Autism+spectrum

Autism The Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) website is a very useful website I have found that address most problems associated with autism. The website provides links to services that are set up to help families who have a child that has autism. It also provides people with information about autism as well as research that has been conducted about autism. The website provides information and services suited to people from all ages that have autism, from before school years, school years and adults. Reference: Aspect, 2011, Autism Spectrum Australia, retrieved from []


 * __//THE TRANSPORTERS// DVD __**

//The Transporters //is a DVD series that has been developed by the Autism Research Centreto assist children with autism spectrum condition to recognise and understand emotions. The series is set in a boy's bedroom and uses real human faces showing emotions grafted onto animated vehicles. It is assumed that children with autism spectrum condition will look at these faces more often than they would if they were not grafted onto vehicles (Golan et al., 2010, p. 272). Golan et al. explain how children with autism spectrum condition prefer order, systems and predictability, and the characters and environment of //The Transporters// were designed to appeal to these preferences (p. 277).

//The Transporters// is suitable for children aged two to eight years old (Changing Media Devlopment, 2010), and hence would be appropriate for use in early childhood or primary school settings. The Pro Pack version of the DVD is licensed for use in schools and includes extra resources for teachers such as activities, worksheets and emotion cards.

//The Transporters//' episodes show 15 key emotions. Golan et al (2010, p. 272) describe how the series includes emotions that range from basic (e.g. happy, sad and angry), to complex but still developmentally appropriate (e.g. jealous, proud and ashamed), as well as emotions and mental states that are important for everyday social functioning (e.g. kind, unfriendly, tired and joking). These emotions were selected because they are recognised and understood by typically developing children between the ages of two and seven years old (p. 272). The quizzes on the DVD are an engaging way to reinforce a student’s understanding of these emotions. In the quizzes students can match faces to faces, faces to emotions, and situations to emotions (p. 272). These quizzes would be most effective if carried out with a teacher so that opportunities for discussions can be utilised.

The accompanying user’s guide provides suggestions for teachers on how to discuss the key emotions. Two types of questions are suggested for discussion: questions about the feelings and actions of the characters, followed by questions about the feelings and experiences of the student watching the series (Changing Media Development, 2010). The guide also suggests discussing themes of social relationships; for instance, the importance of saying sorry. One of the aims of the series is to transfer understanding of emotions from the series to real life (Changing Media Development, 2010). To achieve this, teachers should associate the emotions in the DVD with the student’s immediate environment and life. For example, the DVD could be viewed as particular situations arise in the classroom, such as a student needing to learn about the importance of apologising.

The effectiveness of //The Transporters// as a resource for students with autism spectrum condition is confirmed by the results of an evaluation carried out by the Autism Research Centre. The results indicate that //The Transporters// effectively teaches emotion recognition to children with autism spectrum condition, and that this learning generalises to new faces and new situations (Changing Media Development, 2010).

media type="youtube" key="8kU_CQGWBsU" height="349" width="425"

References Changing Media Development. (2010). //The Transporters: Academic Research Behind the Transporters//. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from The Transporters: http://www.thetransporters.com/research.html

Changing Media Development. (2010). //The Transporters: Parents, Teachers & Carers//. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from The Transporters: http://www.thetransporters.com/tpc.html

Golan, O., Ashwin, E., Granader, Y., McClintock, S., Day, K., Leggett, V., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2010, March 1). Enhancing emotion recognition in children with autism spectrum conditions: An intervention using animated vehicles with real emotional faces. //Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders//, //40//, 269-279. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.canberra.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0a6bcfd8-4d50-49a1-8b89-615e0f11f86c%40sessionmgr12&vid=4&hid=24

//The Transporters: British English version: www.thetransporters.com//. (2008, November 24). Retrieved July 10, 2011, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kU_CQGWBsU

