About Expert
Key Topics
Discuss about the “Autism spectrum disorder" in details.
Abstract
In this dissertation, we will discuss the “Autism spectrum disorder". A detailed overview of the current understanding of the Autism spectrum disorder is given along with the literature review of many kinds of literature related to International Baccalaureate Organization schools and the education provide to the Special Educational Need (SEN) children by them all across the world. The definition, causes, identification, outcomes and remedies have been delineated in this dissertation to understand the exact status of the disorder in our society. Various examples of the many countries of the world have been illustrated to know that rate of Autistic people across the world. As the topic of this dissertation is "Principles of inclusion for Autism in IB Schools", we will discuss IB (International Baccalaureate Organization) schools which imparts quality education to the children from the age 3 to 9 across the world. We will come to know how the schools of IB give education to the Special Educational Needs children along with the understanding how these schools help the autistic children as autistic children too require good and high-quality education to develop and learn the social, intellectual, personal and emotional skills along with learning basic human gestures and expressions to respond accordingly.
Introduction
This dissertation deals with a mental disorder known by the name ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder.' We will be discussing the meaning, complexities and outcomes of Autism along with various other key findings associated with the children suffering from Autism. With the rising cases of Autism around the world, it has become a rising profile regarding public knowledge, its definition and recognition that has led to the increase in the significance of Autism Spectrum Syndrome both in society as well as in education sector in particular. Autism is a neurological disorder that severely affects the functioning of the brain. This syndrome is characterized by various signs such as lack of interest in peer-relationships, delay in speaking, no eye contact with other people, regular fixation on the parts of the objects, etc. In the last five to ten tears, major researches have been conducted in this regard in a significant manner. Moreover, the figures show that autism has emerged as a major problem that demands more researches. The works done until now has in this particular field has helped in extending knowledge of the impact of this disorder on perceptual, sensory, interpersonal, cognitive, behavioral, communicative and psychological processes. These have resulted in coming out with detailed information & analysis of Autism along with the understanding of causes and the orientation towards a refined diagnostic protocol and has formed a base for the wide range of approaches to the education of autistic children. There has been an increase in the awareness of this neurological disorder that has enabled us to know that autism is not new rather it has its old history.
The International Baccalaureate Organization also known as IB is an international educational foundation which was founded in 1968. It is a non-profit educational foundation which offers four high quality educational programs for children all over the world aged between 3 and 9. This foundation has been established with the aim to develop personal, intellectual, emotional and social skills that are vital to live, learn and work in this fast growing globalized world. The four high quality educational programs of IB are namely, Primary Years Program which is for the children of age 3 to 12. This program focuses on the overall growth and development of the child, it teaches the students to become active and good learners which would help them to in developing the capabilities to become an active participator in the world around them, Middle Years Program which makes a challenging framework for students that motivates them to make practical connections between the real world and their studies. This helps students of all academic abilities and area of interests gain benefit from it. Students from the age 11 to 16 can pursue this program, Diploma Program which covers students aged from 16 to 19. This program develops the students possessing excellent in-depth knowledge and skills. This Diploma program enables the students to flourish intellectually, physically, ethically and emotionally and the Career Related Program which is aimed to address the need of the students that are engaged in their career development. It is a framework of international education which leads to higher education employment or apprenticeships. Students of the age 16 to 19 are eligible for this program. The IB aims to develop the required understandings and knowledge that are needed in this rapid growing and developing globalized world with proper skills and attitudes in students that pursue its programs. The IB offers eight subject areas in its four programs
The International Baccalaureate Organization also known as IB is an international educational foundation which was founded in 1968. It is a non-profit educational foundation which offers four high quality educational programs for children all over the world aged between 3 and 9. This foundation has been established with the aim to develop personal, intellectual, emotional and social skills that are vital to live, learn and work in this fast growing globalized world. The four high quality educational programs of IB are namely, Primary Years Program which is for the children of age 3 to 12. This program focuses on the overall growth and development of the child, it teaches the students to become active and good learners which would help them to in developing the capabilities to become an active participator in the world around them, Middle Years Program which makes a challenging framework for students that motivates them to make practical connections between the real world and their studies. This helps students of all academic abilities and area of interests gain benefit from it. Students from the age 11 to 16 can pursue this program, Diploma Program which covers students aged from 16 to 19. This program develops the students possessing excellent in-depth knowledge and skills. This Diploma program enables the students to flourish intellectually, physically, ethically and emotionally and the Career Related Program which is aimed to address the need of the students that are engaged in their career development. It is a framework of international education which leads to higher education employment or apprenticeships. Students of the age 16 to 19 are eligible for this program. The IB aims to develop the required understandings and knowledge that are needed in this rapid growing and developing globalized world with proper skills and attitudes in students that pursue its programs. The IB offers eight subject areas in its four programs
The major portion of this dissertation discusses the reviews of various literature significantly related to IB and autism. The qualitative methodology of research has been considered to write this paper. We will understand why the autistic children are different from other normal children and why do they need specific and special attention. Each and every important aspect of the Autism Spectrum Syndrome has been tried to deal with in this paper. In the end, we will come to know how IB deals with SEN (autism) children all across the world.
