Autism: A Classroom Perspective

If a kid doesn’t participate in class, they get a bad grade.  If they act out or are disrespectful, they get sent to the principal’s office.
There is typically a pretty fine line between right and wrong, and they should know better right?
In my opinion, teachers have one of the most difficult jobs these days.  They put in long hours, although they’re not paid by the hour; more often than not they take their work home with them; it is both physically and emotionally draining maintaining energy and keeping a group of students’ focus, let alone getting them excited about a subject; not to mention, teachers have to appease parents, students, administration…sounds like a whole ton of fun.
Now, on top of all of that more and more students are being diagnosed with learning problems, behavioral problems, etc. And teachers are expected to know about these and be sensitive to them, when in many cases they don’t even know much about them.
Such is the case with autism.
According to a study done in 2010, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that ASD prevalence was 1 in 68 among children age 8 years.
Now, I’m not a school teacher, but I have been a camp counselor, dance instructor, and Sunday school teacher and have worked with kids with both learning and behavioral problems.
Let me say this: it is nearly impossible give each student individual attention, while still being able to accomplish a lesson – and that’s when a teacher doesn’t have a student with a learning or behavioral problem.
Autism is now officially referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Which means, much as it sounds, that its level of severity ranges – on a rather broad – spectrum. Some individuals can remain high functioning, where other’s may be severely impaired.
Regardless of its severity, science has made one thing very clear. ASD is a disorder. Whether as a result of environmental or genetic factors or both (jury’s still out on that one), distinct brain abnormalities can be observed in the brains of individuals with autism. Decreased signal transduction, improper synapse formation and decreased plasticity can lead to a slew of problems, hence the wide array of symptoms and levels of functioning seen in ASD.
Yet all too often we fail to remember this. We view people as weird, or socially awkward. They’re being disrespectful, they’re acting out to get attention. We think they’ll “grow out of it.”  We attribute it to bad parenting or lack of social interaction and we think that a little tough love will fix everything. And when it doesn’t; when we finally turn to medicine to see if maybe it was more than we thought, we are overwrought with guilt. We feel so ashamed to have wasted so much time blaming them for something they had no control over all along.
This is something that happens in our school systems as well and it is detrimental to the education of these young children with autism.
In fact, it wasn’t until 1992 that schools began to include autism as a special education classification. However, even now, schools either don’t have the funding, or the mindset to support this.
Whether the result of teachers, administration, or lack of funding, students with autism are not getting the education or accommodations they need.
To be honest, I’m not a fan of the term accommodations. It sounds like an entitlement given to undeserving individuals, but here that is definitely not the case.
Student’s with autism DO need special accommodations. This is a fact, and it is also a fact that their needs are rarely being met. Many students with ASD can’t focus properly. They are easily distracted and may need isolation for a test or quiz to be able to focus. On top of that, many individuals with ASD are anxious in social settings, which can also contribute to poor performance when forced to work in such conditions.
But it’s more than letting a student take a test in another room. Student’s with ASD throw tantrums; they need to be somewhere they can do this without interrupting class and also without fear of repercussion for something that is out of their control. Student’s with ASD also may have difficulties confronting or interacting with others, resulting from their social anxiety. This means any accommodations they may need, they can’t or won’t even ask for. And in many cases, there is no one else to speak for them.
It is becoming an increasing demand that schools have a special environment for individuals with ASD, as well as instructors specifically trained to work with them and help them reach their goals. This would not only be beneficial for these students, but for the other students in the school as well as the other teachers.
That being said, it is also important for these individual students with ASD to remain as part of the school and not be isolated. Social encounters are highly beneficial for individuals with ASD.
How can we manage this? In many cases, it is a problem of funding. However, in a situation as critical as this, I find it difficult to believe that there are not less important issues that funds could be diverted away from. If it is the case of administration or teacher resistance, they must be educated and from then on held accountable for their actions on behalf of such students.
It’s time we stop labeling individuals as weird or awkward. Tough love may have worked on the kid who was shooting spitballs in the lunchroom, but not here. We need to start identifying the problem and working to solve it, rather that denying its existence or expecting it to just “go away.”