Abstract:
ABSTRACT
A TRAINING MODULE: UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING
SENSORY AND BEHAVIOR ISSUES IN CHILDREN WITH
AUTISM
by
© Jessica Kathrine Ordaz 2009
Master of Arts in Education
Special Education Option
California State University, Chico
Spring 2009
Sensory needs and the related behavioral challenges are prevalent in individuals
with autism. With the increasing number of students with autism enrolled in
special education classrooms, teachers and paraprofessionals should know what to do
with these students to address these sensory issues and negative behaviors that accompany
them. The purpose of the project is to develop a training module to teach classroom
staff how to address these sensory needs and the related behaviors and, further,
replace them with more appropriate activities. The written training module serves as a
resource for teachers to use to understand the theories and practical implementation of
providing appropriate replacement activities and as a training resource for specialists to
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use. The Sensory Processing Inventory Assessment is a practical tool for classroom staff
to assess these behaviors and clearly develop a list of replacement activities to teach. To
ensure that this training serves its purpose, three workshops were conducted using the
training module. Overall, respondents felt that the training module was good, with some
respondents rating it as excellent. Based on the survey results, changes in amount of information
and the size of the font on each slide were made to the final training module. It
will be necessary for professionals to continue to train on this subject and find more practical
tools for classroom staff to better serve their students with autism.
