Preschool Children With Autism - The First Steps to Early Intervention

Preschool Children With Autism

In my primarily ages as an the first part of childhood teacher in a minimal private preschool, if one of the children in my care was not next the 'norms' of development, it was not obvious to me how I is able to do. As we all know, the early childhood field can hold a fast turn throughout of staff in child care centres, and often the Directors or Authorised Supervisors have simply as small amount of or less field experience as further staff. My confidence as a teacher was the key..."was I right in suspecting a learning difficulty?"Preschool Children With Autism

With little experience and only 3 years of theoretical knowledge at University dotted with intervals of practical teaching, I wasn't always confident in my "gut feelings" or suspicions of a learning difficulty. With years of teaching experience now behind me, including in early intervention support, coupled with the understanding from a parent's perspective, I would like to offer some suggestions of what to do when we, as early childhood teachers, suspect that a child in our care has a learning difficulty. The important thing to remember is that it's not up to us to make a decision that a child has or doesn't have a learning difficulty. Our responsibilities lie with gathering developmental information, knowing what professionals to refer a family to, and supporting parents through the process Preschool Children With Autism

Observations The question I asked myself as a young teacher "was I right in suspecting a learning difficulty"? was more about me and my confidence in my ability. Really, we should be asking the question "is there a possibility that this child has a learning difficulty"? The answer comes from our knowledge of child development norms, and our observations which will tell us if a child is moving outside those norms. It is very important to remember that 'norms' have a very wide range. Developmental 'norms' take away the comparison between children in our care and allow us to see where we would expect children of certain ages to be sitting in their development.

It is also important to remember that a child sitting outside 'norms' of development may not necessarily have a learning difficulty. However, this decision can be left in the hands of those in professions specific to particular developmental areas, such as speech and occupational therapists. If a child is moving outside 'norms' of development in one or more developmental areas, then we should make our formal observations into a developmental report. This report should not make suggestions as to what we suspect might be the concern.

For example, we should not include that a child is displaying "autistic behaviours", as we are not qualified to make that judgment. Instead, we should be objective and report on the specific behaviours we observe (eg the child maintains little or no eye contact). As an early childhood teacher you might say "but this is not written in positive language". I understand that we look at the positive aspects of a child's development in our observations. However, I feel that therapists need concise and specific information when reading reports, and while our language should not be negative, it should be specific. Don't let your child suffer anymore! Lead your child out of his world through Preschool Children With Autism program now!