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Clairestafford 18869561 Assssment2 Inclusive
Clairestafford 18869561 Assssment2 Inclusive
Clairestafford 18869561 Assssment2 Inclusive
Student Profile:
Joanna is in Year 7 and is 13-years-old. She has been diagnosed with autism and
displays symptoms of behavioural difficulties. Joanna has a very keen interest in maths and
loves giving facts about anything to do with netball. Although Joanna has excellent memory
recall she struggles to express herself appropriately in class and as a result she gets
frustrated and acts out behaviourally. She has issues with verbal communication, where she
does not understand social cues and body language and interaction and as a result is
constantly talking and calling out and interrupting the students’ learning and teaching
something to say and positively reward her when she uses the correct social cue or
interaction. It is important to be aware of what Joanna’s triggers are and ensure that she is
in an environment that benefits her learning needs and environment. When she is engaged
in class, Joanna can work effectively both independently and with limited assistance.
Generally, she is more engaged in tasks that allow for straight forward thinking. In these
types of activities, she does not display negative behaviour or inhibit other students from
doing their work. She does not work well in group scenarios as she has her own process of
completing activities and working in groups makes her very distracted and frustrated with
the students.
Part 1:
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affects how the individual processes information in the brain (Costley, Clark, Keane & Lane,
2012). Intellectual disability is not a part of the defining criteria for ASD; IQ can range from
severe intellectual disability to the gifted range of intellectual functioning such as with
Joanna. People with ASD tend to have communication deficits, such as responding
important to note that no two cases of ASD are the same and as a result ASD must be
The lesson plan that has been included in this paper has been differentiated to meet
the needs of a student - Joanna (a pseudonym) - who has ASD. The student involved has
various learning needs that will need to be considered. Areas that are heavily focused on for
the development of Joanna are creating engaging activities that utilise her creative
ambitions. Further activities that will be focused on were sensory responses such as visual
and auditory, physical environments and communication. People with ASD have underlying
development that impacts on the person’s social competence, communication and patterns
of behaviour (Costley, et al., 2012). It is therefore important in class to ensure that Joanna
does not feel like she is being treated any differently. The awareness of an individualised
lesson plan would have a negative impact on Joanna - all activities, worksheets and
pedagogies that are adapted to integrate Joanna’s needs are integrated into the entre
pedagogy for teaching the class such that Joanna is not made to feel different and singled
out. There needs to be an inclusive lesson plan that allows for all students’ abilities, not just
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Joanna and her ASD. Individual lesson plans can isolate a child in the classroom and
perpetuate the idea that the Joanna is different from other students (Loreman, Deppeler &
Harvey, 2011).
Once children reach high school they no longer have a regular class teacher and a regular
classroom. This can pose as a major hurdle for students with ASD coming from primary to
secondary school. In high school the students change classrooms for each subject and the
schools are generally much bigger and more complex environments (Costley et al, 2012).
Each individual class in high school involves trying to predict a different routine for the next
50 minutes or more, listening and interpreting a new voice, organising and using different
unknown topics. One of the other potential issues for students with ASD is the fact that
each teacher teaches differently. Students with ASD may have difficulty understanding that
lesson structures can change, that it doesn’t have to follow the same format (Costley et al,
2012). It is reported by Costley et al, (2012) that students with ASD tend to become totally
focused on one subject; managing their time on everything else they need to complete
In high school, students with ASD will generally have difficulties with sensory
interests, routines and emotional regulation and information processing and varied learning
styles (Costley et. al, 2012). As mentioned above, each student with ASD is different and
knowing the students, how they learn and the tools they need to improve their learning and
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focus is imperative. Due to the increase in inclusive education and the decrease of the
segregated classroom approach to education, students with diverse needs are being
educated in mainstream classrooms. In response to this, teachers must create lesson plans
that allow for all abilities and needs in their classroom to achieve their potential. Students
with ASD typically do well in activities that require attention to detail, visual processing,
memorization and where instructions are explicitly spelt out, whether written or verbal
form.
is because of this that the lesson plan provided heavily focuses on addressing the needs of
Joanna in terms of her sensory processing. By changing small things like the colour of paper
to monochrome white and grey rather than white and black so that there is less contrast
will greatly help Joanna. Worksheets should never be on high luminance colours such as
yellow as students with ASD have the highest aversion to this colour and could trigger hyper
sensitivity impairment (Grandgeorge & Masataka, 2016). As children with ASD have a
stronger sensitivity to sensory stimulation, the use of high luminous colours will be
enhanced leading to greater distraction and disruption in class (Grandgeorge & Mastaka,
2016). A student with ASD will not process auditory cues the same way as other students.