Place Order For A Top Grade Assignment Now
We have some amazing discount offers running for the students
Place Your OrderResearch topic
The topic of the research is 'Principles of inclusion for Autism in International Baccalaureate schools’ i.e. on what principles do the schools of International Baccalaureate Organization include SEN (autism) children in their educational programs and how do they support these special educational needs students.
Positionality
I am a special needs teacher working in an American curriculum. In my years of experience, I have worked with different kinds of disabilities. My purpose of writing this research is to know how IB schools implement special needs into their curriculum and also the kind of support they give special needs students. I know a lot of schools do not enroll special needs students while some do.
I am a special needs teacher working in an American curriculum. In my years of experience, I have worked with different kinds of disabilities. My purpose of writing this research is to know how IB schools implement special needs into their curriculum and also the kind of support they give special needs students. I know a lot of schools do not enroll special needs students while some do.
Theoretical framework
In order to ascertain the principles of inclusion for Autism in IB schools, literature review of various literatures majorly containing the topic of IB and special educational needs students has been taken into account.
Research Question
How the schools of International Baccalaureate Organization implement special needs into their curriculum across the world?
What kind of support do special needs students get from the schools of International Baccalaureate Organization?
How can the Autistic children be helped by the schools of International Baccalaureate Organization?
In order to ascertain the principles of inclusion for Autism in IB schools, literature review of various literatures majorly containing the topic of IB and special educational needs students has been taken into account.
Research Question
How the schools of International Baccalaureate Organization implement special needs into their curriculum across the world?
What kind of support do special needs students get from the schools of International Baccalaureate Organization?
How can the Autistic children be helped by the schools of International Baccalaureate Organization?
Methodology
A methodology is a systematic analysis of the methods used to study the topic. It offers theoretical underpinnings for understanding the topic of research. The method used to find the rationale behind including autism in IB schools are the reviews of the previously written literature that will help in finding the answers to the research questions. The literature review will analyze the researches done in this field. Literature about the education in the schools of International Baccalaureate Organizations, journals articles, conference proceeding, related reports primarily focusing on the special educational needs children (autistic children) have been considered the most important to be analyzed to come to a conclusion. A comprehensive and systematic research of relevant literature is required for this literature review. Three fields were identified to focus on for this review viz. Constructivist and social constructivist perspectives on education and learning, Relevant and contemporary theories in relation to learning and Cognition and meta-cognition development in young adults. These matches with the way International Baccalaureate has made its educational programs to emphasize education as the growth and development of the whole person and learning as a process that goes on with the life.
The qualitative research methodology has been adopted for this topic. It is helpful in the systematic collection of data from either the originator or a distributor of the primary research which proves to be of great help in the study and research. It excels in bringing an understanding of the issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what other previous researchers have found (Patton, 1990). This method has been used in bulk by researchers for many years across a variety of disciplines. It has been defined as an empirical inquiry that can investigate a phenomenon within its real-life context and come out with adequate and genuine findings.
