Content area
Full Text
Abstract
Students with disabilities have greater success when teachers have high expectations, use evidence-based practices, and design engaging learning experiences. Educators and other professionals often disagree about how to create such environments for students with autism, especially during small group academic instruction. This study evaluated the effects of interactive reading materials using visual cues and music on the engagement behavior of six students with autism. Results from an ABCAC reversal design indicated an increase in students' engagement with the use of interactive reading materials in comparison to traditional read-alouds. Directions for future research and important implications for classroom practice are discussed.
Autism is a brain-based disorder that influences how students learn and function in academic and social settings. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2000), autism is a pervasive developmental disorder marked by differences in the areas of communication, socialization, and repetitive behavior. Individuals with autism exhibit varying degrees of difference in each of these areas (Lord et al., 2005; National Research Council, 2001). Despite these differences, many children have difficulty engaging in social communication interactions with others, initiating and maintaining attention to activities, and processing information from the environment (Rao & Gagie, 2006). Difficulties in social exchanges and the wide range of behaviors that encompass the spectrum make students with autism less available for learning, or less engaged, during academic instruction. Thus, students with autism are often excluded from academic activities, especially group instruction (Kluth & Darmody-Latham, 2003). Rather than participating in group activities, many children with autism often receive one-to-one instruction. Though empirically supported, such instruction requires intensive staffing (Lord et al., 2005), significant training for instructors (Lerman, Vorndran, Addison, & Kuhn, 2004), and may not provide opportunities for generalizing important skills to new environments (Koegel, Koegel, & Carter, 1999). The combination of specific learning characteristics and highly individualized instruction suggest the need for continued research on strategies for actively engaging students with autism during small group instruction. Strategies that increase teacher efficiency and promote higher rates of learning are especially important.
Autism and Active Engagement
Active engagement with academic tasks correlates to better outcomes for students (Iovanne, Dunlap, Huber, & Kincaid, 2003). All students, including students with autism, benefit from increased opportunities to respond or interact during academic activities. However,...