GUIDANCE FOR TEACHER RESEARCH PROBLEM
A research problem is a specific or clear expression [statement] about a problem that needs to be solved, an issue that needs to be resolved, a question that needs to be answered, or a condition that needs to be addressed that is found in academic literature, theory, or practice and calls for thoughtful analysis and investigation. A research problem doesn’t provide instructions, make a general or ambiguous claim, or raise a moral dilemma. The problem of this study is about the developmental disorder “autism spectrum disorder.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
“A research study about providing guidance for teachers to teach pupils with autism spectrum disorder at primary level in DHACSS, Defense, Karachi, Pakistan.”
The term “autism spectrum disorder” is used to describe a collection of repetitive sensory-motor behaviors, early-appearing social communication deficiencies, and other causes, including a significant genetic component. The number of people with this condition who can speak, read, and live in the community as opposed to institutions has increased recently, and some will be largely free of symptoms by adulthood.
Although each person’s ASD is unique, the following are some of the disorder’s typical side effects:
• Difficulty deciphering social cues and conversational language
• A rigid adherence to a ritual or routine that is ineffective
• Repeating gestures, words, or phrases
• Excessive or excessive sensitivity to sensory input (e.g., adverse response to specific sounds)
• An obsession that lasts for a long time with things or very specific interests.
Even though the majority of people do show some of these traits, the excessive amount of these traits makes life challenging for those with ASD and calls for specialized supports. Due to the neurological nature of ASD, individuals with it frequently struggle to control specific behaviors. The disorder’s psychological and medical foundations also have an effect on how students act and take in information in the classroom. Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that these behaviors have a neurological basis and do not denote willful disobedience.
Moreover, Primary level is an important level of education in a pupils’ life. It builds the confidence and socialized personality. And in case any pupil has difficulty in developing self-assurance, communication skills, and socializing skills then thy will defiantly left behind. And the children with autism are already having such duftites, there can be chance that those difficulties may get worse. For saving an autistic child (having different frequency of symptoms) the teacher is the main personality as a consoler.
Teachers are the guiders and they will be guided with the guidance programmed with the purpose of guiding them for better and effectively be able to teach autistic children who are suffering from autism spectrum disorder. Teachers will be assisted to identify autistic children among other normal students. The teachers play their role as mind- reader for autistic pupils as well as for normal children. It will help teacher to understand the individual differences.
IMPORTANCE OF THE PROBLEM
This study’s scope is to support teachers in comprehending and effectively meeting the needs of students with ASD in the classroom. Each student with ASD is unique and has different needs, just like every other student, so even with the knowledge provided here, each teacher will need to develop their own approach to assisting each student in the classroom. Students with ASD experience challenges with learning, behavior, and socialization as a result of the disorder’s characteristics, which were just discussed. As a result, teacher may experience serious difficulties when it comes to teaching, controlling behavior, and maintaining a conducive learning environment for all students in the classroom.
Some common classroom challenges such as quick guide:
- Interests limited to specific topics.
- Low frustration tolerance.
- Insistence on sameness/difficulty with changes in routine.
- Poor coping/emotion regulation strategies.
- Socially naïve and literal thinkers.
- Poor writing skills (fine-motor problems).
- Difficulty with learning in large groups.
- Poor organizational skills, etc.
Furthermore, this will guide teachers to know about the common social and communication characteristics of students with ASD and restricted patterns of behavior or interest as like:
- A lack of awareness of social complexities and gestures.
- Reading others’ words literally.
- Difficulty conversing with others in a best possible manner.
- Willingness to use direct language without considering how others might be affected by it.
- Constant application of social norms to all circumstances.
- Poor sense of proportion; may approach other students too closely.
- Weird eye contact and voice inflection.
- Unsuitable gestures or facial expressions.
- Difficulty deciphering gestures from others.
Restricted Characteristics:
- Immovable behavior—repeated morning rituals, rigid thought patterns.
- Trouble adjusting to schedule changes.
- Difficulty shifting your attention from one thing to another.
- Organizational and planning issues
- Sustained object licking or touching.
It is necessary as a teacher to take the responsibility of the children’s emotions and develop a balanced emotions personality. Hence the guide will assist teachers to have the understanding about the emotions of children. And they will be able to teach their autistic children about emotions. Let’s elaborate it with the description of five levels of emotional understanding that can be taught.
Level 1: The ability to identify various facial gestures from photographs:
such as those that indicate happiness, sadness, anger, and fear.
Level 2: Recognizing emotion from visual drawings.
The child receives points if they correctly identify the faces of four facial cartoons—happy, sad, angry, and afraid—from a set of four.
Level 3: Situation-based emotion recognition:
These are feelings brought on by circumstances (e.g., fear when an accident is about to occur). Given the obvious emotional content of the picture, the child should be able to anticipate how a character will feel at this level.
4. Desire-based emotional states:
These feelings are brought on by a person’s desire being met or unmet. At this level, the child should be able to distinguish between a character’s happy or sad feelings depending on whether or not his or her wishes are granted.
Level 5: Belief-based emotions:
These are feelings brought on by what a person believes to be true, even if their belief is at odds with reality. The task requires the child to follow a sequence of three images and to assign emotions to cartoon characters based on whether they perceive their desires to have been met or not.[1]
OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH
This guide is meant to orient educators to the challenges and skills of students with ASD and outline strategies that teachers can easily implement to meet their needs. More specifically, the aims or objectives of this research are to:
- To evaluate the role of teacher in the development of autistic children’s social and communication skills.
- To educate the teachers about autism and its effects on pupils and teachers through awareness program.
- To assist the teachers to understand the individual differences in classroom.
- To set the teaching strategies for helping children to overcome the problem of autism.
- To add the activities regarding language therapies and social activities in curriculum.
