AGILE Approach To ASD
AGILE Approach To ASD
T
he first request that I will make of you, the reader, is to pay multidisciplinary sciences that is informing us about the neurobi-
attention to what happened inside you when you read ological underpinnings of our ability to feel, think, and behave as
the word autism. Did you, perhaps, unconsciously stiffen social, learning beings. When we consider this learning, we can see
as if your mind and body were preparing for stress? Did the underlying neurobiological forces that lead to observable dif-
you find yourself quickly scanning your memory about a student ficulties in regulation, engagement, communicating, and learning.
you have had who was autistic-recalling your experiences, maybe Related to this is our learning about the way the brain operates:
struggles, in teaching that child? Maybe you have a friend who is the Triune Brain with the upper cortex (the “thinking” brain), the
the parent of a child on the spectrum or you are a parent of a middle limbic system (the social processing brain that activates
child who has been given this label. So, reflect for a moment. when we feel stress), and the lower reptilian brain that monitors
My second request. a more difficult one after years of teaching and sustains our biological functions (the autonomic brain)
or parenting is this: forget the label! While it has value in (Maclean. 1990). The limbic and reptilian brains constitute our
research, it tells you almost nothing of real importance about survival brain – and when stress occurs, the survival brain can
who this child is or how you might help this child to be calm and disable the thinking brain (e.g., Siegel. 2010). In addition, the sur-
engaged, relate, communicate, and learn. The reason for this is vival brain – including the social processing limbic system – is
both simple and complex. “online,” meaning it is very active and sensitive earlier in life than
To date, much of the field of educational and clinical interven- the thinking brain and remains the first line of processing
tions has focused on emphasizing behavioral change and compli- throughout our lives.
ance with outside requirements. This is a practice that is founded on Additionally, we have right- and left-brain hemispheres, and
the very meaningful and long history of science in learning theo- while the left hemisphere is considered the more logical/verbal
ry. We are now beginning to discover learning stemming from side, the right hemisphere is more involved in emotions, creativ-
GOOD CONNECTIONS : DEALING WITH DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY IN WHICH THE BRAIN FUNCTIONS
What does this all mean to you as a teacher of a child with autism, or for any child whose unique individual differences (brain
differences) render them less available for regulation and learning?