Complete 8 pages APA formatted article: Professional PD Program: Learning Communities.

Complete 8 pages APA formatted article: Professional PD Program: Learning Communities. Children suffering with ASD require special attention and different techniques of education. A PD program is required for my school due to the following reasons – To identify children suffering from ASD To make the teachers and staff aware as to how we have to deal with students suffering from ASD. To make the staff aware about different process of learning to be adopted with children with ASD . Intended Outcome of the Project: Knowledge about behavioural methods for correction of autism to teachers-Behavioural intervention was first developed by psychologist Ivar Lovaas and it works effectively for students suffering from autism as well as those who are not. In this method of treatment child is given a stimulus or reward to behave in a particular fashion. Involving the whole network of learning – the teachers, the support staff as well as parents in order to tackle autism. Co-operation between parents and teachers for the development of the child. Helping the parents in forming autism school groups and making the school staff part of these groups – These support groups allow the parents as well as teachers to share information, get advice and lean on each other for emotional support to the child and to themselves. Finding the non-verbal cues of the child – Children with autism find it very hard to communicate and are generally not able to express their feelings and needs. It is very essential to make the teachers aware about non-verbal cues that a child with ASD may show. Research Data Collection and Evaluation The first and the foremost data which needed to be collected is the number of children suffering from autism. As even the parents are not aware about their child it is indeed very difficult for teachers to be aware about them. In order to do this, the help of parents is absolutely essential. This help will be needed in order to find out the red flags regarding children with autism. For this purpose 2 questionnaires will be prepared – one for the teachers and other for the parents. These questionnaires will be sent to the parents of all the children. These questionnaires will address the points which are mentioned below. This is being done in order to identify children which might be suffering from autism. Child is reluctant to go to school in a way which is not normal Bed Wetting is done by the child even after long period of dry beds Distracted in the bathroom – take a long time to brush their teeth. Is the child highly sensitive to sound? Is his sleep disturbed by the slightest sound? Does the child suffer from lack of sleep The child prefers to wear the same clothes all the time Does not completes the homework in time The child is hyperactive in classroom and doesn’t pay attention to lessons. Once this information is obtained from questionnaires the children likely to be suffering from ASD will be identified. This small group of children will then be examined by experts in order to pinpoint the children who are actually suffering from ASD. The second area where information needs to be collected is to assess the knowledge that teachers have regarding ASD and how do they plan to cope with it? This knowledge assessment can be done in the form of a multiple choice test. Most teachers may not have knowledge about ASD.