Comprehensive Intervention For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders In School Settings

Autism is a group of symptoms which occurs within three months from birth, it is a pervasive developmental disorder and has seriously adverse effects on children's growth. Generally, autistic children have three core characteristics:social disorder, speech delay, and stereotyped behaviors. For autistic children in special schools, bad relationships, high levels of irritability, stress orientation and anxiety, different kinds of classroom problem behaviors may be harmful to themselves and others, that may impede their learning and social interaction, disrupt the teaching order or even influence the whole teaching process.In this study, comprehensive interventions were carried out in school settings. Researchers and special school teachers worked together closely, they focused on the obstacles of autistic children in class. Researchers mainly used methods of literature, observation, interviews, case studies and action research, based on a wide range of international researches on autistic children and the intervention development for them, they selected four autistic children from Grade 3 in a special school in Shanghai, and extended to seven late in the study. Through interviews with the children's parents and teachers, researchers learnt about the specific obstacles of autistic children, then identified the key issues and the specific intervention goals. Adhered to the principles of ecology, they built a structured learning environment for autistic children as a basic way. Meanwhile, they made a organic integration of different kinds of intervention therapies:the sensory integration training, floor time, SCERTS, positive behavior support, visual support strategies, social stories.The interactive intervention continued in group and individually for more than four months. At last it effectively reduced classroom problem behaviors and improved the social interaction, emotion and cognition of autistic children. Also, teachers' own quality also had been improved a lot during the long-term intervention practice.At last, this study explored the concrete obstacles and causes of autistic children in class, analyzed the effects of the intervention and the factors which affected the process of intervention. Finally, the overall results lead to suggestions for the intervention and treatment on autistic children in school settings. Such as upholding the principles of ecology, building a structured teaching environment, actively adjusting the teaching and management strategies, strengthening special education teacher training, setting teaching assistants or resource teachers in special schools, promoting the home-school process and so on.