Social intervention to children with autism Essay

Social intervention to children with autism - Essay Example The teaching process requires interventions that address the repetitive behaviours, skill development, and play activities that promote communication and social interactions. Several authors have discussed different intervention models that are discussed in the sections below. Rita Jordan-Behavioural and Communication Intervention TEACCH Programme The programme is community-based and targets children and adults with autism and communication disabilities. TEACCH aims at developing communication skills among autistic children and help them work and play independently of adults (Jordan, Jones & Murray, 1998). The development of communication skills is based on their understanding capability and their ability to express themselves. The programme teaches several ways of communication, such as the use of photographs and pictures, symbols and words, and objects of reference. The programmes assist children with autism in their childhood and provide them with support in their adulthood. The t rainers focus on the strengths and interests displayed by the students and also address the emerging skills. Part of the training involves interacting and engaging in learning activities with normally developing children (Jordan, Jones & Murray, 1998). This interaction and reverse integration helps autistic children adjust to mainstream classes for normally developing children. ... Students begin by learning functional skills and good work habits that enable them to function with little intervention provided they are within the TEACCH structure (Jordan, Jones & Murray, 1998). This is the most widely used approach for teaching autistic children. Visual information, predictability and structure help the children understand what they are supposed to do, where and when it should be done, and the order of doing the activity. Parents are also involved in the programme, and their work is to promote a feeling of competence and well-being among the children. They work as co-therapists and participate in home activities when TEACCH instructors make home visits (Jordan, Jones & Murray, 1998). Parents also provide home training for goals such as independent play, increasing communication, and toilet training. They are provided with parent support information that helps them learn strategies of effective training. The TEACCH programme has advantages such as supporting autis tic adults in the employment sector. There are employment support models that include individual placements, a dispersed enclave and a mobile crew model (Jordan, Jones & Murray, 1998). Therapists provide long-term support services to individuals and employers. Students in the TEACCH programmes attend mainstream or special schools or remain at home with their parents, and therapists make home visits and provide advice to the teaching staff. The visual learning activities help the student and adults perform most activities with little support from parents or trainers. This has helped adults receiving support participate in community activities with minimum assistance from supervisors. The main disadvantage of the programme is the lack of