Structured Work Systems: Supporting Meaningful Engagement in Preschool Settings for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

The preschool day begins in one suburban midwestern city. Children engage in a variety of activities throughout this inclusive classroom. Some children seem engrossed in play, and others participate in small groups with the teacher. However, at a center in the corner of the classroom, one child appears different from the rest. Kim, a 4-year-old, is not playing with the materials available in the centers or in the small-group project. She walks around the center, running her finger around the edge of the shelves and along the wall. She does not look at her peers or show interest in the games her friends are playing or any of the learning materials. When her peers approach, she turns her head toward the walls or shelves and continues walking. When her teacher, Mrs. Hopper, approaches with toys, she begins to cry or runs away to another area of the classroom. Transitions are especially hard for Kim, often resulting in tantrums or avoidance behavior. This is especially true when the transition is not part of Kim’s day-to-day routine.

Utilisation of an Intervention to Support Students on the Autism Spectrum: Examining Teachers' Responses to Finished! The On-task Toolkit.

“…Visual schedules and work systems have been used since the 1970s as part of the structured teaching approach associated with the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) program (Carnahan, Harte, Schumacher, Hume, & Borders, 2011;Mesibov, Howley, & Naftel, 2016). Students on the autism spectrum can have difficulty with small changes or transitions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).…”

Autism and ‘disease’: The semantics of an ill-posed question

“…All sorts of extraordinary thinking styles will sometimes create difficulties for the people that have them, without these thinking styles being in the least bit disease-like. Such styles will be especially apt to create difficulties when the people that have them are expected to negotiate an educational environment that has been tailored to those who are not so extraordinary (Carnahan, Harte, Schmacker Dyke, Hume, & Borders, 2011). Autism can be thought of as one such style.…”