Parents before sending their autistic children to a speech therapist or a special school that caters to their needs must check the curriculum that the school is providing. The contents of autism curriculum must be thoroughly processed to see that your child gets the best of the training required to train him/her for the social world.
So, what should be the contents?
Contents of Autism Curriculum: The contents of the training program would be as follows:
- Attending Skills: All autistic children lack focus and the attention that a normal classroom child would possess. So any training program should first concentrate on skills like being seated in a chair, maintaining eye contact etc. Any training program has to begin by addressing these skills improvement.
- Imitation Skills: All children learn by imitating their peers. But, for autistic children imitation is quiet difficult. Imitations with respect to gross motor skills, oral motor skills copying drawings etc. are taught in this program. For children who cannot imitate naturally, this training is essential.
- Communication Skills: Speech development in children comes by imitating the speaker. Autistic children cannot do this due to both physical and social problems that they possess. Conversational skills, instruction following, requesting etc. are taught as a part of this program. Teaching communication is very important part of the training process.
- Adaptive and Safety Skills: These skills are necessary to make an autistic child independent in most walks of routines. Dressing, feeding, cleaning etc. are taught as a part of this program. Staying independent is necessary for progressing in life.
- Leisure Skills and Play: Autistic children cannot socialize very easily. Thus playing within a group has to be taught to them. Also, leisure activities and playing can help improve their functional abilities.
- Academic Skills: Both per and post academic skills like teaching alphabets, numbering, teaching number sequences, counting, reading etc. are taught as part of this module.
The above should be the contents of autism curriculum. Only such a well defined training program can help the child improve both the social and academic skills. It is important that parents understand such curricula and choose the best school or training for their children.
