Learning for Students with Autism (Essay Sample)

Learning and memory for students with Autism
Learning for students with Autism
Abstract
This paper examines how students with autism conditions and working memory. The paper examines in depth the learning process for such children and the various memory processes and conditioning suitable for their learning. Autistic individuals show certain characteristics that equally point to limited memory capacity and ability. Autism is a common problem in today’s world and understanding their needs and memory is a suitable phenomenon in enhancing their learning. This paper focuses on examining new and applied learning methods for these children.
Introduction
Autism is a dissimilarity of the neural development which is usually diagnosed as impaired communication and social synergy and by constrained and repetitive behavior. According to statistical estimates, this condition affects approximately 10 in 1000 people CITATION Luc12 \l 1033 (Henry, 2012). The autism spectrum comprises of three main conditions namely; autism, pervasive development disorder and the Asperger syndrome, each of which is diagnosed with different conditions. Asperger syndrome lacks the delays in language and the cognitive development while the pervasive development disorder is diagnosed in an instance where the entire set of autism and asperger syndrome criteria are not met CITATION Olg05 \l 1033 (Bogdashina, 2005). Despite the range of these conditions, the term autism is used to refer to the entire spectrum. The condition can either be medically manageable for which medical treatment can help, chronic whereby it can last for years, or one that requires medical diagnosis for which imaging and lab tests are rarely useful. Early diagnosis and recognition, family therapies and behavioral support can widely reduce the symptoms while at the same time increase the development and learning support.
A working memory is a mind system responsible in handling multiple bits of transitory information where they can then be manipulated CITATION Luc12 \l 1033 (Henry, 2012). This system has a relatively limited capacity and is a very critical part of the so-called executive functions. Executive functions are basically the intellective processes which regulate, manage and control other cognitive functions such as attention and planning.
Researches have established that autistic individuals perform poorly on the measures of the executive function. A generic decrease in the working memory is one of the main limitations even though some researches and studies have also established that the working memory is not impaired in autistic children relative to the control matched for IQ. Nonetheless, some evidence suggests that there may be some minimal impairment in the high-functioning autistic individuals in that they have completely intact working memory, recognition memory and associative learning ability. In scarce cases, there are instances of some individuals with extremely good and wide processing memory in constricted domains typically categorized as intellectual. Furthermore there are some suggestions that the working memory deficits and limited executive functions are likely to be compounded by the onset of autism whereby the early development leads to the hindrances in the social interactions. This in turn improves both the EF and WM. However, due to incapacitated ability to process such information holistically and comprehensively and the reduced capability to interpret social gestures, autistic individuals are subject to minimized and confounding instances of memory performance and function.
The physical bases of causes of the differences in working memory of autistic individuals have been studied and multiple suggestions and findings given. Bachevalier suggests that there is a major dysfunction in the brain of an autistic person which resides in the neural mechanisms of the structure in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) specifically in the amygdaloid complex CITATION Sus12 \l 1033 (Douglas, 2012). This condition may have major implications on the ability of these individuals to encode and process information given the role and MTL especially the hippocampal areas. This suggestion is further backed by Delong who emphasizes that autism has a major impact on the hippocampal function. Since the hippocampus is critical in the memory encoding and the modulating memory consolidation, any form of impairment can have far reaching effects on an individual’s ability to process and even retain information. Other studies have gone ahead to suggest that the constricted neural activities in the hippocampal regions could be responsible for the abnormal organization of information for the individuals within the autistic spectrum. Typically, the left region of the parahippocampal plays a major role in relating, organizing and sending information to the hippocampus. Thereby, any form of impairment of dysfunction within these regions would highly be accountable for the level of effectiveness in organization of information for the autistic individuals CITATION Sus12 \l 1033 (Douglas, 2012).
Further evidence indicates that there is an abnormal connection in the neural basis for social intelligence. The interaction between the gyrus, the superior temporal sulcus, the amygdale and the orbitofrontal cortex enables one to process social information for personal interaction. For autistic individuals, there seems to be a restriction in these structures such that the body language, facial expressions and the speech expressions go consciously unnoticed.
Human learning occurs in different forms. These could be in form of personal development, training or schooling all of which are highly dependent on the mental capability to process and retain information. However, for autistic persons, the learning process is highly affected by their mental hindrances and limitations as detailed. The reduced capacity calls for the use of more suitable learning methods which will allow them to comprehend and regain the information. It is important to note that the learning styles vary from one person to another. Basically, this variation is very important in determining how well a person performs in class. For this reason, schools require both the visual and the auditory learning since most of the people are strong on either of the two methods.
Memory is the ability of an individual to encode, retain, store and subsequently recall information in the brain. Neurologically, this process involves a series of neural connections in the brain which determine these processes. Memory comprises of a sequence of three critical stages all of which determine the formation of a lasting memory. These move from sensory to short term to long term memory. The processes are crucial in the learning process since they determine the period of information retention and thereby determine the performance of students. Learning processes are critical in enhancing the processes given that different individuals have different memory capabilities.
For autistic students, studies have established that they tend to be more reliant on the visual learning models CITATION Per07 \l 1033 (Dyrbjerg & Vedel, 2007). Majority of these children do no display any forms of working memories especially in the visual-spatial tasks. This implies that these individuals will have virtually no difficulty in remembering what is presented visually unlike what is presented verbally. They display an extensive verbal short-term memory problem. These children may not be able to shift attention to different tasks such that if they were presented with a set of task to focus on at the same time, then it would be difficult for them to shift their attention to more important tasks. Due to these forms of difficulties, associative learning methods are suitable for autistic individuals.
Associative learning is defined as a process by which the association between two behaviors or stimuli is learned CITATION Geo08 \l 1033 (Iwald & Pierce, 2008). There are two forms of learning in this method which are; operant conditioning and classical conditioning. In classical conditioning, a formerly neutral stimulus is repeatedly presented in conjunction with a reflex stimulus until the neutral stimulus draws its own response. Operant conditioning on the other hand involves the punishing and reinforcing of a behavior so that eventually, the probability that it will be repeated is altered. Fundamental theories of this form of learning argue that concurrent stimuli have likelihood to be viewed as separate units rather than as single units CITATION Tho11 \l 1033 (Whitman & DeWitt, 2011).
Operant conditioning, also referred to as instrumental conditioning, uses consequences to modify and determine the occurrence and behaviors. Punishment is used to determine the association between the action and its outcomes. This process is designed in a way that humans /animals behave in such a way to obtain rewards and avoid punishments. The process utilizes the psychological movements which alter behavior be organizing the environment in the suitable ways to evoke successful changes, lessen a behavior and to orientate consequences. This method of teaching is somewhat practically viable for children with autism. By administering different forms of punishments to the children in the classroom would be highly bring back their attention. Autistic children are known to run around the classroom and lose focus during learning.
Similarly, classical or Pavlovian conditioning would be highly suitable for these children. In this process, an intrinsic response to a strong stimulus...