Topic

My topic I would choose would be on autism. The reason I choose this topic is because we are seeing more and more children in Head Start that have autism whether it is a mild case or severe case. I have had the opportunity to work with a few children with autism and it is a challenge when you really don't understand the reasons behind autism. My research topic would include many issues that could possible help us understand autism in children. Research would be to help determine if environmental factors might increase the risk of a child developing autism and if vaccines play a part in children developing autism. Understanding genetics and how the brain develop in autism and the affects of whether medicines help some reduce behavioral problems in children with autism. I would also like to research effective programs that combines parent training and help families with chidlren of autism. I see the number of children being diagnosed with autism increasing. We hear more and more about this disability than ever before. It took me a long time to fully understand what it was and it is a challenging disability for some and for teachers and society who don't understand the challenges that these children face with autism. I posted a few quotes I found that relate to autism that I wanted to share. >"A child with Autism is not ignoring you, they are waiting for you to enter their world." "If you've met A child with autism, you've met A child with autism. Each and every one of them is so wonderfully different."

Research

“If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn” ― O. Ivar Lovaas My topic I have decided to research on is Austism. This is a subject that I have been interested in since having a student about 3 years ago in my classroom who had a mild case of austism. I never really understood this disability until then and even though it affects children in many different ways I have always wanted to know more and the causes behind this disability. It is not easy to understand I can say that and it is a challenge when having a child with this disability. As my saying above goes I want to teach the way they can learn and I know that teaching them may be different from the other in my classroom. Throught research I would like to understand causes behind this disabilty. It has been said that this disability often appears in the first three years of life. Teaching a Head Start class I often get children at the age of 3 years so when I am able to better understand this disability then I can help the child and family before they start so and be better prepared to deal with this situation. I want to learn ways to help the family and learn ways to help better teach those students who may have autism. When I understand it better then I can understand the child better. I want to be aware of all the resources that may be available to me so that I can share it with families and others. I have never been really good at research but I see this as a topic I need to learn more about because I am seeing more and more children come into our program who may be showing signs of autism whether it is mild or severe and I want to be able to pin point and help those who need it early so that when they start to school they will have a head start on learning.