Running Head: AUTISM 1

Autism and How it Affects Learning

Andrew Smith
ESE 370
Instructor Hall
September 24, 2014
Autism and How it Affects Learning 2
Autism and How it Affects Learning
Introduction
Autism affects many areas of development, which make social interactions and
communicating with others a difficult task (New, 2012). It also makes learning a tedious
process, and educators need to spend extra time with students with autism so that their learning is
successful. This disorder spans a large area of developmental disorders, on a spectrum from high
functioning, with average or above average intelligence, to low functioning, with severe
intellectual disabilities. Because the range is so wide, some of these students may only need a
little extra help, mostly with behavior therapy, while others require a special program developed
to meet their individual needs. Brain based research has helped educators develop new teaching
and learning strategies more congruent to how the brain naturally learns, it also examines the
effects of development on learning, as well as finding ways to improve the cognitive processes,
all of which are essential in teaching students with autism.
As scientists discover more about the cognitive processes through brain research, they
can develop new teaching strategies that will help students with autism by improving their
learning and help them to be more successful in school. The overall goal of brain-based
education is to attempt to bring insights from brain research into the arena of education to
enhance teaching and learning [. . .] [T]he current state of this work can inform educational
practice in meaningful ways, (McCandliss, n.d., Par. 1). Education researchers examine the
findings and develop ways of incorporating them into lesson plans and activities for use in the
classroom to increase learning. As new research is conducted, scientists are gaining a deeper
understanding of what parts of the brain are affected by learning disabilities, such as autism.
Autism and How it Affects Learning 3
With this understanding, scientists and educators can work together towards developing new
teaching strategies and ways to help these students learn (McCandliss, n.d.).
Educators can use their knowledge of the cognitive processes to develop new and more
effective teaching strategies for students with autism. With an understanding of how the brain of
a person with autism functions, which is possible with fMRI and other imaging tools, education
specialists can work towards creating different therapies and strategies to help these learners
process material in different ways that are more congruent with their learning ability. Because
all cases of autism are different, the methods and strategies used must be individualized per the
learners abilities (Flynn, 2010). Educators can use this knowledge and alter their lessons
accordingly, so that all students, even the ones with autism can have an effective learning
experience. Understanding the deficits that can be caused by autism, such as information
processing deficits, fine-motor skill deficits, attention deficits, and others, can help instructors
effectively modify their teaching strategies.
How Autism Affects Human Development
Early childhood development is a critical period, because this is when people develop the
skills they use throughout their lives, such as interacting with others, communicating, fine- and
gross-motor skills, as well as other skills like reasoning (Busch, 2009). In the case of children
with autism, there can be certain developmental delays, which can lead to problems with
emotional development and physical development, as well as sensory experience issues.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and assess emotions in oneself or others, and in
the case of a person with Autism, they often have difficulty reading emotions. Some of the
sensory-perceptual abnormalities include hyper- and hyposensitivity, sensory distortion and
overload, and multichannel receptivity and processing difficulties, (ONeill and Jones, 1997,
Autism and How it Affects Learning 4
Par. 1). Problems during physical development associated with autism, can include fine- and
gross-motor skills, including writing, typing, balance, and coordination.
A typical child will exhibit signs of empathy and can see things from another persons
perspective; however, many children with autism have emotional deficits that affect these
abilities. [E]motions and emotional interactions affect intelligence and its related cognitive and
language capacities as well as many complex social and self-regulation capacities, (Greenspan,
2001, P. 2). Other concerns stemming from a lack of emotional development, found in many
cases of autism, are problems in abstract thinking, complex problem-solving abilities, functional
language, and higher-level emotional and intellectual processes. Emotional development also
contributes to the ability to engage in a continuous flow of reciprocal affective interactions
[which] enables the child to modulate mood and behavior, functional preverbal and verbal
communication, and thinking (Greenspan, 2001, P. 3-4). With the emotional development
delays or deficits, many children with autism have, trouble in these areas (Greenspan, 2001).
Those with autism often experience a delay in their physical development, as well, and
there are a number of reasons. Children learn mostly through play and benefit from daily
opportunities to explore, stretch, climb, jump and run. Not only does play promote healthy
physical development, but it also helps children learn problem-solving and social skills,
(Murphy, 2010, Par. 1). However, interaction, play, and engagement with others are some issues
involved in autism. Because many children with autism prefer to play by themselves, in
isolation, they do not develop the interactions important to a healthy development. When they
play by themselves, their play is mostly self-stimulatory activities, such as rocking, swaying,
tapping, or other repetitive behaviors, which do not contribute to development (Hooper and
Umansky, n.d.). Professionals, working with these children can use different physical therapies
Autism and How it Affects Learning 5
to strengthen their fine- and gross-motor skills, as well as engaging them in play, which aid in
development.
