A Cognitive Approach to the Education of Young Children with Autism

A oro-ea PUBLICATION Children with autism present educators, researchers, and therapists with persistent challenges in regard to consistent and long-term treatment gains. Indeed, since the initial description of the syndrome by Kanner in 1943, the literature on the effects of various treatment and educational programs has been replete with pessimism over long-term prognoses for children with autism. The literature of recent decades, however, describes the particular learning challenges and specific cognitive processing deficits such children are likely to exhibit and implies, therefore, effective remedial procedures. Traditionally, procedures for bringing about behavioral change in children with autism have been largely based on an operant conditioning paradigm. Careful control of stimulus presentation and one-to-one teaching methods were first proposed for treatment with children with autism by Ferster in a seminal article in 1961. Shortterm gains are often impressive, and instructional methods based on an operant conditioning paradigm may be most appropriate for initial educational intervention, especially for children with autism who are lower functioning or have behavioral excesses. These instructional methods can be criticized, however, for neglecting to provide opportunities for the social and language learning that occurs in group instruction (Strain, 1983), for failing to produce generalization of treatment effects (Koegel, Koegel, & O'Neill, 1989), and for consuming excessive teacher time (Myles & Simpson, 1990). Behavioral interventions that target "pivotal behaviors" (described as increased general responsiveness to the environment) (Koegel et al., 1989) offer a framework for expanding the instructional technology for young children with autism. However, the larger question is whether an operant conditioning paradigm provides an appropriate perspective for designing effective intervention, especially for higher functioning children. The paradigm is limited, because it does not account for the cognitive processing deficits frequently encountered in these children. Cognitive theory provides a perspective from which interventions for cognitive processing deficits can be designed. The difficulties children with autism encounter in thinking, perceiving, and problem solving can be directly remediated by instructional programs that focus on developing the cognitive processes necessary for optimal growth and development. The philosophical core of cognitive instruction contrasts greatly with the behavioral approaches emanating from the operant conditioning paradigm. Students are viewed as "apprentice learners" (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989) who participate in collaborative learning activities as teachers model, demonstrate, and discuss mental strategies used in meaningful task completion. Decontextualized skills and exercises give way to holistic learning environments that emphasize content learning that has meaning and purpose (Haywood, 1987; Reid & Stone, 1991). This interest in teaching cognitive skills is not new in education. Nickerson (198889) reported that various commissions and study groups through the years have stressed the need to make the development of thinking skills an educational goal. However, the application of such theory to individuals with educational or cognitive disadvantages is a relatively recent development (Resnick, 1987). The application