Culturally and Linguistically

Diverse Students with Autism

Saili S. KulkarniUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison

Article

• Diane Rodriguez- East Carolina University, Greenville North Carolina• Rodriguez, D. (2009). Culturally and

linguistically diverse students with autism. Childhood Education, 85 (5), 313-317.

Background

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse

Students

Students With Autism

Refers to anyone who is not from a white, middle class background and/or someone who doesn’t speak English

One of many disorders which lies on the Autism Spectrum

A majority of the student population in 2 U.S. states (Texas and California) and many public schools

Increased prevalence within special education (NASP, 2003) with the average age of identification being around 5.5

Structurally segregated with high concentrations in poor, urban schools

Structurally segregated with high concentrations in segregated classrooms

Have poor post school outcomes such as unemployment and incarceration

Have poor post school outcomes (particular to students with significant autism)

Challenges

Identification

• Current research hasn’t investigated socio cultural and language implications for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds• The prevalence of autism for Latino/a

students is lower than other cultures (26/10,000 vs. 51/10,000) • More than 10 years ago the association

between immigrant status and autism was unknown and research continues to be limited

Family Involvement

• Role of the native language

• Linguistic and cultural differences may prevent families from accessing information on special education policies and practices in the United States• Race, ethnicity, language and

socioeconomic status may effect timely diagnosis• Poor Latino/a families of children with autism

may have less access to health services and may rate the autism as more severe when they do meet with health professionals

Perceptions and Expectations

• After identification, families expectations for children with autism may change from the perspective of raising a “normal” child to raising a child with a disability• This new information may add stress to

already difficult conditions for immigrant families and/or families living in poor conditions

Callicott (2003) mentions that working with CLD families requires that we examine our own myths and stereotypes

Services and Family Support Systems

• The process of accepting a diagnosis varies from family to family

Acceptance by the extended families

Support from friends

Support organizations/medical providers

Acculturation, Assimilation

• Assimilation: giving up ones primary culture and accepting the secondary culture as primary

• Acculturation: changes in one’s primary culture happening over time due to exposure/interaction with another cultural group• For newly immigrated families, fears/lack of

knowledge may lead to letting professionals take charge of educational decisions

• Professionals need to be aware that acculturation occurs over time• Person centered planning may be useful for CLD

families of students with autism (Callicot, 2003)

Support for CLD families

• Latino/a families have a lower probability of receiving services for their children with autism than African American parents (Dyches, Wilder, Sudweeks, Obiakor, and Algozzine, 2004)• 6 themes critical to educational

perceptions held by CLD families and professionals (Zionts, Zionts, Harrison, & Berlinger, 2003)

Respect for families

• Activity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZHchTXmHIc (start at 5:44)

• Listen to this woman talk about bilingual families of children with autism

• What do you think of taking a family centered, dual language approach? What challenges do you foresee as practitioners/researchers?

Perceived negativity towards families

• Deficit perspectives of families from different cultural, socioeconomic backgrounds

• Learning about different cultures and perspectives can provide new information that counteracts some of these conceptions

• Every parent/guardian and child comes with unique circumstances and experiences

Need for information and assistance

• Dominant culture-centered materials/resources

• Families from CLD background often do not know about the services available to them

• Discrimination in access to services

• Lack resources to advocate for further services/information

Desire for greater cultural

understanding• Gestures and activities that promote a

willingness to learn and understand the “other” are a starting point

• Cultural and linguistic diversity alongside disability needs to be embraced within public schools

• Activities that take on multiple perspectives are great ways to learn about CLD students with autism

Quality training and preparation

Activity: listen to/read the following statement, then talk with a neighbor about what implications this may have for teachers of CLD students with autism.

• Gay (2002) writes: Individuals are socialized to devalue, suspect, and pretend to ignore differences, especially those that derive from class, race, ethnicity, and culture.

