Abstract
The topic of this study is the integration of autistic children into mainstream schools. Thus, the literature of this research is concerned with the issues of autism in education and possible combinations of ordinary children with the autistic ones in mainstream educational establishments. The information retrieved from the numerous studies and research works allows us to make the following statements in the current research.
The issue of autistic children’s integration is of crucial importance in modern society. In some aspects, it is being solved by letting autistic children study in mainstream schools, by creating special accommodations and adaptations for them in the mainstream schools, by special training given to teachers who have to teach autistic children, and by employing specially trained attendants for these purposes. All these aspects of the problem are disclosed in the research which is aimed at finding out if the study of autistic children in mainstream schools is right and if it has a certain effect on the education of ordinary pupils (Ormrod, 2007).
Introduction
Autism is one of the numerous mental problems and the way in which children suffering from this disorder should be treated in society is of great importance for the formation of a highly developed and adequate society that will display respect and be friendly to people who have certain disabilities. The issue of autism is one o the most burning issues in modern society. On the whole, mental disorders cause a lot of controversies, and people suffering from them are treated differently. To some people, they are “abnormal” human beings who should have separate space for living, education, and other activities.
Others acknowledge their rights for mainstream education and complete development in society alongside all others. This is a rather controversial point because the decision that will be made will predetermine the direction of the development of human society in the future. Special importance is attributed to the issue of autism and people with other mental disorders when it comes to education and children’s development (Alston, 2004).
Problem
The question of the autistic children should study together with ordinary children in mainstream educational establishments or have their separate ones is to be answered, and the current research was conducted in order to get the answer to it. In this paper, we are going to see the major research carried out on this topic before. We will also consider the results of the researches, see their advantages and drawbacks, and analyze the issue using our own point of view.
The problem of the current research paper is the integration of autistic children into mainstream classrooms. As far as the issue exists in many countries, scientists from all over the world paid their attention to it. The main aspect of the problem is the treatment that the autistic children will be given in the mainstream educational establishments from the sides of both teachers and classmates. Other important issues of the kind are the attitudes of parents towards the study of their children, as far as parents of autistic children claim that all children must have equal rights, while parents of other children suppose that special attention of teachers will prevent both groups of students from getting a good education.
Moreover, there are ideas that autistic children can develop their communication and social skills better while communicating with healthy children. At the same time, there are opposing views that claim that autistic children can only become more reserved because of the communication that will demand from them the skills and effort they have never heard. All this led us to the necessity of the current research, and the following sections will be discussing the most important issues of autistic children’s integration, as well as proposing further research.
Analysis
As far as autism is a serious mental disorder with a lot of symptoms and various types that differ from each other in seriousness, the question of adaptations for autistic children has been studied a lot. The latest research was carried out by Janet Alston. The author ponders on the issue of necessity, and in some places of continuation, of the use of special accommodations and adaptations for children with various disabilities including autism.
Adaptations are very important as far as they make the study easier for pupils with special demands and needs in respect of communication and activity. These adaptations in a classroom can include the special lighting of the room, special equipment of the place of study, certain material aids, as well as using different methods and ways of teaching in respect of demands of autistic children care, different time organization of classes and, sometimes, presence of specially trained attendants to take care of autistic children if a teacher can not cope with the task because of lack of knowledge or special training in the field.
This practice, which is implemented in certain schools and kindergartens in the USA and some other countries, is rather effective and helpful for autistic children, as well as for teachers and other students who can easily adjust to new conditions (Alston, 2004).
Modern science is concerned with another aspect of the issue – attitudes and actions of parents of autistic children. This topic is disclosed by Rebekah Grace and her colleagues in their article dedicated to the help from the side of parents to the autistic children in order for them to become integrated into society and into educational establishments in particular. The study carried out by the authors of the article examined the interviews of a lot of parents of autistic children and of many workers of mainstream educational establishments and care centers in order to see their point on the topic of integration of autistic children and the results were not surprising.
Parents were disappointed with the attitudes of officials who ignored or refused to take autistic children to their establishments or agreed to do it if the parents pay a lot for it. Officials, in their turn, explained such a situation by the fact that mainstream establishments do not have facilities to assure the proper studying of children with special needs so it would be better not to enroll them so that not to cause additional difficulty for both sides.
These arguments are understandable, from the parents’ point as well as from the opposite one, but the truth is in the middle – in trying to combine both points and let autistic children develop in the most useful surrounding, for example simplifying their adjustment to mainstream education by methods of a jigsaw or behavioral intervention (Grace, 2008).
One more controversial point of view discussed by Jane, Simpson, Volkmar, and other scientists are the point of absolute separation of autistic children in respect of education. This point is motivated by the fact that their joint study with other children can be harmful to both groups (Simpson, 2003). Autistic children can be affected by cruelty and lack of understanding from the side of other children which is quite usual at an early age, while other children can be limited in access to education because of more time in class being paid to the needs of autistic students and thus neither of the groups will be provided with proper education standards.
This argument also is quite reasonable because the needs of ordinary students also should not b discriminated against to satisfy the needs of students with disabilities. In this case, the way out can be to enroll those autistic students whose disabilities allow them at least some extent of work with the rest of the class, while those who are affected by serious forms of autism should start their education in separate establishments with possible transition to mainstream ones (Volkmar, 2004).
Behaviorist Theory
All the considered issues seem to be viewed from the behaviorist point of view as far as they all pay attention to the influence of culture, environment, and conditions of society upon the behavior of both ordinary students and autistic ones. The essence of behaviorism lies in explaining behavior by external factors leaving no space for the unconscious. Thus, the actions of autistic children can change and be out of control without proper care of parents or attendants, and this in its turn can affect the behavior and studying skills of ordinary students. To put it simply, behaviorist theory can not guarantee the success of the integration of autistic children into mainstream classrooms as far as factors affecting behavior can not be permanently controlled (Ormrod, 2007).
Conclusion
To conclude, the social and educational integration of autistic children is possible under certain conditions but still demands further research. Further research should also be conducted so that to avoid all possible negative effects of such integration. There is a need to study the effect of communication with autistic children for ordinary students, as well as the ways in which the studying skills of autistic students can be improved without discomforting mainstream education and discrimination of needs of mainstream students. So, my research project will cover the areas that have not been yet studied enough and complete, to a possible extent, the knowledge of autism and the integration of autistic people into the mainstream education system.
References
Alston, J., & Kilham, C. (2004). Adaptive Education for Students with Special Needs in the Inclusive Classroom. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 29(3), 24+.
Grace, R., Llewellyn, G., Wedgwood, N., Fenech, M., & Mcconnell, D. (2008). Everyday Experiences of Mothers and Early Childhood Professionals Negotiating an Inclusive Early Childhood Experience in the Australian Context. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 28(1), 18+.
Ormrod, J. (2007). Human Learning. 5th edition, Prentice Hall.
Simpson, R. L., de Boer-Ott, S. R., & Smith-Myles, B. (2003). Inclusion of learners with autism spectrum disorders in general education settings. Topics in Language Disorders, 23(2), 116-134.
Volkmar, F., Lord, C., Bailey, A., Schultz, R. T., & Klin, A. (2004). Autism and pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 135-170.