Pathfinder


 * Sarah A Cates **
 * EDTC 5103 **
 * Spring 2009 **
 * Pathfinder Project **

** Teaching children with Autism  **
 * Introduction: ** Autism is a disorder which affects more and more children. Autism is a disorder characterized by a lack of social skills, and a lack of communication skills. The lack of social skills of children with Autism is the most prominent and biggest area of skill deficits. It is a disorder that special education and regular education teachers must learn to manage in their classrooms. Children with Autism are in regular classrooms as well as special education classrooms. Children with this disorder are both fun and challenging. Special Education teachers need to learn how to teach children with Autism, how to help regular education teachers to teach children in their classes. Teachers need to know where to find information to learn about Autism Spectrum Disorders, what strategies to implement in the classroom for children with Autism, and how to implement those strategies.
 * Key Terms: ** Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autism strategies, Autism descriptions, Autism characteristics, Autism and the classroom, Visual supports for children with Autism, PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System), Autism Picture Schedule, and Teaching children with Autism.

Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, and dogpile. I have used Google and Yahoo many times. I had never heard of dogpile prior to this class. I have used Ask.com a few times.
 * Search Strategy: ** The search engines that I used for my project include:

1. []
 * Resources: ** (list resources found with annotations)
 * dogpile: Websites or articles found using dogpile search**.

This website is a site for teachers and parents to learn how to teach their student or child with Autism. This website give teachers great ideas for lessons, sensory projects, social stories, behavior management, and many other techniques for teachers to try with their students. These techniques can also be used at home with a child to improve home life.

2. []

This website tells why we teach? What we teach? And helps to determine if what we are teaching is working. It gives teachers ways to collect data, and document improvement in students. This helps teachers communicate more effectively with parents on what works at school with their child, and what to try at home with their child.

3. [] This is a website with toys that parents can purchase to use as rewards for their child, for sensory exploration with their child, and to help with calming them down. These toys are also good rewards for teachers to use at school, and good teaching toys to use with their students with autism. I want some of these toys for my students.

4. [] This article discusses the TEACCH program out of North Carolina that has been developed for teachers of children with Autism. Good article for teachers to begin to learn about structured teaching of children with Autism.

5. [] This is a website for parents. It is a support network of parents from all across the world.
 * Ask.Com: Website or articles found using Ask.com search engine**.

6. [] This is a great place to find a basic description and definition of Autism.

7. [] This is a website that is a great place to start finding resources on Autism. Parents and teachers can use this resource to begin looking for different ideas and help.

8. [] Resources for teachers and parents to use to find visual supports for children with Autism
 * Google: Websites or articles found using Google search engine. **

9. [] Book listed below to purchase from the National Autism Society for teachers and parents on visual supports for children. Also below the title of the book is a description of the book as posted on the website. // Everyday education: visual support for children with autism // “Visual supports can make a huge difference to people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This practical book explains how visual supports can help children with an ASD in everyday life and how to make them. Pernille is the mother of a child with autism and she and Maria both work with children on the spectrum. “ Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2007, 127pp, hbk, illustrated in full colour

10. [] This article gives parents or teachers step by step instructions on how to set up visual supports for their children with Autism.

11. [] This is another article which gives parents or teachers more information on visual supports and step by step instructions.

12. [] This is a website that describes a visual schedule, how to use it, and discusses how it work and if it works. Great explanation of visual schedules.

13. []
 * Yahoo: websites or articles Yahoo search engine. **

This website is great for printing pictures for a picture schedule. This website allows the user to print some pictures free, and order a complete system. Most of the pictures that would be needed or used can be printed free.

14. [] This is another site explaining visual schedules: how to use them and how to make them work for a child with autism. It gives you lots of ideas on how to display them, where to use them, and how to implement them

15. [] Another site showing visual schedules. Just another resource for parents or teachers.