AUTISM WITHIN THE CLASSROOM- CAN IT HAVE A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON OTHER LEARNERS?

I am currently doing an Action Research Project based around Autistic students within Performing Arts. There are so many benefits that drama/acting can bring to people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, but do you think that there is a possibility that other learners within the classroom may be faced with the adverse effects of this scenario?

I would love some fellow teachers opinions on the matter.

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Permalink Reply by Debora Wondercheck on May 20, 2013 at 12:22pm

Art is inherited and it dosent matter you are normal or not god has made equal inclination for art, I feel such people have more inclination towards art they love it they have more better creativity as they mind always work like a child,so they are better learners.

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Permalink Reply by Emma Breen on May 21, 2013 at 7:17am

Hi Ellie,

I think this situation would have both pros and cons for the other learners.

Throughout a career within the performing arts actors etc are likely to be faced with working alongside people from all walks of life and therefore this could be a benefit in preparing them for this scenario. I believe there are also a great number of performing arts students who go on to do some form of teaching and this experience may also help them on that front.

On the other hand, the attention and adaptation of a session needed for an autistic learner (depending on the scale of their autism) could hold other learners back. There are of course ways around this such as extension tasks etc but I feel it may affect the atmosphere of the class and within the ensemble based environment of the performing arts this could cause issues.

Its hard to generalise when autism comes in so many shapes and forms but I think if the environment is professional and all learners feel that they have someone to talk to if they feel an issue arises then there shouldn't be an issue.

Hope this helps

Emma