**__ THE TRANSPORTERS __**

http://www.thetransporters.com/index.html // The Transporters // is a DVD that has been developed by the [|Autism Research Centre] to assist children with autism spectrum condition to recognise and understand emotions. The series uses real human faces showing emotions, grafted onto animated vehicles, in the setting of a boy’s bedroom (Golan et al., 2010, p. 272). Children with autism spectrum condition prefer order, systems and predictability, and the characters and environment of //The Transporters// were designed to appeal to these preferences (Golan et al., p. 277). By having real faces grafted onto vehicles, it is assumed that children with autism spectrum condition will look at the faces more often than they would under normal circumstances (Golan et al., p. 272). The DVD is designed for children aged two to eight years old, and hence would be appropriate for use in early childhood or primary school settings. The Pro Pack version of the DVD is licensed for use in schools and includes extra resources for teachers such as activities, worksheets and emotion cards. The episodes show 15 key emotions. These emotions range from basic (e.g. happy, sad and angry), to the complex but still developmentally appropriate (e.g. jealous, proud and ashamed) (Golan et al., p. 272). Emotions and mental states that are important for everyday social functioning are also incorporated (e.g. kind, unfriendly, tired and joking) (Golan et al., p. 272). These emotions are recognised and understood by typically developing children between the ages of two and seven years old (Golan et al., p. 272). The accompanying user’s guide provides suggestions for teachers on how to discuss the key emotions. Two types of questions are suggested for discussion: questions about the feelings and actions of the characters, followed by questions about the feelings and experiences of the child watching the series (Changing Media Development, 2010). The guide also suggests discussing themes of social relationships; for instance, the importance of saying sorry (Changing Media Development, 2010). <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">One of the aims of the series is to transfer understanding of emotions from the series to real life (Changing Media Development, 2010). To achieve this, teachers should associate the emotions in the DVD with the student’s immediate environment and life (Changing Media Development, 2010). For example, the DVD could be viewed as particular situations arise in the classroom, such as a student needing to learn about the importance of apologising. =<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 171px; width: 1px;">The DVD also includes quizzes, which are an engaging way to reinforce a student’s understanding of the emotions portrayed in the DVD. In the quizzes students can match faces to faces, faces to emotions, and situations to emotions (Golan et al., p. 272). These quizzes would be most effective if carried out with a teacher so that opportunities for discussion are capitalised on. = =The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.=

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a novel written by Mark Haddon and published in 2003. The novel's protagonist Christopher is assumed to have some kind of autism-related disorder - most likely Aspergers, though we are never explicitly told. The story follows Christopher's investigation of who killed his neighbours dog and the subsequent family secrets that Christopher learns along the way. Christopher is unable to empathise or recognise others emotions, feels overwhelmed by crowds and is extremely gifted in maths and science; all of which are common for those on the Autism Spectrum (Foreman, P. 2008)

The protagonist is fifteen years of age and the novel would be suitable for high school students. This resource could be used in a classroom as a class text, which would allow students to gain an insight into the world of Autism as we see things from Christopher's point of view. In this way, the book could be seen as a teaching tool to educate students about other children with special needs and as a tool for discussion. This would be particularly useful in a year group or class that had a student with a disability so that other students could comprehend the kind of world that that particular student lived in. I think that this would be helpful to enable students to gain an understanding of the disorder. This could also be useful for teachers to read to gain an insight into what living with autism is like and allow us to better relate and understand. The author is clear that he did is not an expert on autism but has worked with children with autism ([]).

Foreman, P. (2008). //Inclusion in Action Second Edition//. Cengage Learning.

Sparknotes. (2011). //The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.// Retrieved 18 July 2011 from [|http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time/context.htm]

<span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: absolute; top: 171px; width: 1px;">The effectiveness of //The Transporters// DVD as a resource for students with autism spectrum condition is exemplified by the results of an evaluation carried out by the Autism Research Centre. The results indicate that //The Transporters// DVD effectively teaches emotion recognition to children with autism spectrum condition, and that this learning generalises to new faces and new situations (Changing Media Development, 2010).