Clinical studies have shown unusual sensory responses in a majority of children with
autism. The range of severity in sensory abnormalities in children with autism is wide, from
mild to severe. When educators know, and are aware of the different types of sensory issues,
they can work towards providing a learning environment that is appropriate for these students.
Hyposensitivity results from under-stimulation where the senses, like touch, vision, taste, and
smell can be diminished to a point where it causes trouble processing sensory information.
Hypersensitivity is when the senses are over-stimulated, so even a light touch can be painful, a
whisper can seem loud, and odors or tastes can be overwhelming. Sensory overload can also
cause problems in a classroom, making it so students can only attend to one sense at a time, for
instance turning down music so they can read, or closing their eyes so they can focus on a person
talking (ONeill and Jones, 1997).
How Autism Affects Cognitive Processes
There are many ways that autism can affect learning; autism affects many of the
cognitive processes, such as attention, memory, thought processes, language, decision making,
and problem solving. These areas are especially important in the learning process, so educators
must find and/or develop teaching strategies that help to improve these cognitive functions, or at
least find alternate methods of teaching that focus on their stronger cognitive abilities. All cases
of autism are different, so each child will have a different level of ability. However, with the
help of different early intervention therapies, these cognitive abilities can be strengthened, so that
they pose fewer difficulties in learning. Strategies to improve attention, memory, thought,
Autism and How it Affects Learning 6
language, decision making, and problem solving in these children will help them lead a more
normal and successful life, because these cognitive abilities are used in everything.
Children with attentional impairments often have difficulties in forming social, cognitive,
and language skills. Attention impairments are well documented in children with autism
spectrum disorders (ASD) [. . .] [and] the attention impairments in children with ASD preclude
them from developing effective learning strategies, (Bean, 2010, P. 1). Studies have shown that
attention plays a key role in learning, and when there are attentional difficulties, they can affect
learning, as well as other areas of development. People learn what they pay attention to, so if a
child does not direct their attention towards social interactions, communicating with others, and
instead directs it inward and obsesses over repetitive behaviors, all attentional patterns observed
in many with autism, there can be detrimental effects on their learning. However, with attention
directing cues, it is possible to divert attention back to the task at hand (Bean, 2010).
Studies comparing children and adolescents with autism to a control group, found that
those with autism performed significantly worse than comparison subjects on measures of
temporal order memory, source memory, supraspan free recall, working memory, and [executive
functions], but not on short- and long-term recognition, cued recall, or new learning ability,
(Bennetto and Pennington, 1996, P. 1816). Educators should be aware of these memory deficits,
which can greatly influence learning, and tailor their teaching strategies to teaching material in
ways that help these students to retain the information. Children with autism have been found to
have poor memory for complex visual and verbal stimuli. Many of these children do not develop
organizational strategies to help memory function, so educators must convey material in
meaningful ways to help recollection. Information must be broken down into smaller chunks
Autism and How it Affects Learning 7
and spread out, so that they can transfer the information into long-term memory (Williams,
Goldstein, and Minshew, 2006).
Language plays an important role in learning. Nearly half of the children with autism
will experience some degree of impairment. The acquisition process of autistic children differs
from that of normal children (acquisition by immersion) in that they need speech therapy
support. Additionally, only half of autistic patients speak as adults and their linguistic level
remains lower than that of normal subjects, (Foudon, Reboul, and Manificat, 2007, P. 72).
Therefore, language development and/or comprehension are two areas educators should work
towards improving. Because language is how people interact with others, giving voice to wants
and needs, it is important to strengthen language abilities. Without language, people can only
learn by seeing and doing. The deeper learning comes from asking questions, which involves
language. Students who have limited language ability, like many with autism, will not be able to
communicate their needs, or gain a deeper understanding of content, as well as those without
language deficits.
