Assessment+with+Asperger's+Children

James Russell 4-3-2012 Tues/Thurs 4:45-9:30 Assessment for Students with Asperger's

I have been motivated to examine issues with children having Autism Spectrum and Asperger's Syndrome, because of my experience with these special needs populations in my own observation and work in school. I examined a text which is centered around involving parents in the difficult transition of children with this condition into school. Essentially, the child with Asperger's syndrome and with Autistic Spectrum Disorder is one of the most difficult cases to differentiate for and to help. A great deal of this problem stems from the fact that the children in question can have such a different range of severity of symptoms and also of the manifestations of the symptoms. In examining the text I chose, I saw how some of the greatest issues come from the amazingly different way that these children see the world. An instructor wishing to teach to these children's needs must first understand how exactly it is they see the world. Depending on the severity of the problem, this might mean that it's impossible to //ask// the child directly about some of their issues, however this isn't necessarily ruled out as an option. In my personal experience with a student who has Asperger's, the child's attention (and not necessarily intelligence) can present a problem. The student I have had the most experience with was extremely smart and had a great body of knowledge in a myriad of subjects, however what she has trouble with is sticking to one topic of knowledge in answering questions. She also becomes very easily over-stimulated. One of the greatest challenges (as pointed out in some of the text I have reviewed) is that sometimes the nature of the manifestations are very unpredictable. Some children affected by this have a hard time volunteering information and coming out of their shell to share or participate. In the case I experienced, the student actually had the opposite problem: she had no fear. Having issues picking up on social cues and also filtering what should and should not be said is something that affects children with Aspergers. Children transitioning into the high school environment who have issues with this syndrome need special attention and collaboration from teachers first of all to ensure they are not completely isolated because of their condition. Because children with Asperger's often view the world as having too much stimulation in it and that can be overwhelming, this brings up questions of what exactly can be done to assess such children. One helpful idea that is not anything revolutionary but it can be honed to help this situation is to find out (as we have discussed doing with all students throughout this course) what the student finds easiest in terms of expressing him or herself. When this is discovered, it becomes much easier for a teacher to exploit this route when assessing. If a student finds it easier to express him or herself in an oral way because translating thoughts into writing is difficult, then the instructor can make room for this as a possibility during assessment. Constant oral assessment is also a strong tool for the students who aren't voluntary in terms of sharing information. The instructor needs to check frequently on the student in question with small, informal assessments because the student may easily be getting lost in his or her own thoughts and be perceiving the incoming information in an impaired way due to the fact that other stimuli can interfere easily. Close coordination with an adult or caregiver or tutor is also a key step for assessing these individuals. Parents will almost certainly be involved to a high degree with these students because of their condition, and coordination through phone but especially electronic resources is a crucial component. Email is such a useful tool because one of the greatest assets in accurately assessing these students is //preparation// for assessment rather than building the perfect assessment itself. Being able to email frequently and let parents know “I feel that your son or daughter might have been having a hard day and they weren't responding well to my questions” or “I think this key concept is difficult for your son or daughter to grasp, let me send a worksheet that can help them prepare for the test” is a key component of the process. Something that I've always thought highly valuable in terms of assessment which comes into play here as well is the idea that one should assess one's own assessments. It's not impossible to ask a child “what did you think of the test you had to take?” Unless a child is suffering from Asperger's to such a severe degree that they are clearly misplaced into mainstream classrooms and need to be moved to a special class, they will almost certainly be able to share whether or not they liked or disliked the assessment.

They will be able to share whether or not the material is difficult for them. Again, the key is to find which avenue (audio, visual etc.) the child finds to be A) the most effective and B) the least confusing (which means that other stimuli interfere with it the least) for expressing their thoughts and the knowledge they have learned.

• **Content Knowledge Question: Describe what you learned about diagnostic and assessment strategies that fit your target population.** I learned through the studies I performed and also through my real-life experience that diagnostic assessments are crucial in terms of monitoring students with Asperger's, that they need constant monitoring because they are A) easily confused and distracted at times and B) will not always express when they have a change they need to address. I believe that these students need not only to be involved constantly in relating information but that also they need to be versed in the kinds of assessment that matter the most for their grade. For example, if the unit culminates in a summative assessment that is formal (like a paper-based exam) then they need to be reminded and shown examples of what they'll be up against and the need to demonstrate repeatedly that they're making progress toward this goal before they can be expected to complete such an exam. • **Pedagogical Knowledge Question: Describe in what way/s assessment data would determine how you planned your curriculum and lessons for the specific special needs population?** The data that would help me determine how to differentiate for my student comes not only from the oral replies they give in-class and the short discussions I have with them one-on-one but also from the parents themselves. Communication with parents or aides is crucial to this process and helps me to understand how much the student is grasping the material and also what needs to be done or sent home with them to give them additional practice. There comes a limit to where more simply cannot be done effectively in-class, and then it comes down to the communication with parents to “Create” more practice time outside of class. The data coming from these reports and the parents or aides themselves is one of the greatest factors to help an instructor modify the material of his or her assessments.

Kingsley, Jessica Successful School Change and Transition for the Child with Asperger Syndrome : A Guide for Parents

Lawrence, Clare

Pages: 156

Publisher: Publishers

Location: London,, GBR

Date Published: 01/2010

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