Abstract
To conduct an interview with a primary school aged child required the questions to use simple wording and, because the children in question were Autistic, the questions had to be unambiguous and could be answered in a short sentence if necessary. When asking the questions, more detail went into what their favourite subjects and hobbies were to give them a chance to talk about their favourite activities (a subject which, for most who are Autistic, is one thing which they find easier to talk about and will want to talk about).
Aims
The aim of this project was to investigate Autistic Spectrum Disorders in mainstream school with a focus on music. The area of Autistic Spectrum Disorders in education interests me and for once I wanted to get the views of those who lived with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder rather than those who worked with it.
Literature
There have been various studies carried out on Autistic Spectrum Disorders in education and several programmes have been created to aid those who are Autistic overcome difficulties which may arise while in education. The following 2 books and internet source highlight several aspects of programmes and characteristics of Autistic Spectrum Disorders which were important to my research.
1. Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome: Preparing for Adulthood (Howling, 2004)
From this book, many programmes were highlighted which were relevant to this research the most notable being the TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped Children) programme which involves the use of “visual cues to circumvent communication difficulties.” (pg. 57 Howling, 2004) and individual learning in a suitable environment. The TEACCH programme also involves using a highly structured teaching and a quite area where the pupil may go to establish self-control.
2. Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals (Attwood, 1998)
Attwood’s guide to Asperger’s Syndrome outlines the circumstances which lead to a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome such as a secondary psychiatric disorder, such as depression, having not being diagnosed before because of not showing signs which would lead to a referral for assessment other than seeming to be reclusive.
3. National Autistic Society (NAS, 2010)
Finally, from the National Autistic Society’s online guide to “How can I help a child with autism at my school?”, the use of visual aids such a timetables and having activities shown using simple images is outlined, backing up the use of the TEACCH programme mentioned in Howling’s book.
Design of the Methodology
For this study, the participants involved were 4 primary school aged children (aged 6-10) consisting of 3 boys and 1 girl. 2 of the children had Autism and the other 2 children had Asperger’s Syndrome. Because of their age, the children all had appropriate adults being their class teacher who were also asked questions or, in one case, answered the questions instead of the child because of the communication issues caused by the Autism. The participants came from 3 primary schools, 2 participants coming from the same school, situated within York and the surrounding villages.
The tool used in this study was having a structured interview (see Fig. 1) asking the children their views on various aspects of home and school life in particular what they thought about music in school. The interview comprised of 18 questions ranging from what they liked about various subjects to what was their name and what disorder did they have. Overall, the interview was not likely to be longer than 20 minutes (on average the questionnaire would take 10 minutes) to account for the attention span of a primary school aged child especially one with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
The questions were sent out in advanced to the heads of the participating schools for the children to look at before our meeting and so the parents could see what would be asked. This gave the children a chance to pre-prepare for the meeting and have sentences ready. Also giving the advanced notice meant that the children knew I was coming and did not find that there was a sudden, unplanned interruption in their daily routine. The interview was conducted in an area familiar to the child (usually in the same room as the rest of the class but at the back of the room) and their teacher was nearby meaning that they had someone they knew in the room and were not being left to talk to a stranger alone.
To conduct an interview with a primary school aged child required the questions to use simple wording and, because the children in question were Autistic, the questions had to be unambiguous and could be answered in a short sentence if necessary. When asking the questions, more detail went into what their favourite subjects and hobbies were to give them a chance to talk about their favourite activities (a subject which, for most who are Autistic, is one thing which they find easier to talk about and will want to talk about).
The children were also given the chance again, at the end of the interview, to talk about their favourite topics since they would likely be more comfortable talking to me than at the start of the interview.
Schools Questionnaire
Hi,
I’m Mia and I’m a student from one of the universities in York.
1. What’s your name?
___________________________________________________________________________
If you want to stop at any time or don’t want to answer the question just say.
