A Holistic and Integrated Approach to Educating an Autistic Child
© CHOO Kah Ying
For parents of autistic children, the hardest challenge is finding an educational programme that is appropriate for their children. Autistic children with limited speech, extreme sensitivities to their surroundings and difficulties with socialising often struggle in a traditional classroom setting. As a consequence, parents are often focused on trying to “fix” these children’s diverse deficits in an attempt to help them “fit” into the classroom environment. They rely on the help of a multitude of professionals to work with their children’s issues: a special educator to cater to their children’s academic work; a speech therapist to deal with their speech problems; an occupational therapist to address their sensory issues; a social skills facilitator to tackle their lack of social skills; and etc.
Now, what is my concern with this prevalent approach to educating and helping autistic children? My problem with this approach lies in the fact that parents and professionals treat these children’s challenges as though they are discrete problems that are unrelated to one another. By treating each of these problems separately, they believe that they are addressing the deficits of the autistic children in a comprehensive and thorough fashion. In reality, this approach fails to acknowledge the fundamental reality that each of these individual areas is inextricably interwoven with one another.
For instance, whether an autistic child is able to learn successfully, perform gross motor and fine motor tasks, as well as acquire social skills, is highly dependent on his sensory challenges, his ability to process language and social cues, along with his self-esteem. Essentially, the body, mind and the spirit of the child need to be regarded as an integrated whole. Conventional educational and therapeutic approaches that reduce individual autistic children into a cluster of discrete deficits will thus fail to cater adequately to the children’s overall growth and development.
To address this gap in the education for children with autism and exceptional learning needs, I have put together a holistic and integrated approach to education in collaboration with Kampung Senang (“the Village of Inner Peace”) Charity & Education Foundation. This organisation’s promotion of a holistic and integrated perspective towards all humanity, including preschool children and handicapped children, offers the perfect setting for my training and learning programmes. These programmes encompass five key areas of learning for autistic children: academic, social, sensory, living skills and exercises.
Although I have identified these five areas individually, I believe that they are all interconnected with one another. Concomitantly, the teaching strategies and approaches that are formulated to address academic learning should also take into account the children’s current social skills; their sensory challenges; their ability to function in mainstream society; and their need for physical activity – all at the same time. Based on this integrated conception, the ideal educational approach should be one that is individualised to cater to the unique learning needs, preferences and styles of the students.
According to Professor Howard Gardner from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, there are eight different types of intelligences that influence the learning preferences of individuals. They consist of: visual/spatial intelligence, verbal/linguistic intelligence, logical/mathematical intelligence, bodily/kinesthetic intelligence, musical/rhythmic intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence. This Multiple Intelligences theory illuminates an oft-overlooked reality that children will be most successful in their learning when their unique learning preferences, styles and intelligences are incorporated into their learning programmes. Therefore, an autistic child’s lack of success in a classroom setting can be attributed more to the educators’ failure to understand the unique learning needs of the child than his or her diverse challenges.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that children with autism and/or other special needs do not have deficits in learning. Rather, I am asking parents and educators to take responsibility for identifying the teaching strategies and approaches that will best allow these children to achieve success in their learning. I will also concede that a holistic and integrated approach places a tremendous burden on parents and educators to be creative and proactive in their work with autistic children. However, instead of considering this reality to be a hassle and burden, educators and parents should rise to the challenge. They need to tap into their inner creativity and strength to create a meaningful learning programme that will allow these children to discover the joy of learning.
Contrary to the misconceptions that autistic children are poor learners, I will argue that they can be focused and disciplined learners if they were supported by teaching strategies that embrace their uniqueness. Thus, I implore parents and educators to look beyond the deficits of these children to celebrate their unique strengths; therein lies the key to the education of children with exceptional learning needs. The transformation of an autistic child who previously engaged in socially inappropriate behaviours during academic work into avid learners with a surprising passion for learning will be well worth the investment of time and effort.
