Creating Communication Enabled Environments for Children with

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Creating Communication Enabled Environments for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

In our society, one of the most communicatively disempowered groups is formed by children with serious autism and minimal speech communication. Enabling these children to communicate spontaneously is a very crucial issue and is worthy of to be acknowledged as a focal educational objective. This view is supported by the studies that the means to attaining this is the establishment of environments that are communication enabled within school (and other) settings, using approaches and tactics that are proposed to develop own role of children as spontaneous communicators employing systems like pointing/multi-pointing. It is entailed in the proposed study that rather than focusing upon individual communication 'deficits', attitudes, environments, and curricula should be developed in a way that they become for these children, more communication enabling and empowering.

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Objective of the Proposed Study5

Literature Review5

Autism Spectrum Disorder5

Prevalence and Cause of Autism6

Problems Faced by Children7

Types of Treatment Programmes8

Methodology11

Expected Outcomes11

Creating Communication Enabled Environments for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Introduction

One of the core features of autism can be difficulties in spontaneous communication (Jordan, 1999). In relation with children with usual growth (Wetherby et al., 1988, p. 240-242), children with autism are susceptible to begin communication in fewer circumstances. (Chiang, 2009, p. 169-172; Potter and Whittaker, 2001) It has been suggested by many researchers, since the foremost recognition of the autism condition by Kanner (1943) that communication and the lack of social interaction are the fundamental and core characteristics of the autistic spectrum. (Valdez-Menchaca, 1994; Koegel and Koegel, 1994) For that reason, particularly on these two areas of development, many educational interventions have concentrated on the basis of the idea that virtually all the other difficulties often found in children with ASDs are an outcome of these communication-based difficulties.

Both the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 10) and the UN Convention on the rights of the Child (Article 13) have highlighted the implication of communication as a fundamental human right. This principle is established by the UN Convention (1989) that every child should have the benefit of “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds”. True self-determination and enhanced quality of life can be led by enabling children with autism to communicate their messages in an effective way that others are not capable to guess (Potter and Whittaker, 2001). In ameliorating communication skills in children with autism, the effectiveness of child-centred interventions has been explored by previous research (Jones et al., 2007, p. 565-570; Whalen et al., 2006, p. 655-664). Nonetheless, not much is recognized regarding the impact of interactive style of adult. As per the transactional model of development (Prizant et al., 2006), development of children is shaped by behaviour of adults and determines their communication.

The significance of adult interactive style in building up spontaneous communication of children in realistic school settings has been highlighted in few studies. Descriptive or appraising case study methodologies have generally been used by these ...