Questions

Autism Spectrum Disorder:

An Overview for Educators

1.) Identify the two major characteristics of ASD. For

each characteristic, provide at least two examples of
how a child with ASD might display them.
a) limited social communication / social interactions
- not as interested in peers, playing with peers
or talking
with peers
-struggles with language - cannot communicate
needs,
may be non- verbal
b) restricted repetitive patterns of behavior /
interests / activities
- picky eater - only eats certain foods / textures
of food
-very interested in a single topic (ex space) but
not
interested at all in other topics

2.) Identify the twin who demonstrates early warning signs

of ASD and describe the warning signs
a.). -Nathan
c.) -Nathan is less smiles than brother
-Nathan is less interactive with the mom and toy

3.) There are two ways that children can be identified as

having ASD.
a.) Compare and contrast the two methods of
identification.
-
 -
b.)Explain why having both diagnoses is important for a
child and her
or his family.
- after a diagnosis the parent can work with
doctors, the school, and therapists to help get the
child care that will help them
succeed in life and in school
- the child will also be less frustrated after getting
this help
because every day tasks and expectations will be
less
frustrating when they are given the proper help

4.) Scenario: Jaquese

This is Jaquese, a ten-year-old student in an inclusive fourth-
grade classroom. Jaquese loves mathematics and science
and is above grade level in both subjects. Because of this,
his teachers have a hard time keeping him engaged during
mathematics and science instruction. On the other hand,
Jaquese has difficulty with reading and writing. He also
struggles with reading comprehension, both when a story is
read to him and when he reads it independently. He’s
obsessed with superheroes and will often quote and act out
scenes from their comic books or films. This is often
frustrating for the teacher, because no matter how she tries
to distract him from his imaginary super-heroics, he always
comes back to them. In fact, he often cannot begin his work
until he has finished acting out an entire scene. Further,
most students do not understand his obsession; they find
Jaquese annoying and do their best to avoid him.

• Would this child or student have an IFSP team or an

IEP team? Explain.
• He would need an IEP team because it seems that
most of his struggled are education based and he
would benefit from a educational plan tailored to
his needs and some additional support and or
services

• Who are the required members for this team?

• His teacher, his parents, the school special
education teacher and sometimes the child

• Identify at least two additional team members that

might be on this team and explain why?
• School psychologist, a specialist who can help
explain instructional implications of the evaluation
results - all of these people are not necessary but
may help the parents and staff of the school better
understand the Childs needs and add helpful
information or ideas to the discussion to help the
child succeed

5.) Cherith is a single parent of six-year-old twins who have

ASD. Both have cognitive impairments, language deficits,
and behavior issues. Additionally, one child requires almost
total assistance for daily living skills in areas such as
feeding, dressing, and toileting and the mom reports that the
other child does not sleep. Both children receive services
and supports in school and in clinic settings.

Identify and explain four struggles or difficulties this mom

might face
• She might struggle with balancing her time working with
the time required to take care of her two kids with
special needs
• She might struggle with being tired from supporting the
 family, taking care of her kids (especially the one who
needs more care in things like eating, dressing, toilet,
etc) and then not getting much sleep at night due to
both children having difficulties sleeping at night -
keeping her awake also
• She might struggle with the financial side of only having
one income that is entirely dependent on her as well as
the extra cost that comes with her kids needing
additional services and support (extra doctor visits,
therapy, medical emergencies, medications, etc)
• She might struggle gaining a job or getting enough hours
at her job to support the household due to needing
extensive care for at least one of the children and if she
cannot find somebody to watch them she cannot go
into work

6.) Recall Jaquese from the Challenge. Jaquese is a ten-

year-old student in an inclusive fourth-grade classroom.
Jaquese loves mathematics and science and is above grade
level in both subjects. Because of this, his teachers have a
hard time keeping him engaged during mathematics and
science instruction. On the other hand, Jaquese has
difficulty with reading and writing. He also struggles with
reading comprehension, both when a story is read to him
and when he reads it independently. He’s obsessed with
superheroes and will often quote and act out scenes from
their comic books or films. This is often frustrating for the
teacher, because no matter how she tries to distract him
from his imaginary superheroics, he always comes back to
them. In fact, he often cannot begin his work until he has
finished acting out an entire scene. Further, most students
do not understand his obsession; they find Jaquese annoying
and do their best to avoid him.
Imagine you are Jaquese’s general education teacher. Using
what you know about Jaquese, select three strategies
discussed in this module that you could implement to
increase his success in the classroom. Explain why you
chose each and how it will benefit him.

• One of the strategies that I would implement is, Evidence-

Based practices and DataBased Decision Making collected
over a set amount of time. This is a good strategy because
having data gives you good evidence on whether or not
the student is improving in his classes or is too bored
because he is above level or struggling in other classes
because he is under level. From there, teachers and an IEP
team will know where to go from there based on the data.

• Another strategy that I would implement is, create more

social opportunities because Jaquese seems to be having
a difficult time interacting with his classmates (due to
social communication and interaction being a major
characteristic in ASD). By creating more opportunities for
students to interact with each another, instead of
Jaquese’s classmates avoiding him, they can get to know
and understand him better. This will hopefully kickstart
some friendships and more tolerance from his classmates.

• The third strategy that I would implement is, getting to

know the student better so I can better help him in my
class. Jaquese is obsessed with superheroes so as a
teacher I can use that obsession to help teach the
subjects that Jaquese struggles in. This might help engage
him much more in his classes and make them more
relevant to what he is interested in.
1. Compare and contrast BICS and CALP. Name one point that
you think teachers should know about second language
acquisition.
• BICS = basic interpersonal communication skills, they
are social skills needed in every day social situation
• CALP = cognitive academic language proficiency, this
refers to formal academic learning skills like reading,
writing, taking down notes, listening for
understanding.
• Teachers need to be aware that in order for their
students to be well versed in the academic aspects of
the second language, they also need to know the
social aspects.

2. Think about a lesson that you might teach. Briefly describe

it and at least four types of sheltered instructional
supports you might provide for your ELL students.

I would have them translate a well known children’s book

into English
• I would slow down my teaching and simplify my language
at first so they understand what is being asked of them
• Give them more time to think after I ask a question so
they can translate and figure it out with ample time
• Use the buddy system! Pairing English learners with
native speakers can be beneficial
• Respond in English and listen to books / music in English
so they can continually hear the language

3. Watch the video below to see a second-grade teacher

introduce the properties of matter (time: 3:11).
A. Identify four contextual supports that the teacher
used to help her ELL students better understand
the lesson.
• Writing lists
• Talk on the phone
• Estimate how many pieces of candy were in the jar
• Have conversation

B. Identify four contextual supports the teacher can

change or add to improve her lesson.
• Science experiments or demos
• Use little chips or tools to teach math
• Different kinds of text books or readings
• Go from an easy to medium to hard problems and
challenge them

1. The video below—courtesy of the Vaughn Gross Center for

Reading and Language Arts—demonstrates ongoing
research with ELLs. Identify three instructional
supports used by the researchers in the video and
explain why they are helpful to ELLs (time: 2:33). Video
Player