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Additional Learning Characteristics
In addition to the
criteria specified in the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), students with autism
spectrum disorders (ASD) may display a wide variety
of other learning characteristics (Janzen, 2003; Simpson & Myles,
1998) that can be described under the following categories: (a) general
cognitive and academic functioning, (b) attention, (c) generalization,
(d) visual thinking, and (e) problem solving.
Cognitive
and Academic Functioning in General
Individuals
with ASD display a wide variety of cognitive skills, from moderate or
severe mental retardation to average or above-average intelligence (APA,
2000). Thus, possible educational placements may include self-contained
schools or classrooms and general education classrooms for those with
Asperger syndrome and some with PDD-NOS (Simpson & Myles, 1998).
However, despite average or above-average intelligence and strengths
in memory and cognition, many students have difficulties in general
education due to restricted interests, problems with abstract concepts,
difficulty generalizing information, and weak organizational skills
(Myles & Simpson, 2002).
Attention
Many individuals
with ASD display difficulties in attention (Janzen, 2003). Specifically,
they have difficulty regulating attention, similar to individuals with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Myles & Southwick, 1999).
Examples include daydreaming and difficulty completing complex directions
due to a loss of focus in the early stages of the task. These attention
problems interfere with the ability to choose what in the environment
is significant and what should be ignored. In addition, they may not
be able to easily shift attention between two items.
| Ross, a high-functioning fifth-grader with PDD-NOS,
was academically on par with the other children in his math class.
However, he was concentrating so hard on completing his division
problems that he missed his teacher’s repeated directions
to put his math away and line up for lunch, resulting in a loss
of 5 minutes of recess for “non-compliance.” |
Associated with difficulties in attention, children with
ASD tend toward stimulus overselectivity (Simpson & Myles, 1998).
This means that they attend to few cues in the environment and often
respond to the wrong or insignificant cues.
| Armen used a photographic visual schedule to
transition from one activity in the classroom to another. When he
took the photo indicating circle time, he walked over to the fish
tank and peered inside. The teacher told him repeatedly to sit on
his spot, but he stayed at the tank. When he looked at the picture
of the circle time area, he noticed and attended only to the small
piece of the fish tank in the photo. |
| Alfredo was a nonverbal preschooler with autism.
While teaching him to identify colors, the teacher used a red, blue,
and yellow toy car. He had mastered the task of handing the blue
car to the teacher when asked to “give me the blue car,”
but when it was lost and replaced with an identical toy car, Alfredo
could no longer complete the task correctly. He had noticed the
missing hubcap on the blue car and had incorrectly associated that
with the word “blue” instead of paying attention to
the color of the car. |
These types of deficits also contribute to difficulties
with social conventions. Thus, they find it challenging simultaneously
to pay attention to what someone is saying, to facial expression, body
language, and tone of voice.
Generalization
Individuals with ASD often have trouble generalizing
information to new settings, people, and materials as a result of difficulties
organizing information meaningfully (Janzen, 2003; Simpson & Myles,
1998). Consequently, tasks mastered in only one teaching environment
are not automatically demonstrated in others. Therefore, academic planning
should include specific attention to ensuring generalization takes place.
| Allison was unable to make transitions from activity
to activity in her classroom, to the frustration of herself and
her teacher. For example, after breakfast, her teacher said, “Allison,
it’s time to go to the bathroom.” Allison did not comply.
When the teacher repeated it four more times in an increasingly
louder voice, Allison threw herself to the floor, kicking and screaming.
The next day, her teacher instead handed her a photograph of the
restroom door and said, “bathroom.” Allison went without
a fuss. |
Problem Solving
Students with ASD have difficulty with the flexible thinking
involved in solving problems (Janzen, 2003). They find it challenging
to creatively generate a variety of options, think about multiple pieces
of information at once, and evaluate possibilities. Often, when students
with AS have learned a solution to a problem, they continue to try that
solution even if it does not work (Myles & Southwick, 1999). Even
when they have learned multiple solutions to problems through discussion
and role-play, the have difficulty retrieving or generalizing them to
authentic situations. These deficits in problem solving extend to academics,
involving problems such as with math word problems and estimation.
| Mellisande generally performed well on exams
in her high school U.S. history class. She easily memorized dates,
names, events, and places. However, when the teacher gave a writing
assignment involving brainstorming possible ways of preventing the
Vietnam War, she could not interrelate the facts she had memorized
to produce creative solutions. |
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