I would like to dedicate this post to the teachers and professionals
working with children with autism in the mainstream classroom. While
visiting some of my students in school and gathering information from
the teachers, one of the main challenges faced by the educators is
having the necessary resources they need to support their students with
autism. Thus it often appears that the children are not getting
sufficient support in the classroom leading to many repercussions such
as lack of learning opportunities or the incapability to absorb what
were being taught in class.
Why are children with autism not getting sufficient support in class?
1) The class ratio of teacher to students is too big. Many classrooms have only one teacher to usually a class of more than 20 students in the pre primary level and up to 40 students from the primary level onwards! Imagine a teacher having to cope with that many kids at the same time in the span of a day. Although some schools, usually the international ones have one additional co-teacher in the class, the ratio is still too large as teaching resources are distributed equally among all students and not catered to just that one child with autism. Also remember that all children, not just ones with autism have attention deficit problem from time to time. It is indeed exhausting for a teacher to be on a lookout all the time for all the kids under her supervision.
2) Every child with autism possesses different personalities despite having the same diagnosis. Even a special needs teacher needs time over the school year to get to understand the kid she is working with. Also comparing the special needs classroom ratio to the mainstream classroom ratio, the mainstream school teacher has less time and resources to know her student with special needs as well as she may have want to. Furthermore there are instances when a teacher is adept at teaching a particular child with autism but is not when teaching another student with the same diagnosis. This is due to the different learning needs and behavioral patterns of the two children.
3) The demands of integration lies heavily on the class teacher.The mainstream classroom teacher further has to coordinate her efforts to cater to two groups of students - mainstream and special, leading to inequity in the distribution of attention due to the latter group being the minority.
4) Most mainstream teachers are untrained in working with children with autism. Mainstream teachers are usually equipped with the skills and knowledge to teach mainstream students with no particular special needs. It takes more than just a teaching diploma or degree to work with students with autism. Also, working with kids on the spectrum requires at least a couple of years of hands on experience in order to understand and learn about the unique culture of autism.
With the above being said, we must not declare the battle lost because it never is and never will be. There are many teachers who over the years adopted or devised strategies to cope with the demands of teaching and integration. Recently, more efforts have been taken by many school managements to provide learning support to their students with special needs. More teachers are also being sent for training while new job vacancies are made available to special needs aides who will be sent for training if they clinch the job offer. Things are certainly picking up in the area of special needs students' integration into the mainstream school setting.
However, there could still be a long way to go. To ensure that these students have the best support and learning years ahead of them, attitudes and further implementation of feasible strategies to benefit all parties involved (teachers, professionals, caregivers and of course, parents) are important considerations.
To find ot more about the services I provide, visit me at my website, www.triumphantkids.com or email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.
Till then, with deepest regards,
Daven. :)
Why are children with autism not getting sufficient support in class?
1) The class ratio of teacher to students is too big. Many classrooms have only one teacher to usually a class of more than 20 students in the pre primary level and up to 40 students from the primary level onwards! Imagine a teacher having to cope with that many kids at the same time in the span of a day. Although some schools, usually the international ones have one additional co-teacher in the class, the ratio is still too large as teaching resources are distributed equally among all students and not catered to just that one child with autism. Also remember that all children, not just ones with autism have attention deficit problem from time to time. It is indeed exhausting for a teacher to be on a lookout all the time for all the kids under her supervision.
2) Every child with autism possesses different personalities despite having the same diagnosis. Even a special needs teacher needs time over the school year to get to understand the kid she is working with. Also comparing the special needs classroom ratio to the mainstream classroom ratio, the mainstream school teacher has less time and resources to know her student with special needs as well as she may have want to. Furthermore there are instances when a teacher is adept at teaching a particular child with autism but is not when teaching another student with the same diagnosis. This is due to the different learning needs and behavioral patterns of the two children.
3) The demands of integration lies heavily on the class teacher.The mainstream classroom teacher further has to coordinate her efforts to cater to two groups of students - mainstream and special, leading to inequity in the distribution of attention due to the latter group being the minority.
4) Most mainstream teachers are untrained in working with children with autism. Mainstream teachers are usually equipped with the skills and knowledge to teach mainstream students with no particular special needs. It takes more than just a teaching diploma or degree to work with students with autism. Also, working with kids on the spectrum requires at least a couple of years of hands on experience in order to understand and learn about the unique culture of autism.
With the above being said, we must not declare the battle lost because it never is and never will be. There are many teachers who over the years adopted or devised strategies to cope with the demands of teaching and integration. Recently, more efforts have been taken by many school managements to provide learning support to their students with special needs. More teachers are also being sent for training while new job vacancies are made available to special needs aides who will be sent for training if they clinch the job offer. Things are certainly picking up in the area of special needs students' integration into the mainstream school setting.
However, there could still be a long way to go. To ensure that these students have the best support and learning years ahead of them, attitudes and further implementation of feasible strategies to benefit all parties involved (teachers, professionals, caregivers and of course, parents) are important considerations.
To find ot more about the services I provide, visit me at my website, www.triumphantkids.com or email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.
Till then, with deepest regards,
Daven. :)
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