Directions:
Choose the most suitable one from the list A~F for each numbered subheading (1~5). There is one extra choice which you do not need to use.
Teaching Students With Autism
Autism is a disability syndrome characterized principally by significant problems in the development of communication and social functioning. With appropriate teaching, all students with autism can learn.
1. _________________
Students with autism have significant challenges in understanding and using language for communication. Classroom environments must provide students with information on events, activities, and expectations in a manner that students with autism can easily understand. Visual activity schedules may be used to provide students with an overview of the instructional day and information on tasks that will be assigned. Many teachers also find mini-schedules helpful; they provide a visual analysis of the steps in a task or assignment that need completion by the student. In addition to providing supports for understanding classroom expectations, many students will also need supports for communicating to others. While most students with autism will learn to use speech to communicate, many still have great difficulty in expressing their needs and desires. They may need to use visual systems, sign language, or augmentative devices as an additional form of expressive communication.
2. _______________
It is important that the classroom environment provides activities and materials that are interesting and motivating. Actively engaging the student within instructional activities is critical to effective instruction. The teacher should observe the student in multiple activities and interview family members to identify the motivating activities or objects for the student. These preferred objects and activities may be used for instruction, or as reinforcers for activity engagement or completion. Instructional arrangements should also provide opportunities for choice-making to the student. Research has shown that when students have an opportunity to choose the activity, location, or materials for an instructional task, they are more likely to be engaged in the activity. Providing the student with frequent and personally meaningful reinforcement is often critical to sustaining motivation to engage in instruction and persist with activities.
3. _______________
Discrete trial training is an effective instructional format for teaching specific skills in an intensive, efficient manner. Skills are taught within a highly structured, one-to-one format providing clear and concise instruction, an additional prompt (as necessary), and an explicit reinforcer (reward) for performing the skill successfully. Discrete trial training typically uses a least-to-most prompting hierarchy, moving from a verbal prompt to physical guidance when verbal and nonve