyway. Claire
then asked both boys to have a conversation with her at lunch, during which Joe
apologised, and the other boy was very satisfied with this outcome. The other boy
however, came to school the following day saying that he was worried about being
near Joe that day, so they were kept away from each other. The situation intimidated
Claire as she was afraid that the student would lash out at her, and she felt for the
boy at the other end of the tantrum, but she handled it well.

Mentor Teacher comments on my identified gap continued:

We must set all students up for success, and give no room for failure. Joe is very
smart, but chooses to create paper planes or other pieces of art, over doing a set
task, unless someone sits with him and monitors him the entire time. Claire is
beginning to be firm with Joe, and recognising that often its a matter of picking your
battles.
(L. Nuemann, personal communication, March, 26, 2015).

Out-takes from personal reflective journal regarding student with Autism:

- During handwriting, Joe was creating a paper model. I asked if I could take care of it
while he wrote his letters, and he handed it to me immediately and got on with the
task. He wrote neatly, but didnt like using finger spaces as one letter was too far
away from the next and he needed to fill the gaps. I encouraged him to use finger
spaces between letters, as this is what all students needed to do, but I did not push
it, as I was satisfied that he was doing work. When he writes sentences he uses
finger spaces, so the letter practice could be overlooked. He threw a tantrum when
the class started talking as it wasnt fair. I asked the class to be quiet again, as they
had become quite loud and it was supposed to be silent handwriting time while the
music played quietly in the background. The class settled again, and Joe continued
to work. This didnt last long, as the class become noisy again but Lauren calmed
him this time, and it was time to pack up.
If the teacher says no talking, then that is the expectation that Joe has of the
class; no
exceptions. He is very matter of fact, but as a classroom teacher with 26
students, you cant just cater to one childs needs all of the time. Therefore, Lauren
removed him from the situation to calm him down in a tight cuddle and used words
like calm down and stop. He then required 5 minutes of quiet time, as getting so
frustrated can drain his
energy. I wasnt aware of this and assumed he was being
disobedient so asked him to
stand up and give me his creation; he became agitated
because he didnt want to stand up, and was screaming at me while the class was
talking with Lauren on the floor.
They were all dismissed for recess and Lauren
advised me to give him 5 minutes of quiet to calm down as trying to calm him now

Out-takes from personal reflective journal regarding student with Autism

continued:
- During reading groups, the teachers group sits on the floor and reads a common level
reader. Joe refused to sit with the group and read, but read the book by himself.
When I sat with him for individual assessment, he read fluently, could sound out
tricky words and used expression. On this occasion, it was best to leave him to read
alone as he was ahead of the rest of the group and was becoming frustrated with the
stop-start process.
- Lauren displays the days schedule on the board for Joes sake. It states which lessons
are happening in what order, and includes recess and lunch time. For independent
learning on a Thursday afternoon, the other year one class came into our room to
watch an educational movie. At the end of the day when the school bell rang, Joe
asked when they were having independent learning. Lauren replied that Independent
Learning was watching the movie. Joe enjoys playing with Lego during Independent
Learning and did not cope with this information. Lauren promised him that they
would do some independent learning time the following morning. She needed to
calm him as he was screaming and crying, and he hissed at her. Within a classroom,
schedules often change, so preparing the student with the possible change before it
happens, makes a huge difference.

Annotated bibliography:
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2014). Australian Professional
Standards
for
Teachers.
Retrieved
March,
28,
2015,
from
http://
www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list
- Standard 6.2; engage in professional learning and improve practice supports my
wishes to extend my knowledge about working with students with ASD, by
understanding the relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning. Standard
7.3; engage with the parents/carers is highly important to me in regards to my gap. I
will require advice from them in respect to their childs characteristics and behaviour,
in what works for them at home and any information or readings they have done that I
may not be aware of.

Annotated bibliography continued:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015). Student Diversity
Students
with
a
disability.
Retrieved
March,
28,
2015,
from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/studentdiversity/students-with-disability
- It is important to remember that achieving education standards is possible for most
students with a disability and not all students will require adjustments to their learning
program. Currently, I find it challenging to plan for different levels of ability within the
classroom, mostly in identifying ways to change a standard lesson for those gifted
student or the lower level students. I was not aware that the Australian Curriculum
highlighted that the literacy capability is used to personalise learning. Literacy is the
foundation for learning all other subjects. If students are capable of comprehending
texts by having sound knowledge of grammar, they can then listen, read, view, speak
and write to make sense of other areas. This relates also to students with a disability
as often their literacy is quite good; they do understand, they just find it difficult to
stay on task.

Annotated bibliography continued:

Government of South Australia Department of Education and Childrens Services.
Protective Practices for staff in their interactions with children and young people
Guidelines for staff working or volunteering in education and care settings. Retrieved
March,
10,
2015,
from
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/docs/documents/1/ProtectivePracticesforSta.pdf
- In preparing for my student teacher placement in South Australia, I was required to
complete the Safety and Wellbeing course through Charles Darwin University.
Reading through the above mentioned standards and then discussing them in detail in
a collaborative session was really informative for me, as although I had completed a
short course titled Mandatory Reporting for Northern Territory schools, this really
elaborated and reinstated what I had learned. It is important to remember the legal
side of caring for children, and I found it particularly helpful knowing what the
acceptable limits are in regards to responding to behaviour, as children with ASD often
require a different type of management, including physically restraining or calming
them.

Annotated bibliography continued:

Autism Victoria, trading as Amaze. (n.d). Autism Spectrum Disorders: Information Pack.
Retrieved
March,
28,
2015,
from
http://
www.amaze.org.au/uploads/2011/08/Information-Pack-Aug-11.pdf
- This information pack began to answer some of my questions regarding the
behaviour of children with autism. One of the most interesting points was the
imagination/flexibility of thought in individuals with ASD. Although these children have
a hard time joining in with imaginary play with others, they are creative in imaging
worlds and situations, but struggle with allowing others to join in as there are so many
rules and conditions and if these are not followed, unsocial behaviour is a result. Part of
this behaviour also highlights the use of toys and objects for stimulation such as
spinning or organising rather than playing, and means that some people with ASD may
have a particular talent such as being able to draw well or play an instrument well.
This is not the case for all individuals.

Annotated bibliography continued:

Learning Links. (2005). Autism Spectrum Disorders. Retrieved March, 28, 2015, from
http://
www.learninglinks.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/LLIS-36_Austism-Disorders.pdf
- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a
different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far
away (H.D. Thoreau, 1854). I think this is a fantastic way to tell both parents and
teachers that it is ok if a child does things differently or learns at a different pace to
other children; they are their own person, and not one of us is the same, therefore that
child will achieve what they need to when THEY need to. This reading helped eliminate
the myth that autism was a mental disability. It is in fact a behavioural diagnosis based
on evidence, not medical tests and children with autism are very capable learners.

References:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder. (2015). Autism. Retrieved March, 21, 2015, from http
://www.autismspectrum.org.au/