Teacher Preparation

• most graduates of typical teacher-education programs know little about the cultural traits, behaviors, values, and attitudes that different children of color bring to the classroom and how they affect students’ responses to instructional situations . . . .Therefore, they often misinterpret these students as deviant and treat them punitively . . . . [This] places them at a learning disadvantage (Gay, 2002, p. 211)

Improved Partnerships

• Family-Professional Collaboration• Community conversations• Support networks• Working with families to achieve

common solutions• Rather than trying to “educate”

families, teachers should first learn about what families bring to the table already

Socio cultural and Language Implications

• Sociocultural learning contexts to autism• Difficulties in social engagement• Issues in language development

• Evaluating language (Roseberry -McKibben, 2007)• Case study methods• Modifying assessments to meet needs of CLD

students with autism• Measurement of informal, everyday

conversations• Functional language use for students with

autism should be a goal

Culture

• since standards of normality and abnormality vary among cultures and social groups and change with such factors as time, socioeconomic conditions, and political realities . . . one cannot arbitrarily classify a given social behavior as desirable or undesirable but must take into account the context in which the behavior occurs (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Lloyd 1985, p. 142).

Social Competence

• Many students with autism have difficulty with social competency• In order to address this need in all students,

we need to know the degree of peer acceptance, types of conversations (older students) and play skills (younger students) the child already has and what needs to be built upon• Does the child withdraw from other children?

Does he/she have siblings or family members at home who are of a similar age to interact with?

Practical ImplicationsDiane Rodriquez on intervention practices for practitioners:

• When teaching CLD students with autism I recommend using the language the student and parent/guardian are most comfortable.  

• Depending on the students’ grade level and cognitive ability, I suggest that teachers include social stories because many students with autism experience difficulty understanding social expectations.  Teachers should be creative in writing the stories related to their students’ experience. 

• Teachers should include in the social stories examples and illustrations, such as PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System).  Another strategy is using a variety of example of visual content areas materials (science, math, vocational). 

• The most important suggestion is to write and collaborate with the parent an educational plan that is age appropriate and meaningful for the student and the family and that is culturally and linguistically respectful and responsive.

Future Directions

• Research on culturally and linguistically diverse families of children with autism

• Bilingualism and autism

• Social stories for culturally and linguistically diverse students with autism

• Teacher preparation methods and materials related to working with culturally and linguistically diverse students with low incidence disabilities

• Others?

Conclusion

• Dichotomy of low incidence disabilities and culturally and linguistically diverse students

• Implications for person centered planning as a way to work with families from diverse backgrounds

• Moving away from deficit perspectives of families from different cultural, language and socioeconomic backgrounds• Perceptions vary by individuals and

acceptance of disability and services may also vary

ReferencesGay, G. (2002). Culturally responsive teaching in special education for ethnically diverse

students: setting the stage. Qualitative Studies in Education, 15(6), 613-639.

Callicot, K.J. (2003). Culturally sensitive collaboration within person-centered planning. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 18(1), 60-68.

Dyches, T.T., Wilder, L.K., Sudweeks,R.R., Obiakor, F.E., and Algozzine, B. (2004). Multicultural issues in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 211-222.

Hallahan, D. P., Kauffman, J. M., & Lloyd, J. W. (1985). Introduction to learning disabilities (2nd ed.). Englewood Cli€ s, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kohrt, B.(2004, Winter). School psychologists respond to ASD survey. CASP Today, 53 (1), 4.

Rodriguez, D. (2009). Culturally and linguistically diverse students with autism. Childhood Education, 85 (5), 313-317.

Roseberry-McKibben, C. (2007). Language disorders in children: A multicultural and case perspective. Boston: Pearson Education.

Zionts, L.T., Zionts, P., Harrison, S., & Bellinger, O. (2003). Urban African American families perceptions of cultural sensitivity within the special education system. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 18(1), 41-50.

Questions??

Contact me:

Saili Kulkarni

sskulkarni2@wisc.edu

http://ciseuwmadison.wordpress.com/