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Autism &
Asperger’s Disorder: Information &
Effective Intervention Strategies
Instructor
Name: Dr. Marrea Winnega Phone: 509-891-7219 Office
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST Monday – Friday Email: marrea_winnega@virtualeduc.com Address: Virtual
Education Software Technical
Support: support@virtualeduc.com Introduction
Welcome
to Autism & Asperger’s Disorder,
an interactive computer-based instruction course designed to help you achieve
a better understanding of Autism and Asperger’s Disorder, of intervention
strategies to enhance communication and learning, and of methods for teaching
more conventional behaviors. Autism & Asperger’s Disorder
provides information on the characteristics of the disorder, learning styles
associated with the disorder, communication weaknesses, and various
intervention strategies that have proven to be successful when working with
students with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
The course helps you comprehend why individuals with Autism Spectrum
Disorders act the way they do, and what you can do to enhance more
appropriate behavior. This course also
lists resources for educators, related service personnel, and parents who
would like more help or information on autism and Asperger’s Disorder. This computer-based instruction course
is a self-supporting program that provides instruction, structured practice,
and evaluation all on your home or school computer. Technical support information can be found,
in the Help section of your course. Course Materials Title: Autism & Asperger’s Disorders: Information & Effective Intervention
Strategies Author: Dr. Marrea Winnega, Ph.D. & Mary Coughlin, CCC-SLP Publisher: Virtual Education Software, inc. 2001,
Revised 2002, Revised 2004, Revised 2010 Instructor: Dr. Marrea Winnega Academic Integrity Statement
The
structure and format of most distance-learning courses presume a high level
of personal and academic integrity in completion and submission of
coursework. Individuals enrolled in a distance-learning course are expected
to adhere to the following standards of academic conduct.
Academic
Work Academic work submitted by the
individual (such as papers, assignments, reports, tests) shall be the
student’s own work or appropriately attributed, in part or in whole, to its
correct source. Submission of commercially prepared (or group prepared)
materials as if they are one’s own work is unacceptable. Aiding
Honesty in Others The individual will encourage honesty in
others by refraining from providing materials or information to another
person with knowledge that these materials or information will be used
improperly. Violations
of these academic standards will result in the assignment of a failing grade
and subsequent loss of credit for the course. Level
of Application
This course is designed to be
an informational course with application in work or work-related
settings. The intervention strategies
are designed to be used with students with autism and Asperger’s Disorder
ranging in age from approximately three years to adulthood. Course
Objectives
·
To define the characteristics
of Autistic Disorder and Asperger’s Disorder for better understanding of
these disorders ·
To increase the ability to
identify students having these disorders ·
To provide information on how
individuals with these disorders are different from other students, and how
to teach them given these differences ·
To understand their behavior in
terms of their differences and communication styles ·
To develop an understanding of
the communication differences and weaknesses in students with autism or
Asperger’s ·
To provide information on teaching
strategies ·
To provide resources for
teachers and parents Course Description
The
course Autism & Asperger’s Disorder
has been divided into four chapters and into five to eight exercises within
each chapter. The first chapter is on the diagnosis of autism and Asperger’s;
it gives a clear picture of the characteristics that define these
disorders. Although the information in
this chapter is complete and thorough, there is much information published about
autism and Asperger’s Disorder. We recommend that you complete readings and
research outside the course materials to gain a fuller understanding of these
disorders and the variety of interventions. To cover all areas and issues
affecting students with autism or Asperger’s and their behavior would not be
possible in one course. However, this introduction chapter and subsequent
chapters should give you a firm understanding of the disorder and of
effective tools for facilitating positive changes with these students. The
second chapter of Autism & Asperger’s Disorder is “Behaviors & Differences.” This chapter discusses ways in which
individuals with autism or Asperger’s are different from other learners. The
information in this chapter serves to increase your understanding of autism
and Asperger’s so that an effective intervention plan can be developed to
help the student with communication and/or behavioral difficulties. Gaining
an understanding of the possible reasons for their behaviors will also help
in the understanding of why certain interventions are more successful in
teaching these students. The
third chapter is “Communication &
Language.” In this chapter, you
will be given information about the prerequisites of communication, the
components of speech and language, and the profiles of nonverbal and verbal
children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
You will be provided with interventions to enhance communication. The final chapter covers “Visually Supported Communication.” You will learn how to use visual supports, schedules and calendars to help autistic or Asperger’s children monitor their time and program more effectively and independently. You will learn to use the strategy of “first/then” to help children finish important daily tasks before moving into pleasurable free-time activities. You will also be presented with some case examples to strengthen your understanding. Student
Expectations
As a student, you will be expected to:
·
Retake any chapter examination,
after completing an information review, to increase that examination score to
a minimum of 70% (maximum of three attempts).
Course
Overview
Chapter
1 – Introduction & Characteristics
This
section focuses on the characteristics that define the autism spectrum. The areas to be discussed are the social
and communication impairments and the restricted repetitive and stereotyped
patterns of behavior, interests and activities exhibited by individuals with
Autism Spectrum Disorders. Chapter
2 – Behaviors & Differences
This
section describes how individuals with autism and Asperger’s perceive the
world and their different learning styles.
