a scientific approach to designing, conducting, and evaluating instruction based on empirically verified principles describing functional relations between events in the environment and learning

(ABA=altering learning environment to meet needs of learners, particularly with autism)

at the mild end of the autism spectrum

impairments in social interaction, no language delay, average/above average intelligence

• repetitive, stereotyped behaviors
• intense interest in a part. subject
• preoccupation with one's own interests
• clumsiness, lack of fine-motor skills
• difficult to make eye contact
• adheres to routine and are inflexible
• difficulty judging personal space/feelings
• reading at early age
• perfectionist

a neurobehavioral syndrome marked by qualitative impairments of social interaction and communication, and by restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior

(first described by Leo Kanner)

• difficulty relating to others in a typical manner
• extreme aloneness/isolation
• resistant to physical contact
• speech deficits
• food preferences
• obsessive desire for repetition
• bizarre, repetitive behavior-(rocking)
• lack of imagination
• normal physical appearance

five disorders of childhood subsumed under the term ASD (previously PDD), differentiated from each other by age of onset and severity of symptoms

• autistic disorder
• Asperger syndrome
• Rett syndrome
• childhood disintegrative disorder
• pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)

onset before age 3 

• impairment of social interaction
• impairment of communication
• restricted, repetitive, stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities

taking advantage of students' obsessions and turning a perceived deficit into a strength

• baited with virtually irresistible reinforcers that "lure" the student to the trap
• only a low-effort response already in the student's repertoire is necessary to enter the trap
• interrelated contingencies of reinforcement inside the trap motivate the student to acquire, extend, and maintain targeted academic/social skills
• they can remain effective for a long time

1 on 1 sessions of a routinized sequence of contrived learning trials is presented as child and teacher sit at a table

each sequence consists of an item presented, child's response, and reinforcement (positive for a correct response, ignored/corrected for incorrect/nonresponses)

a communication partner (facilitator) provides physical support to assist an individual who cannot speak or whose speech is limited to typing on a keyboard or pointing at pictures, words or other symbols on a communication board

eventually discredited as scientific evidence showed the facilitator as influencing the outcome

early developing social communication skill in which two people use gestures and gaze to share attention with respect to interesting objects or events

children with ASD often show deficits in joint attention

children who meet some, but not all, of the qualitative or quantitative criteria for autistic disorder

have significant impairments in socialization with difficulties in either communication or restricted interests

a distinct neurological condition that begins between 5 and 30 months of age following an apparently normal early infancy

• head growth slows
• stereotypic hand movements
• unsteadiness and awkward gait
• severe impairments in language and cognitive abilities
• seizures are common

explain social situations and concepts, including expected behaviors of the persons involved, in a format understandable to an individual with ASD

descriptive, directive, perspective, and affirmative sentences

a child is at present not able to produce a given sound physically; the sound is not in his repertoire of sounds

-substitutions

-additions

-omissions

-distortions

(ex. "yeh me yuh a da wido"=let me look out the window)

a diverse set of strategies and methods (unaided or aided) to assist individuals who cannot meet their communication needs through speech or writing

• a representational symbol set or vocabulary
• a means for selecting the symbols
• a means for transmitting the symbols

interactive exchange of information, ideas, feelings, needs, and desires

encoding, transmitting, and decoding messages

• a message
• a sender to send the message
• a receiver who responds to the message

a formalized code used by a group of people to communicate with one another-consist of a set of abstract symbols and a system of rules for combining those symbols into larger units

are not static, but grow and develop with the culture/community

a set of rules governing how spoken language is used to communicate

• using language to achieve various communicative functions and goals
• changing language according to the conversational context
• following rules for conversations and storytelling

when speech deviates so far from the speech of other people that it

-calls attention to itself

-interferes with communication

-provokes stress in the speaker of listener

3 different types

1. articulation disorders
2. fluency disorders
3. voice disorders

45 different sound elements in the English language

(ex. pear vs. bear, only one phoneme prevents the words from being the same)

for young children with hearing loss begins by teaching awareness of sound, teaching the child to learn and listen and to learn by listening instead of simply learning to hear

-a parent might draw attention to a sound such as a doorbell ringing, hiding a sound and having the child locate it

a passive assessment procedure in which the child's reactions to sounds are observed

sound presented at an increasing level of intensity until a response is reliably observed

people who are deaf who do not view their hearing loss as a disability and consider the term "hearing impairment" inappropriate and demeaning because it suggests a defiiciency

Deaf is spelled with an upper case "D", don't prefer person first language, but instead use terms such as teacher of the Deaf, school for the Deaf and Deaf person

o   Attendance

o   Social skills/reading cues and faces

o   Lack of access to visual learning

o   Congenital- ex. colors, can’t imagine them

o   Literary references to concepts, information that visually surrounds you that you learn about because you see it

o   Residential (traditional schools for the blind typically have multiple disability students rather than just blind)

o   Resource room (part time in a classroom for students with visual impairments, other part in regular classroom)

o   Regular class

§  With itinerant

a simple method of helping a person with visual impairments to travel

-offer assistance, allow them to take YOUR arm, walk at a normal pace-describing obstacles, allow them to seat themselves by guiding their hand to the chair

extremely varied, different on an individual basis as well, affect academic performance

ex. asthma, ADD or ADHD, diabetes, epilepsy, heart condition, hemophilia, Tourette syndrome, sickle cell anemia

a disorder of voluntary movement and posture

may experience paralysis, extreme weakness, lack of coordination, involuntary convulsions

far less severe than tonic-clonic, but may occur more frequently, usually a brief loss of consciousness occurs lasting from a few seconds to half a minute or so

may stare blankly, flutter or blink eyes, grow pale, drop what they are holding-may be viewed as daydreaming or not listening

consistently exhibiting difficult attention and inappropriate movement, inability to stay in task, impulsive behavior, and fidgeting impair their ability to learn and increase the likelihood of unsatisfactory interactions with others

(served under behavioral disorders and learning disabilities for IDEA)

functionality

age-appropriateness

making choices

communication skills

recreation and leisure skills

1. talent (art, music, academic, interpersonal)
2. intellectual competence (IQ)
3. personality attributes (resilience, self-esteem)

plus "lucky stars"

revised from nouns to verbs

--> remember, understand, apply, analyze, and evaluate