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FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Naturalistic intervention for Asperger syndrome – a case study
Author(s) -
Choi Serene HyunJin,
Nieminen Timo A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
british journal of special education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.349
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1467-8578
pISSN - 0952-3383
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8578.2008.00377.x
Subject(s) - asperger syndrome , intervention (counseling) , mainstream , psychology , psychological intervention , social skills , naturalistic observation , developmental psychology , special education , autism , pedagogy , social psychology , psychiatry , philosophy , theology
On the basis of their cognitive abilities, children with Asperger syndrome are attractive candidates for inclusive education and, in Australia, most are in integrated settings. However, social interaction between children with Asperger syndrome and their peers remains problematic, with the children with Asperger syndrome often being left alone despite being among or near classmates. For classroom teachers, effective interventions in terms of class management are critical to facilitate positive social interaction between these two groups of children, and case studies can tell us a great deal about what works. In practice, a combination of intervention techniques may be best, in case a single one is ineffective, and in order to take advantage of potential synergies. In this article, Serene Choi, of the School of Education at the University of Newcastle (Australia) and Timo Nieminen, of the Centre for Biophotonics and Laser Science in the Department of Physics at the University of Queensland, report a naturalistic multiple‐component intervention used to develop the social skills of a boy with Asperger syndrome in a mainstream school in Australia. This combined intervention, making use of social stories, simple peer modelling and individual lessons, appears to be a practical teaching method for inclusive education.