Students - Joanna especially - does not like background noise and gets very annoyed when
interaction and behavioural flexibility (Chang, Owen, Desai, Hill, Arnett, Harris, Marco &
Mukherjee, 2014). In terms of Joanna, the inability to change and be flexible with her
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behaviour demonstrates that at the start of the lesson, as shown on the lesson plan
provided, there needs to be a demonstrated structure to the lesson and as a result the
lesson needs to be broken down for the students to show each activity and what is expected
in the lesson. In addition, Chang et al, (2014) states that children with ASD have reduced
ability surrounding facial and emotional processing as well as behavioural deficits in face
recognition. This means that Joanna will not be able to understand non-verbal cues in terms
of facial awareness, and teaching has to be very explicit and direct in what is expected of
her in class to dissuade any negative behaviour. Explicit instruction will be given throughout
the lesson, not just at the beginning, with constant reminders for students about what is
While her wish to improve in class positively impacts her learning and education, her
behavioural and cognitive issues mean she has difficulty in class. Although she has high
engagement in the activities being set and class discussions, she struggles to follow both
simple and complex instruction and at times has low levels of comprehension. Her
behavioural issues and difficulty with self-management mean that she can become
argumentative in class, and continually asks questions that are mostly irrelevant and is
unresponsive to working.
Joanna has issues with processing information that is presented orally. As a result,
any information that is presented in history through a video, PowerPoint or discussion with
the class needs to be presented in some written form to Joanna to ensure that she can
Researchers have found that receptive language ability is linked to academic performance
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(Costley et al, 2012). They may also experience difficulties with sustained attention to
teacher talk. As a result, the lesson plan does not have very many teacher-led classes.
Rather, the lesson allows students to work at their own pace, allowing students with
stronger literacy abilities to work ahead, and students like Joanna with ASD or lower abilities
to work at their own pace without getting pressured and anxious. The work also needs to
allow for a literal answer as well as a conceptual answer for the variety of student needs.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a concept to improve how students with high
incidence disabilities perform in general education (Kortering, McClannon, & Braziel (2008).
Universal Design for learning (UDL) is a research-based set of principles to guide the
design of learning environments that are accessible and effective for all. It includes the
classroom environment, lesson activities and equipment used and can especially benefit
UDL does not imply that one size fits all; rather it recognises the unique needs of every
centred instruction, in-class seatwork and printed textbooks that are dominate features of
the typical high school general education classroom (Kortering et al, 2008). UDL allows
students with and without disability to have a varied approach to gaining information. This
form of pedagogical practice helps not only students with a disability but also students who
are struggling with course content, allowing students with varying strengths to excel on
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There are three main principles that are critical to the implementation of UDL (UDL:
The UDL Guidelines, 2018). These principles involve providing students with multiple means
(Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011). Adjustments have been made in the lesson plan to
meet the requirements of UDL. Included in this lesson is an adjustment to promote choice
and multiple means of engagement when looking at introducing the “Freedom Rides” to the
students. This adjustment allows students to choose how they delivered the information in
a way that would most benefit their learning. For Joanna, a multiple means of
representation approach to learning may decrease levels of anger and frustration and
2014). By providing information using a variety of strategies, technology and by using varied
activities, teachers can cater the activities to the classroom students, ensuring that learners
with cognitive difficulties can comprehend the content alongside mainstream students. By
having multiple means of representation, such as having worksheets as both hard-copy and
on-line, gives students the ability to access the work at all times. Students with slower
learning abilities such as Joanna can access all tasks and can work on them when they feel
they are up to that content. This guidance and support helps students with both cognitive
and behavioural issues who have not developed necessary skills for language
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min
The teacher will hand out a lesson outline that includes the activities and time limits for
Students will write down as much information that they know about the freedom rides
The students are allowed to structure their knowledge how they prefer
Can draw images to represent different points in history that included freedom
rides
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10 Students create a table of the causes of the freedom rides. They are to use their device
Teacher provides a hard copy print out of the table to give to students if needed
mins
Students will label a map of where the freedom rides occurred in Australia and the
Teacher is to hand out resource on the Freedom Rides to give students additional
information
Teacher also give student 2 youtube clips so that they have a variety of resources to
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The print out is to be printed on light grey paper to lessen the contrast between text
and paper.
A step-by-step instruction list can be made available that walk through the students on
what they need to include and what they need to research to be able to complete the
task
10 Students are to watch two youtube clips that details what happened on the freedom
mins rides.
Students are to write down notes on what is being described. They are to highlight the
information that they find most interesting in blue and highlight information they didn’t
Link to the resources will also be provided with the transcript attached online if
needed.
Teacher to write students input on the board as a mind map for easy visualisation.
Instruct students they may copy the mind map either in their workbook or on a device.
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Reference List
Chang, Y., Owen, J., Desai, S., Hill, S., Arnett, A., & Harris, J. et al. (2014). Autism and Sensory
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103038
Costley, D., Clark, T., Keane, E., & Lane, K. (2012). A practical guide for teachers of students
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Grandgeorge, M., & Masataka, N. (2016). Atypical Color Preference in Children with Autism
http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01976
Johnson-Harris, K. (2014). The effects of universal design for learning on the academic
https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/docview/1609716857?accountid=36155
Kortering, L. J., McClannon, T. W. & Braziel, P. M. (2008). Universal Design for Learning: A
look at what algebra and biology students with and without high incidence
conditions are saying. Remedial and Special Education, 29(6), 352- 363. doi:
10.1177/0741932507314020
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Loreman, T., Deppeler, J. & Harvey, D. (2011). Inclusive education: Supporting diversity in the
https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/sites/default/files/Factsheet_Sensory%20proc
essing_20170306.
http://udlguidelines.cast.org/?utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=none&utm_sour
ce=udlcenter&utm_content=site-banner
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