WHAT ARE EFFECTIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR AUTISTIC STUDENTS IN A LANGUGAGE ARTS CLASSROOM?
Kristin R. Freiberger (Mary Ann Sinkkonen) Department of Education, Dominican University of California, San Rafael, CA 94901 Language is essential to communication in our world. Without using words, a person is unable to express their feelings, thoughts, emotions, needs, or desires. Imagine sitting at lunch with friends but not having the ability to communicate; this is devastating to the child. If there is no way to express these thoughts that need to be expressed, children will inevitably live an unsocial life. Educators and/or specialists intervene immediately upon the diagnosis of autism. Speech and language therapists are brought in to increase vocabulary and communication methods. When children are able to attend school, there are various methods used by all educators to promote language development and encourage socialization. Many teachers that have even one autistic student in their class are not qualified to teach these children. Both parties end up frustrated and the child m