For parents of autistic children, the hardest challenge is finding an educational programme that is appropriate for their children. Autistic children with limited speech, extreme sensitivities to their surroundings and difficulties with socialising often struggle in a traditional classroom setting. As a consequence, parents are often focused on trying to “fix” these children’s diverse deficits in an attempt to help them “fit” into the classroom environment. They rely on the help of a multitude of professionals to work with their children’s issues: a special educator to cater to their children’s academic work; a speech therapist to deal with their speech problems; an occupational therapist to address their sensory issues; a social skills facilitator to tackle their lack of social skills; and etc.
Now, what is my concern with this prevalent approach to educating and helping autistic children? My problem with this approach lies in the fact that parents and professionals treat these children’s challenges as though they are discrete problems that are unrelated to one another. By treating each of these problems separately, they believe that they are addressing the deficits of the autistic children in a comprehensive and thorough fashion. In reality, this approach fails to acknowledge the fundamental reality that each of these individual areas is inextricably interwoven with one another.
For instance, whether an autistic child is able to learn successfully, perform gross motor and fine motor tasks, as well as acquire social skills, is highly dependent on his sensory challenges, his ability to process language and social cues, along with his self-esteem. Essentially, the body, mind and the spirit of the child need to be regarded as an integrated whole. Conventional educational and therapeutic approaches that reduce individual autistic children into a cluster of discrete deficits will thus fail to cater adequately to the children’s overall growth and development.
To address this gap in the education for children with autism and exceptional learning needs, I have put together a holistic and integrated approach to education in collaboration with Kampung Senang (“the Village of Inner Peace”) Charity & Education Foundation. This organisation’s promotion of a holistic and integrated perspective towards all humanity, including preschool children and handicapped children, offers the perfect setting for my training and learning programmes. These programmes encompass five key areas of learning for autistic children: academic, social, sensory, living skills and exercises.
Although I have identified these five areas individually, I believe that they are all interconnected with one another. Concomitantly, the teaching strategies and approaches that are formulated to address academic learning should also take into account the children’s current social skills; their sensory challenges; their ability to function in mainstream society; and their need for physical activity – all at the same time. Based on this integrated conception, the ideal educational approach should be one that is individualised to cater to the unique learning needs, preferences and styles of the students.
According to Professor Howard Gardner from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, there are eight different types of intelligences that influence the learning preferences of individuals. They consist of: visual/spatial intelligence, verbal/linguistic intelligence, logical/mathematical intelligence, bodily/kinesthetic intelligence, musical/rhythmic intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence. This Multiple Intelligences theory illuminates an oft-overlooked reality that children will be most successful in their learning when their unique learning preferences, styles and intelligences are incorporated into their learning programmes. Therefore, an autistic child’s lack of success in a classroom setting can be attributed more to the educators’ failure to understand the unique learning needs of the child than his or her diverse challenges.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that children with autism and/or other special needs do not have deficits in learning. Rather, I am asking parents and educators to take responsibility for identifying the teaching strategies and approaches that will best allow these children to achieve success in their learning. I will also concede that a holistic and integrated approach places a tremendous burden on parents and educators to be creative and proactive in their work with autistic children. However, instead of considering this reality to be a hassle and burden, educators and parents should rise to the challenge. They need to tap into their inner creativity and strength to create a meaningful learning programme that will allow these children to discover the joy of learning.
Contrary to the misconceptions that autistic children are poor learners, I will argue that they can be focused and disciplined learners if they were supported by teaching strategies that embrace their uniqueness. Thus, I implore parents and educators to look beyond the deficits of these children to celebrate their unique strengths; therein lies the key to the education of children with exceptional learning needs. The transformation of an autistic child who previously engaged in socially inappropriate behaviours during academic work into avid learners with a surprising passion for learning will be well worth the investment of time and effort.
posted by Choo Kah Ying at
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