Case Study

1. Case Study

2. Background Information: Student A • 6 years old • Has high-functioning Autism • Very advanced in math (can perform on 3rd grade level) • Has a twin brother • Can read and write at a very advanced level • Obsessed with the number 4 and the alphabet • Has trouble with changes in schedules or routines • Receives a lot of support at home • Disruptive behavior in the classroom • Has a full-time aide at school • Does not like to eat and has trouble eating in front of people (he has a sticker chart in which he receives stickers for eating) • Receives feeding therapy and ABA therapy outside of school

3. Goals for Student A • Challenge student in math • Limit disruptive behaviors in classroom • Limit amount of times student is removed from class due to disruptive behaviors

4. What was done to meet the goals for Student A • Developed an IEP: consisted of social goals • Consistent interactions with the special ed. team • Consistent interactions with Student A’s mom from teacher and special educators • Before big events such as fire drills, field trips, or assemblies, we were sure to talk with Student A and prepare him for the situation • A visual schedule was used every day with Student A • First-then chart was used and included a token reward system at the bottom • Communication journal was kept between teachers and mom • Communication journal was kept between Student A and mom so that mom could know what Student A did every day at school • Special Stadium seat was used at carpet • Weighted vest was worn when needed • Met with math resource teacher for ideas to challenge Student A in math • Student A took the necessary assessments in math to see if he would be considered “Twice Exceptional”

5. Successes/challengesfor student A Successes • Disruptive behaviors in classroom were lessoned • Amount of times student was removed from class were lessoned • Student was challenged in math with math minutes Challenges • Although disruptive behaviors were limited and student A was not removed from the classroom as much, there is still room for improvement • Student will need to be further challenged in math

6. Background information: Student B • 6 years old • Has an older sister in high school • Struggles academically in all subject areas • Doesn’t know all of his letter names and sounds consistently • Does not seem to get a lot of help academically at home • Has trouble focusing and paying attention during whole-group and small-group instruction • Is not able to work independently

7. Goals for Student B • Learn all letter names • Learn all letter sounds • Be able to consistently recognize letters and produces letter sounds • Become proficient on last DIBELS assessment

8. What was done to meet the goals for Student B • Student B has been brought up to team and will have an IEP developed for him next Fall • Participated in ERI • Participated in Triumphs • Frequent communication between teacher and mom • Worked on a computer program called Lexia • Sent home letter cards with child in folder every day and the teacher frequently reviewed the letter cards with Student B at school to check his progress

9. Challenges/Successes for Student B Successes • Student B learned more letter names and letter sounds Challenges • Student B was not able to consistently recognize letters and produces letter sounds • Student scored intensive on the final DIBELS assessment

10. Vygotsky’s theory of sociocultural development • Vygotsky’ssociocultural theory emphasized “the social environment as a facilitator of development and learning” (Schunk, 2012, p. 240). He believed that social interactions were essential and that knowledge is built between two or more people(Schunk, 2012). • I found that this theory was relevant to student A. Student A’s IEP included all social goals. When students A first came to our school in December, it was rare that you would see him initiate social interaction with anyone. He interacted more often with adults than children. By May, he was initiation conversation with students in the classroom and on the playground!

11. Atkinson’s Self-Worth Theory • “Achievement behavior results from an emotional conflict between hope for success and fear of failure” (Schunk, 2012, p. 364). • Failure, or the belief that one has failed should be avoided because it implies low ability. When people fail, they feel unworthy.(Schunk, 2012). • Feeling unworthy may cause students to no longer be motivated to achieve a goal. To avoid this, one could pursue easy goals that guarantee success (Schunk, 2012). • I found that this theory was relevant to student B. Student be tries very hard, but definitely gets discouraged when he doesn’t succeed at something. In order to help this, we set smaller goals for him to achieve at a time. For example, we sent home a set of letter cards for him to work on at home each week instead of sending the whole alphabet.

12. Effective Strategies for the Inclusion of Children With Autism in General Education Classrooms Kimberly Crosland and Glen Dunlap • “Austism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior” (Crossland &Dunlap, 2012, p. 251). • Individuals with ASD have difficulty interacting socially, are not able to communicate ideas and feelings, have trouble understanding how others feel or think, and lack empathy toward others (Crossland &Dunlap, 2012). • There has been more than an 800% increase since 1992 of students with ASD that are being educated in US schools (Crossland &Dunlap, 2012). • Strategies for achieving successful inclusion in general education classroom include: priming (student A’s First-then chart) , prompt delivery, and visual schedules

13. Self-management strategies – Being responsible of own behavior helps promote classroom independence (Crossland &Dunlap, 2012) • Student A was responsible for putting his own tokens on his reward chart • He was also responsible for putting his own stickers on his eating chart • “Dunlap and Johnson (1985) found that that levels of on-task behavior and productivity were higher during periods of no supervision after the use of an unpredictable schedule when compared with when a predictable schedule of supervision was in place” (Crossland &Dunlap, 2012, p. 255). • I found this interesting because I noticed this with student A. He did really well when writing in his journal on his own, reading a story on his own, or working on the computer.

14. Poverty and literacy: an introductionNathalis G. Wamba • “Schools and home environments share responsibility for literacy skill development” (Wamba, 2010, p. 109). • I feel that it is extremely important for students to receive academic support at home • “At home children develop substantial literacy skills and unique competencies through interactions with their siblings and families and through their consumption of popular culture (e.g., music, films, theater, television)” (Wamba, 2010, p. 110). • I do not feel that Student B had as many interactions such as these at home that he could have

15. It is believed that teachers need to be better trained to work with students from low socioeconomic backgrounds (Wamba, 2010) • Strategies to improve schools: • Developing new curricula and standards • providing teacher training • better use of technology (Wamba, 2010) • “Educational reformers assume that if teachers know how to teach and the schools adequately support this task, children will learn irrespective of their socioeconomic status” (Wamba, 2010, p. 110). • I do not agree with this. I think that as educators, we do the best we can with the resources that we have. We don’t have any control over what happens outside of the school setting.

16. References Crosland, K., & Dunlap, G. (2012). Effective strategies for the inclusion of children with autism in general education classrooms. Behavior Modification, 36, 251-269. Schunk, D.H. (2012). Learning theories: an educational perspective. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Wamba, N. G. (2010). Poverty and literacy: an introduction. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 26:109–114.