Using Visualization and Pedagogical Patterns in Support of Undergraduate Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Undergraduate students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), who are overrepresented on IT degree programs, experience significant and unique challenges that require specific interventions and support mechanisms. Research on university students with ASD shows mixed results; for many, there is a poor outcome. There is therefore a general need for reports on educational practices and insight from professionals who work closely with these students. Practical support (extended deadlines, a quiet working space) is provided according to well-known recommendations for these students, but pedagogical interventions, which are equally important, are often lacking. This paper describes the professional supervision of undergraduate IT students diagnosed with ASD over a period of several years. The diversity of people with ASD makes it necessary to target each student individually, in order to apply effective methods. Some traits are, however, broadly common to this population, and when correctly identified, pedagogical patterns can be applied to successfully address some of the challenges these students face. As an alternative to (often excessive) verbal explanations, we report how modelling techniques can be used to both explain and visualize practical problems related to subjects like programming and databases. The positive outcomes of this approach are confirmed through interviews, observations of the students and academic results

LESSON PLANS FOR AUTISM INCLUSION STUDENTS FOR FOSTERING IMAGINATION AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

Developing creativity at the middle school level is a challenge as at this time many changes are occurring developmentally, personally, and socially. With the addition of a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to a student’s developmental ability an art teacher is met with his or her own challenges within the curriculum. Understanding ASD is the first step in developing a comprehensive unit that encourages all levels of students to succeed in developing creativity that is personal and meaningful. Utilizing a student's interests, strengths and dislikes will help an art teacher to assist an ASD student to foster imaginative and critical thinking skills for developing creativity. This study showed that when ASD students are challenged to think creatively with support from aids (para’s) and this researcher they were able to create a personality plaque that showed their positive attributes (good qualities) using clay. With this information the researcher was then able to develop a unit of lesson plans on Community that fostered imagination and critical thinking skills while developing creativity

Neurodiversity Persistence in STEM Programs: A Phenomenological Study of Self-Efficacy Among Autistic Students in Higher Education

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of self-efficacy among neurodiverse students in STEM programs at four-year universities. Albert Bandara’s social cognitive theory (SCT) guided this study as it relates to the influence of environment, social interaction, and communication on learning development and academic mastery. Improving academic self-efficacy among neurodiverse students in STEM programs in higher education begins with understanding how these students encounter the academic world. SCT provided the framework for this study to answer the central research question and sub-questions: (1) What are the self-efficacy experiences of neurodiverse students currently enrolled in a STEM program at four-year institutions in the United States? (2) How do autistic students in STEM-related fields of study experience the social campus environment? (3) How do autistic students in STEM-related fields of study perceive the academic support and accommodations they receive? This study reviewed the background of diversity and inclusion in higher education, research related to the experience of autistic and other neurodiverse students, and the need for a pedagogical approach in STEM programs that accommodates the varied needs of neurodiverse students. The study involved eleven autistic students currently enrolled in STEM-related majors who have completed at least one year of higher education. The research took place at two four-year institutions in the United States: Greenwood University (pseudonym), a state-sponsored institution in the Northeast, and Hightower University (pseudonym), a private research institution in the South. Additional participants were identified through snowball sampling. Data were collected by individual interviews, anecdote discussions, and a focus group. Data analysis followed Moustaka’s modification of Van Kaam’s method of phenomenological analysis

Faculty Scholarship Celebration 2019

Program and bibliography for Western Carolina University's annual Faculty Scholarship Celebration

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, March 5, 2015

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning New Course Plant Soils and Climate New Course, Pass/Fail Management Information Systems New Course Civil and Environmental Engineering Dual List Change Electrical and Computer Engineering Prerequisite Change New Course, Dual-List History New Course Journalism and Communication New Course Prerequisite Change Title Change, Description Change, Prerequisite Change Language, Philosophy and Communication Studies New Course Prerequisite Change Course Description Change Title Change Military Science Delete Course Political Science Prerequisite Change New Course Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Delete Course Title Change, Course Number Change, Course Description Change, Change Multiple List Title Change, Description Change, Prerequisite Change Chemistry and Biochemistry Credit Hour Change Honors Repeatable Credit Hour Change, Course Description Change, Change Multiple List, Repeatable New Course, Repeatable Other Offering an interdisciplinary doctoral program in Neuroscience Removing/Discontinuing of the Master of Arts degree in Sociolog

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, March 5, 2015

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning New Course Plant Soils and Climate New Course, Pass/Fail Art and Design New Course Inactivate Course Credit Hour Change, Repeatable New Course, Repeatable Delete Course Title Change, Description Change Music Course Description Change Course Number Change Management Information Systems New Course Civil and Environmental Engineering Dual List Change Electrical and Computer Engineering Prerequisite Change New Course, Dual-List History New Course Journalism and Communication New Course Prerequisite Change Title Change, Description Change, Prerequisite Change Language, Philosophy and Communication Studies New Course Prerequisite Change Course Description Change Title Change Military Science Inactivate Political Science Prerequisite Change New Course Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Delete Course Title Change, Course Number Change, Course Description Change, Change Multiple List Title Change, Description Change, Prerequisite Change Chemistry and Biochemistry Credit Hour Change New Course Honors Repeatable Credit Hour Change, Course Description Change, Change Multiple List, Repeatable New Course, Repeatable Other Offering an interdisciplinary doctoral program in Neuroscience Removing/Discontinuing of the Master of Arts degree in Sociolog