The qualitative research methodology has been adopted for this topic. It is helpful in the systematic collection of data from either the originator or a distributor of the primary research which proves to be of great help in the study and research. It excels in bringing an understanding of the issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what other previous researchers have found (Patton, 1990). This method has been used in bulk by researchers for many years across a variety of disciplines. It has been defined as an empirical inquiry that can investigate a phenomenon within its real-life context and come out with adequate and genuine findings.
Discussion and Analysis
Below, we have the facts and Statistics of Autism all across the world.
Facts
? The global prevalence of autism has shown an increase in the rate from twenty to thirtyfold since the first studies were conducted in Europe in the late 1960s.
? About one percent of the entire world population suffers from the autism spectrum disorder.
? Out of 68 births in America, one child is identified with an autism spectrum disorder. More than 3.5 million Americans live with the autistic disorder.
? The global prevalence of autism has shown an increase in the rate from twenty to thirtyfold since the first studies were conducted in Europe in the late 1960s.
? About one percent of the entire world population suffers from the autism spectrum disorder.
? Out of 68 births in America, one child is identified with an autism spectrum disorder. More than 3.5 million Americans live with the autistic disorder.
Literature Review
“Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact” was a report published by Dr. Leo Kanner in 1943 on his eleven patients at a Baltimore clinic. This report has become the base for all the studies and researches on Autism. He said that autism is a disorder which is characterized by deficits in the three major areas of communicative, social and the display of repetitive or restricted behaviors (Kanner, 1973). The social issues comprises of less eye contact, minimal attention to social stimuli and difficulty in understanding the societal skills and in using them to function in the society.
The major objectives of the International Baccalaureate Organization are “to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect” and “to encourage students to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners” (IB,2008). In order to fulfill these goals, it is important to implement constructive learning approaches that are student-centered and support the all-round development of a person. This literature review focuses on the ‘approaches to learning’ related theories and their implementation at the schools and classroom level.
When we compare the intelligence theories postulated earlier with the present intelligence theories like that of Stemberg’s theory and Gardner’s multiple intelligence (MI) theory, we see that the contemporary theories emphasize more on explaining different intelligence components. Even though different theories have diverse taxonomies, they generally describe the intelligence of humans on cognitive, metacognitive, affective and sociocultural dimensions. The education across the world was impacted by the MI theory. Over the last two decades, the education curriculum, assessment and pedagogy are being shaped keeping in mind the eight major intelligences viz. linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, visual-spatial, interpersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal and naturalist (Armstrong, 2009). Students being smart in different ways have different approaches to learning and therefore, the student-centered approach becomes a necessity for implementing various different learning styles in the classroom (Hudson, 2009).
The curriculums that are inquiry based consider that students learn to find the solutions to real problems by analyzing them, conducting investigations, making interpretation and by drawing conclusions. In Chicago, for three years, a project was aligned with the Science Education Reform in the United States implemented four inquiry-based science curriculum units among 8,000 middle school students. With the help of this example, it become quite easy to demonstrate how the teachers & administrators, researchers and the curriculum designers collaborate with each other to frame and enact inquiry- based curriculums. The curriculum contained the structured activities, driving questions and the benchmarks lessons in order make the students practice various inquiry skills like, conducting investigations, creating artifacts and its demonstration so that the students may understand the abstract concepts. In order to mediate the learning process, technology like computer visualization as learning artifacts was used in the curriculum. Training of the teachers was focused in the project, the training was a constructive as well as a collaborative process. A proper cycle was followed by the teachers while they were taking training in summer institutes. The training cycle was (1) enactment with the new practice, (2) reflection on classroom experience, (4) in-depth discussion and finally (4) collaboration. Below we will review the various aspects of learning.
The major objectives of the International Baccalaureate Organization are “to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect” and “to encourage students to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners” (IB,2008). In order to fulfill these goals, it is important to implement constructive learning approaches that are student-centered and support the all-round development of a person. This literature review focuses on the ‘approaches to learning’ related theories and their implementation at the schools and classroom level.
