When Public Meets Private: The Need for a Collaborative Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders and Autism

Abstract

It is in the interest of schools to embrace a collaborative interdisciplinary approach to educating children with autism, the most severe of the pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). The preferred teaching method for children with autism is an individually tailored education plan, targeting emotional regulation, behavioural self-control, and cognitive inhibition, inflexibility, and rigidity. A consulting developmental psychologist well versed in autistic spectrum disorders, who is trained in applied behaviour analysis (ABA) and discrete trial training (DTT), is able to provide insight into how a school environment can support the acquisition, maintenance, and generalisation of socially appropriate behaviours and provide guidelines for developing an appropriate curriculum for the child. When the school ecology provides for such a collaborative approach, there is much to gain: reduced stress on individual teachers, continuity of service across learning contexts, and, ultimately, the best possible learning outcomes for the child.