Effects of the classroom environment on students with autism spectrum disorder
Thinking
Having the flair for teaching I have considered learning is the crucial process for an individual’s overall development. At the same time, I have witnessed the difficulties encountered by the students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), at different instances. I remember some of my classmates and some others in my close circles who suffer from the same, how challenging was the learning process to them. Such individuals have issues with communication, social interaction, imagination and sensory processing. All these make a classroom environment and learning process a nightmare for them. They fail to understand and communicate with teachers and their fellow classmates. They are not able to follow the cues from voice or face. Inappropriate social behavior and social interaction lead to their social isolation, expulsion, aggravate their aggressiveness, obsession, etc. and promotes challenging behaviors like bullying. Many of the instructional strategies may prove ineffective for them due to their difficulties with creative plays. Sensory issues disable them to cope with noisy environments, making them hyper or hypo sensitive to being touched by others, or inability to maintain eye contact. The disabilities of the students to fully cope with and follow the world around them classroom education stressful and challenging, both for the child, and teachers. The children’s needs are not met and the teachers’ plans for the class go unaccomplished.
As time passes, more and more abilities are discovered in the educational setting. Unfortunately, new disorders get identified too. Resultantly, the expectations for classroom teachers become more demanding. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are challenging for the classroom teacher and the student due to the diverse needs and sensory issues faced by the student. Teachers need to be aware of a student’s disorder, and ideally plan and implement autism education, so that they are able to help the student get the best out of his or her classroom experiences.
All these factors lead to the question: “What are effects of the classroom environments on the students with ASD?” I have posed this research question to help me investigate and understand this issue better. I know that all individuals learn at differing rates, and there are differences in the retention levels based on their personal strengths and weaknesses. There is not one universal way to instruct students that will benefit all learners. When considering special needs students, this is especially true. Teachers need to be aware of a student’s disorder, and follow methods to create ideal instruction strategies and settings, so that they are able to help the student make the best out of his or her classroom experiences. I believe that with proper tools and classroom environment children with ASD can learn along with others in the class .This will help both the teachers and children to meet their goals.
Acting
I plan to begin this research project by first accessing the ERIC database, as well as the EBSCO database. I will begin to search for articles that have studied the effects of the classroom environment on the students with autism spectrum disorder. The process of screening articles for relevant information pertaining to my research question will then begin. Once I go through enough articles, I select important information pertaining to my research question, and develop my own feelings and findings based on what I have discovered in those readings. I will then begin my process of actually writing my mini proposal. As I write my mini proposal, I will refer back to my APA styles book as a reference for format and citations. My writing process will include a first draft with citations included, an editing stage, and a final revision stage that leads to my final product.
While searching for relevant, I will need to look for articles and data that have studied the influence of classroom environment on children with ASD. The articles will need to give insight to how to improve the class environment for creating a suitable learning atmosphere to people with ASD along with other students. It will include what teaching strategies, technologies and tools, behavioral patterns, etc. are to be used for achieving this purpose. It also will specify how to control, remove or manipulate those factors in the classroom environment that directly or crucially impact the ASD students, like the noise and how to include motivation, encouragement, etc. in order to make them understand the “right messages”.
I will look for articles that show how the specific changes –introduction or deletion of elements- in the classroom environment have improved the performance and engagement of ASD students. I will also look for other factors that facilitate the learning process in a structured learning environment like the importance of schedules, routines, procedures, priming, promoting special interests, using visual and organization, strategy instruction, structures tasks, etc. tools. Sometimes assistive technology, that includes the use of computers and visuals, can complement the learning situations of ASD learners. This could lead to new ideas or alternative hypotheses for my own research question like the combination of structured learning environment and assistive technology. Performance factors like communication, social interaction, behavior, learning, patterns of attention, responses to sensory stimuli and anxiety can be noted down. Those articles that speak about the ASD students’ performance showing variation and /or improvement due to the administration of changes in the classroom environment will be given special attention. I will need to explain what changes were made and how the changes were achieved.
I assume I will need to allot two to three hours for collecting the research articles that fit the criteria I detailed in the previous four paragraphs. I will then need to take another two to three hours to fully look over the selected articles in detail and to highlight the important information pertaining to my research question. I will then move forward in the actual writing phase of the mini proposal. I predict it will take me approximately three to four hours to write the mini proposal, revise it, and fully edit it. The entire process of completing the mini proposal should take me approximately seven to ten hours to finish it from start to finish.