When we compare the intelligence theories postulated earlier with the present intelligence theories like that of Stemberg’s theory and Gardner’s multiple intelligence (MI) theory, we see that the contemporary theories emphasize more on explaining different intelligence components. Even though different theories have diverse taxonomies, they generally describe the intelligence of humans on cognitive, metacognitive, affective and sociocultural dimensions. The education across the world was impacted by the MI theory. Over the last two decades, the education curriculum, assessment and pedagogy are being shaped keeping in mind the eight major intelligences viz. linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, visual-spatial, interpersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal and naturalist (Armstrong, 2009). Students being smart in different ways have different approaches to learning and therefore, the student-centered approach becomes a necessity for implementing various different learning styles in the classroom (Hudson, 2009).
The curriculums that are inquiry based consider that students learn to find the solutions to real problems by analyzing them, conducting investigations, making interpretation and by drawing conclusions. In Chicago, for three years, a project was aligned with the Science Education Reform in the United States implemented four inquiry-based science curriculum units among 8,000 middle school students. With the help of this example, it become quite easy to demonstrate how the teachers & administrators, researchers and the curriculum designers collaborate with each other to frame and enact inquiry- based curriculums. The curriculum contained the structured activities, driving questions and the benchmarks lessons in order make the students practice various inquiry skills like, conducting investigations, creating artifacts and its demonstration so that the students may understand the abstract concepts. In order to mediate the learning process, technology like computer visualization as learning artifacts was used in the curriculum. Training of the teachers was focused in the project, the training was a constructive as well as a collaborative process. A proper cycle was followed by the teachers while they were taking training in summer institutes. The training cycle was (1) enactment with the new practice, (2) reflection on classroom experience, (4) in-depth discussion and finally (4) collaboration. Below we will review the various aspects of learning.
The Cognitive aspect of learning
This section of the literature review deals with the cognitive aspect of learning. This paradigm details the psychological changes seen in an individual when he attain and understand new ideas and materials.
A small study was carried out in 1979 by Saljo that exhibited that learning is understood by people as a process or as a product i.e. ‘learning how’ and ‘learning that’ respectively. The concepts of learning as described by Saljo were not dissimilar to the well-known taxonomy of Bloom (1956). The taxonomies of learning behavior and knowledge were constructed by Bloom and Gagne (1975). The behavioral conceptions of learnings that were derived from earlier explanations of growth and development as operant conditioning where new responses were learned from repeated stimuli and reinforced by antecedents and consequences were the base for the prediction of the taxonomies (Skinner 1953). Taking into consideration the behaviorist theory, knowledge was seen by Bloom and Gagne as atomistic chunk that could be built up incrementally. According to them, a learning process could be a summation of series of numerous smaller progressive steps that could lead to a defined final performance.
Cognitive development was described by Piaget (1971) as a symbiosis between a child’s mental and physical interaction with the world and the biological maturation of his nervous system. Piaget stated about four stages through which a child develops and argued that every child progresses through the four stages in a similar way. Learning was seen by him as the twin cognitive functions of assimilating new information and accommodating this within pre-existing structures of knowledge. However, this model was amended by Ausubel and Robinson on the basis that the most significant factor that influences a child is not the various stages of development rather, the organization, clarity and quality of his present knowledge. Every child learns things in a different way and the environment in which he is taught plays a key role in his learnings and therefore it is not right to say that the four phases will work properly for all the children.
Bruner (1996) also supports the belief in learning as a constructive and active process. Learning has been defined by him as the formation of concepts and the summation of these concepts into the mental models of the children that build on prior knowledge. According to him, the concepts of learning are neither discrete nor independent but they are the changing ideas with dynamism. He emphasized on the fact that learning should always be collaborative, proactive, participatory, communal and given over to the construction in spite of reception of the meaning of the activities. Being a constructive, Bruner favored for a spiral curriculum with concepts being revisited at various different levels. This particular argument supports the conceptualization of development by Vygotsky (1978). Vygotsky was of the view that interaction with others when gradually internalized to become our own processes leads to learning. To present our own mental processes, he used the term “internal or private speech”. Moreover, recent writers have extended this conceptualization who consider the process of acquiring scientific knowledge as the combination of conceptual insights interspersed with periods of stasis (Kinchin 2010).
