Discussion Board in Education

This is a discussion board. Please respond to the following student: Please make sure you identify each discussion board.
1.(HANNAH) Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
According to Barton & Harn (2012), “the PECS is a comprehensive program for teaching functional communication to students with autism and other developmental disabilities”. Originally PECS was designed for younger children, but it has shown to be successful for older children as well as adolescents. PECS is divided into six phases and objectives.
Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT)
PRT changes the environment to support two things; an increase in gaining skills and being able to decrease challenging behaviors. PRT allows for increase motivation and for the student to be able to generalize skills that they are learning. They are able to learn how to use the skills in other settings, not just in the setting they learned the skill. According to Barton & Harn, “in PRT, the individual is allowed to choose the stimuli and the nature of the teaching interaction, while the teacher, caregiver, or peer reinforces his or her attempts to respond”.
Functional Communication Training
FCT helps with decreasing significant problem behaviors that can occur, such as severe aggression, self-injurious behavior, and violent tantrums. The child is taught a different response and the child is then placed in active control of their own reinforcement. According to Barton & Harn (2012), the first step in conducting FCT is to identify the problem behavior, through a combination of parent and teacher interviews and direct observation”. Through each of these steps, one is able to learn a great deal of what the student needs.
Each of these interventions help students to learn and acquire new desired skills. Each of them have a way to use ABA therapy and techniques to support in the acquisition of the new skills. In addition, these interventions teach students replacement things or behaviors to help them be successful. These intervention also help to teach students how to communicate effectively which also helps them with social skills. It is important to find the ways that will work best for each specific student. For example, a student who is non-verbal will benefit more from a PECS system, whereas a student who is verbal but can be very aggressive would benefit from the intervention of FCT.
2.(MOLLY) Collaboration is such an important piece to the students success especially those that are autistic and those students that are on an IEP. In order to provide the best learning environment for autistic students, the entire team must collaborate or “brainstorm” ideas that will work for the needs of the student. Not one person can make the best decision for the student and that is why the parents, student, teachers, administrators and whomever may work with the students and this group of people must communicate and work together to create a plan that everyone agrees on to support the needs of the student. Collaboration “requires commitment on the part of each individual to a shared goal, demands careful attention to communication skills….” (Barton & Harn, 2012) this is a great statement as it explains the importance of a group coming together to create goals for the student. From my own personal experience, I know how important collaborating with my peers is and can be. I work with all special education teachers which means, we all know about IEP’s, BIP’s, FBA’s and PWN’s and if I have a question about anything relating to the needs of one of my studnets, I can ask any teacher I work with. I feel that collaboration is the best way to get new ideas to use with my students in all areas that they need like academics, social skills, situations in and out of school and so forth.
3.(HEDIEL) Children with autism require several different supports that are called an interdisciplinary team. The team can be made up of a teacher, special education teacher, speech pathologist, and/or OT/PT services. According to Barton “Collaboration is essential to ensure children with autism receive appropriate, individualized support and instruction. Collaboration, as defined by Friend (200), “requires commitment on the part of each individual to shared goal, demands careful attention to communication skills, and obligates participates to maintain parity through their interactions” (p.131)” (Barton, 2012). The main goal to make sure that the student receives the best academic goals and outcomes for that years success in school and for the years to come. It is essential for everyone to be professional, sharing their skills and services and being a positive member of the team.