Autism and Multicultural Perspectives in the Classroom
Classroom Management
In providing a multicultural education system for autistic children, classroom management becomes an important issue. The issue is important in terms of maintaining an appropriate learning environment so that students with autism and students with average academic abilities can learn in the same setting. However, it is even more important in relation to the ability of traditional classroom teachers to have the knowledge and even the desire to do what is necessary to include autistic children in all classroom activities. Because of the special needs and behavioral issues of autistic children, traditional classroom teachers require specialized training to transition from being teachers to being facilitators (Vakil, Welton, O’Connor & Klein, 2009). Even more, traditional classroom teachers must understand how to intervene in a way that makes autistic children not just bystanders in the learning process, but actually involved in a way that is appropriate for their mental and behavioral abilities (Murphy, 1996).
The problem that must be overcome is not just about the knowledge and abilities of traditional classroom teachers, but also the stereotypes and attitudes that many of these teachers possess. Studies have shown that generally less than half of regular classroom teachers that are surveyed feel that inclusion of autistic children in the traditional classroom is appropriate (Murphy, 1996). Many of the teachers that are surveyed in these studies stated that general education teachers simply do not have the abilities or the resources with which to handle the specialized needs of autistic children. One argument that could be made is that working toward full inclusion of autistic children in the traditional classroom setting would actually benefit regular educational teachers because they would receive the extra skills needed to handle students with extreme needs due to disabilities.
Lesson Plans
It is often the case that traditional classroom teachers have a specific method of instruction that they use. Teachers may fall into a specific method, such as using lectures and verbal instruction, and forget the importance of allowing group learning or using reading as an instructional method. In a multicultural classroom with many different types of students, including students with autism, lesson plans have to be created that allow for learning to occur using different approaches and different interaction styles. Some students may learn by hearing a teacher speak in front of the class as a way of relaying information. Others may be more silent and perform better when they can read information. This is especially true when dealing with students that have autism. Some of these students will use language in a verbal sense, while others may comprehend language in a written form (Banks et al., 2007).
Assessment
Another of the specific needs that must be addressed in order to provide a truly multicultural education experience for autistic children is in how to assess their learning abilities. The research that is available on the subject of traditional assessments has demonstrated that children with autism generally perform very poorly on tests that require spatial memory or to read and recall information (O’Neil, 2008). However, what research has also shown is that about 30% of all children with autism have above average skills in specific areas. For example, children with autism may perform on an above average level in music, drawing, or even the ability to read complex materials that are considered to be advanced based on their age and educational level. Other autistic children have been found to be above average in working out complex mathematical problems or other abstract puzzles (O’Neil, 2008).
What this means is that in order to truly provide an inclusive and multicultural learning experience for children with autism, teachers must be able to provide specialized assessments related to their specialized abilities. This will require teachers that are willing, and that have the knowledge, to be able to assess different students in different ways. Students with average abilities may be assessed for what they have learned with traditional tests. However, students with autism may have to be assessed based on the specialized skills, such as musical skills, mathematical skills, or language skills. If these students have specialized skills, they certainly have the ability to obtain larger amounts of knowledge in these areas. The task for teachers in a truly inclusive environment is to assess the learning that is occurring, regardless of how or why it may be occurring.
Social Development
Traditional classroom teachers must help other students overcome the issues that they may feel, including annoyance and surprise, that students with autism can have very specialized areas of interest and above average intelligence. An autistic student in the classroom that is clearly interested in complex mathematical problems can be annoying for other students that may have to work to complete these types of exercises. Classroom teachers must be able to recognize that part of a truly multicultural learning environment is not only to help create an inclusive environment for children with autism, but also an inclusive environment for students with average academic abilities. These students have to be given the knowledge to understand the specialized learning abilities and interaction styles of children with autism (O’Neil, 2008).
This also leads into the larger issue of the social development of students with autism and their interactions with other children. Autistic students in traditional classrooms often find themselves being ignored by other students. When they are included in traditional social interactions, such as play activities, they may become the target of taunting and bullying (Meshnik, 2005). Teachers have to be able to help not only the students with autism, but also the traditional students, interact together in an appropriate manner.
Teachers also have to educate the regular students on why the autistic students may behave in a particular way. The end goal has to be full integration of both the regular students and the students with autism so that social interaction can occur. Otherwise, the students with autism face being ignored and not having the full social development experiences that all students need and require as they move toward adulthood (Meshnik, 2005).