So…
2. What do you really like to do at home?
___________________________________________________________________________
3. What do you like to do at school?
___________________________________________________________________________
4. What is your favourite subject?
___________________________________________________________________________
5. What do you like about it?
___________________________________________________________________________
6. What is your least favourite subject?
___________________________________________________________________________
7. What don’t you like about it?
___________________________________________________________________________
8. What do you like about music?
___________________________________________________________________________
9. What do you not like about music?
___________________________________________________________________________
10. Do you play any instruments?
___________________________________________________________________________
11. What do you find easy in music?
___________________________________________________________________________
12. What do you find hard in music?
___________________________________________________________________________
13. What do you find easy when you are at school?
___________________________________________________________________________
14. What do you find hard when you are at school?
___________________________________________________________________________
15. I have Asperger’s Syndrome which is a type of Autism, which one do you have?
___________________________________________________________________________
16. Do you like to work with others or by yourself?
___________________________________________________________________________
17. Anything you want to say?
___________________________________________________________________________
18. If you don’t mind me asking, what support is given to….?
___________________________________________________________________________
Thank you very much for your help
Fig. 1 Questionnaire sheet used in the interviews
Results / Analysis
The results gathered from the interviews have been sectioned into the following categories; part 1,general, where the results from questions such as favourite activities and subjects are examined; part 2 ,music, where questions such as the likes and dislikes of music are analysed; and finally part 3, teaching, where the strategies which are in place for the pupils explored.
Part 1: General
From the interview, several favourite subjects were noted; these included Maths, P.E., Music, History and English. Some of these favourite subjects were unexpected such as the P.E, English and History but the Music and Maths were expected as what most people with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder are naturally good at. As you can see in figure 2, P.E. and music were the most popular subjects.
As expected, most of the hobbies which the children preferred were solitary activities such as playing on the computer, video games, watching television and playing on a trampoline but there were also hobbies such as swimming and going on walks which, while not being expected, can also be solitary activities but also activities which, considering the age of the participants, would be undertaken with others.
Part 2: Music
The areas which the children found positive with music, their likes and what they found easy, involved “not having to write too much” and being “able to play the drums” while finding the rhythms easy to follow and were able to pick the music up quite easily.
Aspects which they found negative, their dislikes and what they found difficult, were having to work in groups, taking turns especially with loads of other children and the loud, sudden noises which could happen in the class.
Part 3: Teaching
The support and adaption’s which teachers made to help the children, who were Autistic, cope in the classroom involved using visual aids and prompts with a large timetable, even having an individual one separate for the child. Some schools had an Autistic specialist adviser who they could ask for advice. At best there were one to one lessons for the child with many visual aids, not just timetables but for the alphabet, numbers and many topics which could be covered in class. A key ring had been provided with cards which could be used to help the child communicate and ear defenders were available for the child if loud sounds got too overwhelming. A quite room was also provided in one case where the pupil could go to when they were overwhelmed and a clear routine of getting lunch and playing was employed by a teacher. A clear system was in place for what work would be done and in what order with a reward system that, if all work was completed, the pupil could then pick a subject to work on. Most of the schools visited just used the visual aspect of the TEACCH programme such as the visual aids for timetables and cue signs.
Discussion
Most of the children showed the characteristics of Autism quite clearly either in what they did or said in the interview. The use of the TEACCH programme by the schools was helping to included the children and the teachers reported that it was also helpful for non Autistic pupils as well. As said in Attwood’s guide, children are not diagnosed unless they show clear signs of being Autistic. Clear signs however in many cases are there, just from someone who knows little about Autistic Spectrum Disorders, if there is not a major issue then a referral in not put in. It was also mentioned on a visit that sometimes the issue is convincing the parents to get the child assessed, both of these factors would contribute strongly as to why so few schools replied and why many believed that they had no pupils with Autism in their school.
What worked well in this project was the by visiting the schools I was able to go into more detail on some of the questions, particularly the ones which the children showed the most interest in answering or that I felt they would have more to say if I phrased it differently. I was also able to find out more about the pupils from the teachers when talking to them afterwards and was able to find out some of the problems which the teachers had been having such as group work and not knowing if they were doing the right thing, this tended to be asked by the teachers who were making an extra effort to include the children in their lessons.
As mentioned, during the visit many teachers asked me about my point of view on their work to include the pupils and what it was that the children found most difficult. This was especially important for one school whose pupil would barely talk so they were unable to ask her. I found that more work towards inclusion was done by talking to the teachers than what I managed to get out of the pupils. This would have been because I was a stranger, in many cases and unplanned stranger, who they would have not wanted to talk to for long.
If I were to re-do this research I would make the interview electronic so more schools could fill out the form rather than waiting for them to reply and decide a date which I could visit. This would also save time by not visiting so many school though a few schools would still be visited to get more in depth answers. I would also liked to have ensured that the pupils had seen the questionnaire beforehand because in all cases I believed that the headteachers had not run through the questionniare with the pupils giving them a chance to pre-prepare what they were going to say.
Bibliography
Attwood, Tony(1998) Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals
Howlin, Patricia (2004) Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome: preparing for adulthood
National Autistic Society (2010) How can I help a child with autism at my school?
