Title: A Case Study on Autism: School Accommodations and Inclusive Settings.
Abstract: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a mother and father raising their two children with autism. This single case study revealed the supports involved in educating and socializing school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder. The case study indicated that the parents agreed on a majority of issues and clearly pointed out that their major area of concern was education. Implications are put forth for accommodating students with autism in inclusive settings with suggestions for future research. ********** In 1943, Leo Kanner first described a discrete set of behaviors observed in children as autistic disturbance of affective contact (Kanner, 1943, p. 217). He noted that the most notable features of this condition were obsessive and stereotypic behaviors accompanied by echolalia. Autism remains of the true mysteries of medical science and psychology. In fact, Kirk (2000) refers to it as one of the least understood (p. 445). To add to the confusion, authorities disagree on whether autism is a distinct disability or a subgroup of another exceptionality (Smith, 2001). 1981 autism was included in the definition of severe emotional disturbance, but in that year the secretary of education moved autism from the federal definition of 'severe emotional disturbance' to the category of 'other health impaired' (Ysseldyke & Algozzine, 1995, p. 433). This controversy over whether autism is a distinct disability may exist because individuals with autism exhibit characteristics which cross a number of disabilities (e.g. health impaired, mental retardation, communication disorders). The characteristics of these varying disabilities include language disorders (echolalia), emotional disturbance (unusual responses to people or attachment to objects), and mental retardation (approximately 70% of persons with autism have cognitive disorders). In 1980, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) first included autism as a separate and distinct disability (Tanguay, Robertson, & Derrick, 1998). Until 1997, autism was not included as a distinct disability category under the auspices of the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA). For the previous 16 years it was categorized as other health impaired. With the 1997 amendments to IDEA (P.L. 105-17), autism was defined as: a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction usually evident before age 3, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movement, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual sensory experiences (NICHCY, 1997, p. 1). Most recently, there has been a major move to change from the dichotomy of autistic- nonautistic to a recognition of a continuum referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Billstedt, 2000). This continuum ranges from individuals manifesting relatively mild autistic- related disorders such as Asperger's Syndrome to individuals manifesting autism with mental retardation and relatively severe symptoms (Scheuermann & Webber, 2002). The incidence of autism spectrum disorder in the United States is reported to be approximately 4.8 per 10,000 with a consistent excess of males to females, up to a 4:1 ratio (Szatmari, Jones, Zwaigenbaum, & MacLean, 1998). Some researchers believe autism spectrum disorder to be much more common, approaching half a percent of the general population of children (Billstedt, 2000). Occasionally, a family may have multiple children with autism spectrum disorder, however, this phenomenon is rare. Less than 3% of the siblings of children identified with ASD also have the disorder (Bolton et al. …
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-06-22
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 20
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