Blog Post 33

The current teaching methods for individuals with autism are not very efficient. For example, this past summer, I volunteered to shadow at an elementary school for developmental disabled individuals. Throughout the day, they have down time, during which, they play various board games with their peers. The objective of these games is to teach the individuals how to communicate socially with their peers. When individuals are required to receive items from their peers, they are required to say, "Thank you," and if they don't, they are prompted multiple times until they do. These didactic methods aren't efficient.
Recently, I read a book written by an individual with autism, in which, he describes his experiences as an autistic adolescent. He explains that there are stigmas used to describe autistic individuals as not wanting to socialize, which for the most part, are false; however, some individuals are completely content with just themselves. In other words, some individuals can't be prompted to communicate. Other teaching methods, like placing individuals with autism in a social setting, while using social games to provoke them to interact, but not force them to interact, are much better options, and should be the only options.