In this post, I am revisiting a lesson/lecture/notes from university wherein we had Dr.Sonja Grover introduce ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders), and how these impact the classroom. At that time, I though to myself, well, if I don't specialize in Special Education, I might need to worry about these things in the classroom. I should have reflected on my high school experiences a little bit more, it would be more clear that I would indeed find this information helpful. Regardless, I have long since been living in China (about 10 years now), these notes have been proven to be extremely helpful.
It is obvious no teacher can legally or professionally diagnose a student with ASD's but the idea of the students being impacted by environmental and personal factors is a reality, and in some cases, these notes have helped teachers, including myself, to be more aware of the situation.
In classrooms here in China, there is no distinction in the classroom or the assessment and evaluation practices that makes anything about the classroom feel equitable, in fact the only equity in the classroom is dependent on the teacher's willingness to advocate for students on a social-emotional level or assessment and evaluation level. In many cases, these accommodations and modifcations are met with a great deal of questioning by administration, classmates of the student and parents.
In some very rare situations, a school, such as Huamei-Bond International College (Guangzhou, GuangDong, China) may employ a psychologist or "counsellor" to be hired with expectations to provide students, staff and parents with insights into student recruitment trends. 2023-2024 there was a subtle presence of a psychologist hired by the school who was available to students. Long since, there has been little discussion of the professional made available to students or staff.
Trends in China with regards to Bilingual-International Schools are encircling the ideas of inclusive education without branding it as such, trying to keep true to elitist mindsets while contributing to promotion of growth mindsets, a lot of schools seem to be lacking the promotion of an inclusive school for a number of reasons,
1) Elitist optics: Parents aren't interested in sending students to a school that educates individuals who they do not feel build a stronger sense of entitlement/elitism of the institution that their own child will graduate from
2) Ableism (Lack of barrier-free facilities): There isn't anything intentionally nefarious about a lack of barrier-free facilities, but the idea is that, its really expensive in most cases.
3) Implied staffing needs: Again, every school might like to have a professional that could train teachers, help students integrate, but the big question when it comes down to it, "does it fit into the budget?" and "How does this reflect the goals of the school? especially if we are focused on sending students to Ivy League institutions, not preparing them to simply live a necessity-based life on a local-based level."
Since I moved here (in China) in 2015, the trends and available resources have always been on a roller coaster of positive and negative impacts. At Maple Leaf International School, (now, Maple Leaf World Schools), Dalian, in particular, was ground one for Wendy Goodall's Success Room Program. This evolved into a program that was cherished by staff, students, immediate stakholders of student wellness but questioned but the business side of the Maple Leaf Group. When I resigned and moved on in 2020 (for better opportunities), I moved Guangzhou, this school has gone through waves of inclsuive based programs under the vision and instruction of Principal Jay Chen. Currently in my role as Program Supervisor of the Resource Room Program (after school tutoring and safe space initiative), there is growth again, but still, not as much as one might hope for.
Until schools, and community partners are willing to actively address the needs for inclusive education, many students are either pushed through elitist education environments (which isn't always pretty to witness) or recommended to drop-out due to the inability of the school to provide students with suitable educational pathways.
I can't speak to what happens in a lot of the situations, but I do understand that from here, there is really only 2 options for these students, "Vocational School" (where, in China-are a good way to go no where fast) or begin working/business (which is great, however save the potential positive and negative variables their current socio-economic status).
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Autistic Disorder: usually evident in first few years (diagnosis before age 3 years), severe disruption in verbal and nonverbal skills and competencies, severe language disability, repetitive, restricted and/or unusual behaviours not explainable in terms of emotional disorder, males more often affected
l There is no definitive scientific evidence as to any physical, neurological or genetic marker for autism and hence there is no ‘test’ for autism
l The diagnosis is based on clinical judgment using DSM IV criteria and is usually made before age three years
l Often the child is a toddler before the formal diagnosis is made though there is almost always evidence of abnormal development prior to that
àDiagnostic features/symptoms
l Impaired social interaction
l Problems with verbal and non-verbal communication
l Unusual, repetitive and/or severely limited activities and interests (obsessive –compulsive behaviours)
l Does not want to cuddle with parent, not responsive to parent’s voice or face etc Often parent’s fear the child may be deaf
l The manifestations of the disorder may vary as a function of age and it is not uncommon for older autistic children to show more interest in social interaction than they did as younger children
l Younger child may not be interested in forming social, relationships; when older, the less affected autistic child may want to do so but have no idea about the social scripts for making new friends
l There is variation , however, and some children diagnosed with autism improve behaviourally in adolescence while for others symptoms may become more severe
l The best predictor of prognosis is level of communicative speech present and overall intellectual functioning
l A certain percentage of persons diagnosed with autistic disorder as children lead independent lives as adults while one-third lead partially independent lives
l More severely autistic children may not even notice other’s distress or presence
l A proportion of autistic children do not speak or speak only repetitive limited utterances; others are severely delayed in their speech and language development
l Many young children with autism do not engage in social or imaginative or imitative play
l Imaginative creative play is replaced by stereotypical repetitive behaviours such as ripping up bits of paper
l Frequently more interested in objects than people
l If there is speech, the pitch, intonation, rate and rhythm may be abnormal. Some children have a rising inflection at the end of sentences as if every sentence were a question
l Grammatical structures used are often immature for the child’s age
àBehaviours
· Problems with making eye contact regardless the situation
· Facial expression, body posture etc are not appropriate for facilitating social interaction (no welcoming smile, no movement toward the person who is trying to interact with the autistic child i.e. no turning toward that person as the person speaks etc.
· Lack of spontaneous attempt to share interests, enjoyment or achievements with others; results in social isolation (is this a preference or simply a consequence??)
· Thus the very young child, for instance, does not point at objects etc trying to get the parent’s attention or reaction to something of interest in the environment
· Does not want to cuddle with parent, not responsive to parent’s voice or face etc Often parent’s fear the child may be deaf
Aspergers Disorder: autistic features except there is intact language function, obsessive preoccupations evident in the topics discussed, activities pursued etc.
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder: normal development for first few years then regression and evident autistic traits
Rett’s Syndrome: known genetic disorder, affects only girls, regression in function evident within first few years of life, presence of hard evidence of neurological damage i.e. seizures etc.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified: similar traits to autistic disorder but generally not as severe; also evident in first years of life
l Pervasive developmental disorder is usually evident in first years of life
l often the child (rightly or wrongly) is diagnosed as intellectually impaired to some degree
l often there are associated diverse medical conditions i.e. chromosomal abnormalities. Congenital infection present at birth), structural abnormalities of the CNS etc
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