Motor skills, visual perception and visual-motor integration in children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background: Motor skill deficits are prevalent among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) however, little is known about the underlying mechanism of these deficits. In response to this gap, this study investigated how visual perception (VP) and visual-motor integration (VMI) are associated with motor skills among children and youth with ASD. Methods: Sixty-seven individuals with ASD and sixty-seven age- and gender-matched individuals without ASD (age range: 9.83–15.13 years) participated. Motor skills were assessed with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) and VP and VMI with the respective components of the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration-6 (Beery VMI-6). Results: Significantly more children and youth with ASD were in the red and orange zone of the MABC-2 traffic-lighting system for the total MABC-2 and the Aiming and Catching and Balance components compared to the children and youth without ASD. Both groups did not differ on the VP and VMI components of the Beery VMI-6. Pearson correlations between VP and VMI, and motor skills were weak but significant for the individuals without ASD, but not for the ASD group. Conclusion: The current study added to the evidence about motor skill deficits among children and youth with ASD. VP and VMI were not related to motor skills, suggesting that these functions – as measured in the current study – are no underlying mechanisms of motor skill deficits of children with ASD and average intelligence. Diagnostic implications are provided for the evidence of motor skill deficits among children and youth with ASD

Understanding and Identifying Specific Learning Difficulties: Dyslexia, Autism Spectrum, and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity in the Adult ESL/EFL Classroom

Specific learning difficulties (SLDs), including dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, are significant factors that influence the way and rate at which students learn English as an additional language. However, few Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) training programs address the cognitive and behavioral strengths and challenges these conditions carry for adult learners, in part due to concerns about bias in the over- and under- identification of learning disabilities among K-12 English language learners. Informed by Critical Disability Theory, and framed within a realistic discussion of the obstacles that remain in identifying and researching the parallel adult population and their learning needs, this thesis argues that all students in an English as a Second/Additional Language and English as a Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) classrooms benefit when SLDs are more readily recognized and teachers have a repertoire of research-backed, inclusive teaching strategies to draw on. The field project responds to this need for training with a teacher guidebook that explains U.S. legal requirements concerning students with disabilities, the effects of SLDs on second language acquisition, and the uses and limitations of current screening tools for SLDs in adult ESL/EFL populations. The guidebook also provides an annotated bibliography of effective adaptive and inclusive teaching strategies. Informed teachers will be better able to understand student needs, set realistic program and individual goals, participate in holistic identification processes, adopt effective teaching strategies, and serve as advocates for this understudied group of learners

Mathematical Word Problem Solving of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Students with Typical Development

Mathematical Word Problem Solving of Students with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Students with Typical Development - Young Seh Bae - This study investigated mathematical word problem solving and the factors associated with the solution paths adopted by two groups of participants (N=40), students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and typically developing students in fourth and fifth grade, who were comparable on age and IQ (greater than 80). The factors examined in the study were: word problem solving accuracy; word reading/decoding; sentence comprehension; math vocabulary; arithmetic computation; everyday math knowledge; attitude toward math; identification of problem type schemas; and visual representation. Results indicated that the students with typical development significantly outperformed the students with ASDs on word problem solving and everyday math knowledge. Correlation analysis showed that word problem solving performance of the students with ASDs was significantly associated with sentence comprehension, math vocabulary, computation and everyday math knowledge, but that these relationships were strongest and most consistent in the students with ASDs. No significant associations were found between word problem solving and attitude toward math, identification of schema knowledge, or visual representation for either diagnostic group. Additional analyses suggested that everyday math knowledge may account for the differences in word problem solving performance between the two diagnostic groups. Furthermore, the students with ASDs had qualitatively and quantitatively weaker structure of everyday math knowledge compared to the typical students. The theoretical models of the linguistic approach and the schema approach offered some possible explanations for the word problem solving difficulties of the students with ASDs in light of the current findings. That is, if a student does not have an adequate level of everyday math knowledge about the situation described in the word problem, he or she may have difficulties in constructing a situation model as a basis for problem comprehension and solutions. It was suggested that the observed difficulties in math word problem solving may have been strongly associated with the quantity and quality of everyday math knowledge as well as difficulties with integrating specific math-related everyday knowledge with the global text of word problems. Implications for this study include a need to develop mathematics instructional approaches that can teach students to integrate and extend their everyday knowledge from real-life contexts into their math problem-solving process. Further research is needed to confirm the relationships found in this study, and to examine other areas that may affect the word problem solving processes of students with ASDs

Integrated adaptive skills program model (IASP)

Integrated Adaptive Skills Program Model (IASP) is designed to offer supportive services to disabled students seeking to integrate into a local after-school program. IASP Model focuses on teaching adaptive skills to disabled students that would prepare them to be fully included into an after-school program with their same age peers. The program offers support, training, and consultation to the students and staff involved in the program. A variety of research-methods and assessment screening tools are used to determine eligibility and program implementation. The IASP Model was piloted during the 2011-2012 school year, in California, United States, but due to limited local and state funds the program could not continue. Students with disabilities deserve to be involved in the community and should not be excluded based on funds. Teaching and educating others on how to integrate students with disabilities into programs will minimize and/or eliminate exclusion of participating in recreation programs within residing communities.https://scholar.dominican.edu/books/1179/thumbnail.jp