Decision making is also important to successful learning. A press release discussed how
people with autism tend to make more rational choices than others because of their lack of
emotional development. Most people make decisions based on a number of factors, like intuition
and analysis. However, one of the common deficits in autism is emotional development, so most
do not tend to associate their gut instincts with their actions. "People with autism tended to be
more consistent in their pattern of choices, their greater attention to detail perhaps helping them
avoid being swayed by their emotions," (Harrison, as cited in Brierley, 2008, Par. 9). A reduced
influence of emotion can pose a problem in every day decision making. In school, there is a
multitude of stimuli vying for attention, and most people choose to pay attention to the ones that
Autism and How it Affects Learning 8
they feel strongly about. Because some of those with autism may have attentional difficulties,
these stimuli can be overwhelming, making it difficult to direct their attention.
Problem solving is another major part of learning. Children with autism can have
difficulties in this area because problem solving involves complex thought, and many times,
emotional input, both of which are problem areas for those with autism. Observational reports
conclude that children with autism show fascination and increased learning through videos and
appropriately developed computer programs. Therefore, a computer program, designed with
problem-solving skills and the impairments of autism in mind, may be a good strategy to help
teach and improve important problem-solving skills. Although real-life practice remains the
most important part of social problem solving, computer-based simulations might be a
nonthreatening starting point for individuals with autism, contributing to the facilitation of better
social and communicative competence, (Bernard-Opitz, Sriram, and Nakhoda-Sapuan, 2001, P.
384). When children have better problem-solving skills, they are able to learn to do things on
their own, leading to more self-directed learning.
Brain-Based Teaching/Learning Strategies for Autistic Learners
With the proven effectiveness of brain-based learning, educators should work towards
implementing these teaching/learning strategies in the classroom. It will not only improve
learning in normal students, but those with developmental delays or disabilities, like autism, as
well. Jensen provides many different strategies in his book, Brain-Based Learning: The New
Paradigm of Teaching. Schools that incorporate the brain-based learning methods outlined in
this book are consistently more successful than those that dont, (Jensen, 2008, P. 246).
Varying the method of instruction is important to reach all types of learners. Giving immediate
feedback helps people to learn quicker and more efficiently, because they do not have to wait to
Autism and How it Affects Learning 9
find out they made a mistake, which could have caused further mistakes, especially in math.
Helping the students to create meaning from the material is another very important strategy.
When there is meaning, students are able to gain a deeper understanding (Jensen, 2008).
Another strategy that can improve learning is to keep lessons short, and to the point, or at
least break it up into smaller bits and spread out over more time. Most cases of autism affect the
attentional patterns, so it is difficult to stick to one topic or lesson for an extended amount of
time. Furthermore, this is more congruent with the brains learning ability because after learning
new material, students need downtime to think over what they have learned and to create
meaning, which encodes the information into long-term memory for later recall. Breaking up
complex activities or routines is important, as well (Schiller and Willis, 2008). Once one step is
mastered, the next can be taught. This is a strategy many behavior technicians that work with
those affected by autism implement in their tutoring to teach complicated processes such as tying
a shoe or dressing oneself. It can be applied to different topics of learning, as well. For instance,
teaching how to write starts with first learning how to write the letters, and most aspects of math
build on top of one another.
Conclusion
Overcrowded schools and inclusion classes, where the teachers do not receive needed
resources and have not received special training to teach mentally or physically disabled
students, can pose a problem because the students are not receiving the type of education that
they will need to be successful. Educators and other paraprofessionals should be taught how to
interact and educate their students in a more effective method based on brain-based research.
Many areas of learning and development are affected by autism, so these educators should know
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how autism affects the cognitive processes and human development, and implement brain-based
teaching/learning strategies that are congruent to how a child with autism will learn best.
Autism and How it Affects Learning 11
References
Bean, A. F. (2010). Word learning in children with autism spectrum disorders: The role of
attention (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Iowa. Retrieved from:
http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1824&context=etd
Bennetto, L., & Pennington, B. F. (1996). Intact and Impaired Memory Functions in Autism.
Child Development, 67(4), 1816-1835. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.ep9704041063
Bernard-Opitz, V., Sriram, N. N., & Nakhoda-Sapuan, S. (2001). Enhancing Social Problem
Solving in Children with Autism and Normal Children through Computer-Assisted
Instruction. Journal Of Autism And Developmental Disorders, 31(4), 377-84.
Brierley, C. (2008, October 16). People with autism make more rational decisions
[Press release].
Busch, S. (2009, December 27). Early childhood development information. Retrieved from
http://www.livestrong.com/article/67870-early-childhood-development-information/
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