I remember the first time I encountered a child with Autism was during my second year of teaching. This 3 year old boy was sweet and cute, but he has some difficulties on following classroom routines. If there were anything against his will, such as someone playing his favorite car, he would throw a big tantrum, and it escalated to an extent that he would get “out of control” and start throwing himself hard on the floor, banging his head against the wall, and other sort of self-injury behaviors. Frankly speaking, I was scared, and had no clue what I could have done in that situation.
Due to his destructive behaviors, both school and the parents had come to a conclusion that he should not be attending school but instead should look for other schools or agencies that provide specialized service to help him get better and so his parents enrolled to Autism Partnership, an organization that uses the behavioral approach (Applied Behavioral Analysis) to work extensively with children with autism. The child returned to school after 6 months of treatment, and an aide from Autism Partnership came with him as a school shadow. He was a different person with180-degree change! He, with some help from the aide, was able to follow instructions, both individually and as a group. He, although still got upset and disturbed when he couldn’t play with his preferred toys, was able to calm himself down quickly, and was so much better at controlling his own behaviors. It seemed so amazing! It was like magic!
Later on, the aide also provided me with some useful tips on how to work more effectively with this child and/or with children under this spectrum generally. I learned to make each instruction more discrete, and also learned to give a “consequence” – either a feedback for incorrect responses or a reinforcement for correct responses. I had more chances to work with autistic children in my later years of teaching, and I found this method very useful and effective. I feel more confident now in dealing with their unexpected behaviors.
I, as a professional teacher, highly recommend children with Autism to receive ABA training as soon as possible, for it is the only scientifically proved strategy to help to increase the IQ of autistic children, and I personally have experienced how powerful and effective it is. |