Usually, people who have good memory are considered as good learners. The Information Processing Model (IP Model) by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) presents a familiar approach how human memory may work. To be more precise, a human mind receives the information, adapts it or organizes it accordingly, stores it and retrieves the information when required. The formation and retrieval of memory consist of three main stages viz. encoding in which the receiving and processing of information takes place, storage in which the creation of a permanent record of the received information takes place and the recollection or retrieval in which the mind recalls the stored information as per its need and requirement.
The ability to remember can be increased by practice. Organizations and rehearsal are the very common methods followed for memorization (Wood, 1998). Human reflection on changing ideas plays a pivotal role in effective learning. For the improvement of an activity or in order to have an in-depth understanding, new experiences are necessary especially if the experiences are in the context of past understanding.
A small study was carried out in 1979 by Saljo that exhibited that learning is understood by people as a process or as a product i.e. ‘learning how’ and ‘learning that’ respectively. The concepts of learning as described by Saljo were not dissimilar to the well-known taxonomy of Bloom (1956). The taxonomies of learning behavior and knowledge were constructed by Bloom and Gagne (1975). The behavioral conceptions of learnings that were derived from earlier explanations of growth and development as operant conditioning where new responses were learned from repeated stimuli and reinforced by antecedents and consequences were the base for the prediction of the taxonomies (Skinner 1953). Taking into consideration the behaviorist theory, knowledge was seen by Bloom and Gagne as atomistic chunk that could be built up incrementally. According to them, a learning process could be a summation of series of numerous smaller progressive steps that could lead to a defined final performance.
Cognitive development was described by Piaget (1971) as a symbiosis between a child’s mental and physical interaction with the world and the biological maturation of his nervous system. Piaget stated about four stages through which a child develops and argued that every child progresses through the four stages in a similar way. Learning was seen by him as the twin cognitive functions of assimilating new information and accommodating this within pre-existing structures of knowledge. However, this model was amended by Ausubel and Robinson on the basis that the most significant factor that influences a child is not the various stages of development rather, the organization, clarity and quality of his present knowledge. Every child learns things in a different way and the environment in which he is taught plays a key role in his learnings and therefore it is not right to say that the four phases will work properly for all the children.
Bruner (1996) also supports the belief in learning as a constructive and active process. Learning has been defined by him as the formation of concepts and the summation of these concepts into the mental models of the children that build on prior knowledge. According to him, the concepts of learning are neither discrete nor independent but they are the changing ideas with dynamism. He emphasized on the fact that learning should always be collaborative, proactive, participatory, communal and given over to the construction in spite of reception of the meaning of the activities. Being a constructive, Bruner favored for a spiral curriculum with concepts being revisited at various different levels. This particular argument supports the conceptualization of development by Vygotsky (1978). Vygotsky was of the view that interaction with others when gradually internalized to become our own processes leads to learning. To present our own mental processes, he used the term “internal or private speech”. Moreover, recent writers have extended this conceptualization who consider the process of acquiring scientific knowledge as the combination of conceptual insights interspersed with periods of stasis (Kinchin 2010).
Usually, people who have good memory are considered as good learners. The Information Processing Model (IP Model) by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) presents a familiar approach how human memory may work. To be more precise, a human mind receives the information, adapts it or organizes it accordingly, stores it and retrieves the information when required. The formation and retrieval of memory consist of three main stages viz. encoding in which the receiving and processing of information takes place, storage in which the creation of a permanent record of the received information takes place and the recollection or retrieval in which the mind recalls the stored information as per its need and requirement.
The ability to remember can be increased by practice. Organizations and rehearsal are the very common methods followed for memorization (Wood, 1998). Human reflection on changing ideas plays a pivotal role in effective learning. For the improvement of an activity or in order to have an in-depth understanding, new experiences are necessary especially if the experiences are in the context of past understanding.
To be countinued..
Give your grades a boost
Just share your requirements and get customized solutions on time.
-
1,168,768 Orders
-
4.9/5 Overall Rating
-
5,052 Experts
+1-817-968-5551
+44-7480-542904
+61-488-839-676