Many young preschool children may need to be monitored as they progress through educational settings. The same idea of monitoring applies to young children with autism. The multidisciplinary team reports will often have a recommendation section that will include areas that need to be monitored for special education. There are several areas that could be monitored in relation to young children with autism:
Cognitive performance
Often times when a child’s cognitive abilities are assessed, there may not always be an accurate picture of the child’s true abilities and performance. The child with suspected autism may shy away from direct requests from an unfamiliar person. A child with possible autism may refuse to sit at the table to participate with the school psychologist. Participation can also vary when a child does some things and abruptly “shut off”.
Parents’ interviews and observations are often used to obtain information about the child’s cognitive abilities. However, to see how the child’s cognitive abilities are presented, the preschool teacher will want to monitor how the child completes a variety of tasks. This will allow the preschool teacher to see if the child with autism is making progress toward various goals and objectives that have been developed in the child’s individualized education program.
Communication
Another area that can be monitored is the child’s communication skills. During an initial assessment, a child may be uncomfortable speaking, but in a more play-centered environment, the child may or may not use more language with peers. A child with autism may need to be monitored to see if they respond to communication and language practice activities in the educational setting.
Social interaction
A child’s social interaction skills may need to be monitored, especially if the child appears to participate well with adults, but not with children. Some children with autism will participate one-on-one, but will decline when there are more children in preschool activities. A preschool teacher can monitor a child with autism to see if the child initiates social exchanges and responds to other children during free play or structured play activities.
Consistent responses
Young children with autism can also be monitored to see how they respond when working with a variety of people. One could easily see if the child participates consistently with most people or if the child only participates with one particular person. It can also be monitored which strategies or approaches the child responds to most consistently in the preschool setting.
Incentives
In the preschool setting, a child with autism can be monitored to see if he responds to various incentives and rewards in the classroom. A child with autism can easily be monitored to see if he responds to verbal praise during activities. There may also be a follow-up to see if different types of rewards encourage the child to engage or engage in appropriate behavior more (or less often) in the preschool setting.
conclusion
In conclusion, monitoring is a great way to help parents understand how a child with autism is progressing during educational activities. These monitoring activities can also provide parents and teachers with more information to see if the curriculum or classroom activities need to be modified or adjusted for the child with autism.