Significance to the Education Community
According to the British Columbia Teachers
Federation (BCTF), there has been an increased enrollment of students with
special needs in BC schools. The greatest increase has been of children with
Autism Spectrum disorder, with an increase of 4,393 between 2001-02 school year
and the 2011-12 school year.
My question arose to me in my practicum school when staffing changes caused a classroom with students with ASD to have less adult support. This is not a situation unique to my school and therefore it is likely that many teachers throughout BC are facing similar situations where they have students with an ASD, but do not have a second adult in the classroom for support. Answers to my question may be significant to other educators who also want to create an inclusive environment for all students in the classroom, when additional adults are not available.
This question is also significant to the education community because many of the methods to create inclusive classrooms for children that have an ASD can also be used to create an inclusive classroom for all children. For instance, the use of visual schedules has been found to be useful to children with an ASD because it gives them independence during the day, but it has also been found to minimize the stress of all students during the course of the day (Lindsay et al. 2014)
Resources
British Columbia Teachers Federation, (2012). 2012 BC education facts. Retrieved from website: http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/Publications/2012EdFact
Lindsay, S., Proulx, M., Scott, H., & Thomson, N. (2014). Exploring teachers' strategies for including children with autism spectrum disorder in mainstream classrooms. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 18(2), 101-122.
My question arose to me in my practicum school when staffing changes caused a classroom with students with ASD to have less adult support. This is not a situation unique to my school and therefore it is likely that many teachers throughout BC are facing similar situations where they have students with an ASD, but do not have a second adult in the classroom for support. Answers to my question may be significant to other educators who also want to create an inclusive environment for all students in the classroom, when additional adults are not available.
This question is also significant to the education community because many of the methods to create inclusive classrooms for children that have an ASD can also be used to create an inclusive classroom for all children. For instance, the use of visual schedules has been found to be useful to children with an ASD because it gives them independence during the day, but it has also been found to minimize the stress of all students during the course of the day (Lindsay et al. 2014)
Resources
British Columbia Teachers Federation, (2012). 2012 BC education facts. Retrieved from website: http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/Publications/2012EdFact
Lindsay, S., Proulx, M., Scott, H., & Thomson, N. (2014). Exploring teachers' strategies for including children with autism spectrum disorder in mainstream classrooms. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 18(2), 101-122.