Reflecting
After having reviewed and highlighted the pertinent information I will be in a position to select those which best fits the criteria that help me in answering my research question. I will then begin the process of organizing my research information. I will begin by creating the following headings each on their own page of paper: Introduction, Research Design, Sample/Population, Procedures/Data Collection, Instrumentation, Data Analysis, and Limitations. I will take each page and visually scan the highlighted information found within my research articles for information that answers the sub questions contained within that section. This will create a rough outline for the mini proposal. Each page will then contain the reference I need to look at and a short summary of what I am going to build upon for my mini proposal. This should speed up the writing process of the mini proposal. I will then move on to the actual writing phase of the mini proposal. I will use the multiple page outlines that I created to direct my writing and citations. This outline will provide me with an organized and detailed plan to guide my writing along. It will also help to keep my citations organized and help me to remember to include all parts in my mini proposal. This also helps me to recognize the larger picture of my research, as well as to notice the details of the specific parts and sections that make up that large picture.
The data I collect will reflect classroom environmental factors and the performance of ASD students. I will need to display the performance of ASD students under various settings /environment and their combinations. The performance will be measured based on the variables selected for the study after reviewing relevant literature. I will have to use table to show their performances under each classroom environment. The table will provide a quick visual for both my reference and my mini proposal’s audience, which help all of us to conclude which classroom environment helps the ASD students the most. The number of students in each case will be the same.Performance of ASD students under different learning / classroom environments
Rethinking
I am very curious about the results that would be generated by my mini proposal. Because each learning environment is supposed to effect ASD students in a different, unique way. My mini project will come out with a result suggesting the best classroom environment for ASD students. If the students in a particular classroom setting show better performance than in the other environments, that will be considered as the most suitable classroom environment for ASD students. Being a teacher myself, I will introduce this best environment in my own class. Whenever there is a lesson plan preparation I will consider creating this environment for the benefit of all ASD students, by asking this question “Does this lesson plan include teaching strategies for ASD students? If yes, to what extent? If no, what are the possibilities to include?”
The mini proposal will help me to make constructive and proper changes to my lesson planning procedures which will prove beneficial for all students to achieve classroom success and social success. I can’t completely rely on the results of this study to generalize about the best classroom environment, as there can be variations and this study has to be replicated. However, I will try to pass the results to other teachers and schools I know of, having ASD students, so that they can think of changing or adapting to the best environment after properly analysis their suitability. This will make the learning and teaching process of the ASD students a lot easier, effective and efficient.
References
Boyd, B. A.,. Conroy, M. A., Asmus, J. M., McKenney, E. L. W., & Mancil, G. R. (2008).Descriptive Analysis of Classroom Setting Events on the Social Behaviors of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 43(2), 186-197. Retrieved from : http://daddcec.org/Portals/0/CEC/Autism_Disabilities/Research/Publications/Education_Training_Development_Disabilities/2008v43_Journals/ETDD_200806v43n2p186-197_Descriptive_Analysis_Classroom_Setting_Events_Social_Behaviors.pdf
Denning, C. B. & Moody, A. K. (2013). Supporting Students with Autism SpectrumDisorders in Inclusive Settings: Rethinking Instruction and Design, Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, 3(1). Retrieved from : http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1153&context=ejie
Koegel, L., Matos-Fredeen, R., Lang, R., & Koegel, R. (Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders in Inclusive School Settings. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. Retrieved from : https://education.ucsb.edu/sites/default/files/autism_center/images/Koegel,%20Matos-Fredeen,%20Lang,%20Koegel%20(2011)%20Interventions%20for%20Children%20with%20Autism%20Spectrum%20Disorders%20in%20Inclusive%20School%20Settings.pdf
Ministry of Education, Ontario. (2007). Effective educational practices for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Retrieved from : http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/autismspecdis.pdf
New Brunswick Department of Education. (2005). Teaching students with Autism spectrum disorders. Retrieved from : https://www.gnb.ca/0000/publications/ss/TeachingStudentswithAutismSpectrumDisorders.pdf