These differences will be applied to the behavioral challenges these
students exhibit. Chapter 3 – Communication &
Language This
section discusses the prerequisites for communication, such as object
permanence and cause and effect, the components of speech and language, and
the communication profiles exhibited by individuals with Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Enhancing communication in
both the nonverbal and verbal student will be addressed. Chapter 4 – Visually Supported
Communication This
section discusses how visual supports can be used to help students understand
verbal directions and what they need to be doing. Visual supports include
symbols, line drawings and pictures used as pictures on a ring, communication
boards, schedules, lists and first/then cards. Examinations
At the end of each course chapter, you
will be expected to complete an examination designed to assess your
knowledge. You may take these exams a total of three times. Your last score
will save, not the highest score. After
your third attempt, each examination will lock and not allow further access. The average from your exam scores will be
printed on your certificate. However,
this is not your final grade since your required writing assignments have not
been reviewed. Exceptionally written
or poorly written required writing assignments, or violation of the academic
integrity policy in the course syllabus, will affect your grade. As this is a
self-paced computerized instruction program, you may review course
information as often as necessary. You will not be able to exit any
examinations until you have answered all questions. If you try to exit the
exam before you complete all questions, your information will be lost. You
are expected to complete the entire exam in one sitting. Writing Assignments This course has two required writing components. To save your essays: When you select the
question or article you wish to write on, simple text or text edit will automatically be launched.
When you are finished, simply click SAVE.
You must SAVE before you
write another essay or move on to another part of the course. 1) Essay Requirement: Critical Thinking Questions There is a Critical Thinking Question for each
chapter. You will do research on the question and write a brief essay
relating it to the course content (and your personal experiences when
possible). To view the questions,
click on REQUIRED ESSAY and choose the Critical Thinking Question that you
would like to complete; this will bring up a screen where you may enter your
essay. You must write a minimum of 500
words per essay. You must
SAVE before you write another essay or move on to another part of the course. 2) Essay Requirement: Journal Articles This task requires you to
write a review of three journal articles of your choice on a topic related to
this course. You may choose your topic
by entering the Key Words (click on the Key Words button) into a search engine
of your choice (Google, Dogpile, Yahoo, etc.). Choose three relevant articles
and write a 200-word review of each. You may also access the ERIC system and
choose a related topic from a journal listed in that system. Or you can access www.scholar.google.com or
www.findarticles.com .Write a critical summary of the information given in
each article, explaining how the information relates to, supports, or refutes
information given in this course. Conclude your paper with your thoughts and
impressions. (200 words per journal article minimum, 400 words maximum.) Be
sure to provide the journal name, volume, date, and any other critical
information to allow the instructor to access and review that article. To write your essays,
click on REQUIRED ESSAY and choose the Journal Article that you would like to
complete; this will bring up a screen where you can write your review. When
you are ready to stop, click SAVE. You may go back at any point to edit your
essays. For more information on the
features of this assignment, please consult the HELP menu. You must
SAVE before you write another essay or move on to another part of the course. Instructor
Description
Autism & Asperger’s Disorder
has been developed by Marrea Winnega, Ph.D. and Mary Coughlin, CCC-SLP.
Dr. Marrea Winnega, the instructor of record, is a Licensed Clinical
Psychologist with 20 years of experience in the field of Autism Spectrum
Disorders. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of Clinical
Psychology in the Mary Coughlin is a
Speech-Language Pathologist with over 25 years of experience in the
field. Her background includes working
with students in both regular education and special education settings. She has taught in a communication
development classroom and has worked with students with behavior disorders;
students with severe-profound disabilities, birth to five; and medically
fragile children, as well as those with developmental delays and autism. She served on a diagnostic team serving
early childhood children for over ten years.
She has presented numerous workshops for parents and professionals on
the various aspects of communication, speech, and language. She has worked with Dr. Winnega in Autism
Dynamic Beginnings since its inception. Contacting
the Instructor
You may
contact the instructor by emailing Dr. Winnega or calling her at
509-891-7219, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m - 5 p.m. PST. Phone messages will
be answered within 24 hours. Phone
conferences will be limited to ten minutes per student, per day, given that
this is a self-paced instructional program. Please do not contact the
instructor about technical problems, course glitches or other issues that
involve the operation of the course. Technical Questions
If you have questions or problems related
to the operation of this course, please try everything twice. If the problem
persists please check our support pages for FAQs and known issues at
www.virtualeduc.com and also the Help section of your course. If you need personal assistance then
email support@virtualeduc.com
or call (509) 891-7219. When
contacting technical support, please know your course version number (it is
located at the bottom left side of the Welcome Screen) and your operating
system, and be seated in front of the computer at the time of your call. Minimum
Computer Requirements Please
refer to VESi’s website: www.virtualeduc.com
or contact VESi if you have further questions about the compatibility of your
operating system. Refer to the addendum
regarding Grading Criteria, Course Completion Information, Items to be
Submitted, and how to submit your completed information. Bibliography (Suggested American Psychological Association.
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