Autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological disorder that was first described by Hans Asperger in 1944. Some individuals with ASD engage in stereotypic and repetitive behaviours while others are very highly functioning and contributing members of the community. Seventy per cent of adults with autism have at least one additional disorder such as social anxiety and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Insomnia and depression are also commonly found in people with autism.
Bangladesh needs to pay special attention to autistic people, when it comes to higher education. Then young learners with autism spectrums will be able to negotiate the challenges in higher education. Some common problems they face at higher educational institutions (HEIs) are: Difficulty with communication, social relationships, thinking and course completion.
However, students with Asperger syndrome are respected and valued for their skills and positive attributes. They are supportive in the areas they struggle with. The things which cause autistic stress and anxiety may be different for the average student population. For example, a student with Asperger syndrome may seem unconcerned about a particular assignment, but may experience high levels of anxiety, if changes are made to the timetable.
Bangladesh's model in responding to those suffering from autism is a 'unique, multi-faceted and multi-sectoral' one, says Saima Wazed Hossain who has been playing an important role in the area of autism. She appealed to WHO to help develop and implement strategies that will steer all countries to build an inclusive society.
Susan Stokes argued that a large number of strategies and tools, including technology, have been used to enhance both the functional capabilities and the quality of life of people with developmental disabilities. These areas are visual representation strategies, sensory input, motor, receptive communication, expressive communication, academics, organisation, behaviour, social interaction and transition.
Any Individualised Education Programme (IEP) can include technology training and support for academic and non-academic staff. Parent counseling and training also can be incorporated into the IEP or Individualised Family Service Plan (IFSP). At least one in 110 American children has an autism disorder, according to the Centre for Disease Control.
"The rapidly growing numbers of children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder represent a significant proportion of the future population and work force," says Schreck. The number of autistic people in Bangladesh will be higher than in the USA. But almost all HEIs are not really aware about autistic people in higher education. The private sector can come forward to work in this area with foreign assistance. The government did its job nicely, especially in case of autistic children. Special codes of conduct for autistic people at HEIs are required in Bangladesh.
Assistive technology is an umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them. Assistive technology promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty with accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks: Adaptive technology, mobility impairments, visual impairments , personal emergency response systems, accessibility software, hearing impairments, augmentative and alternative communication, cognitive impairments, assistive technology in sport, assistive technology in education, computer accessibility and home automation.
Impacts of assistive technology: Some of the assistive and augmentative technology is commonly used to help individuals on the autism spectrum:
Products, devices or equipment, whether acquired commercially, modified or customised, that are used to maintain, increase or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Assistance and adaptive technology is sometimes divided into high tech (uses electronic equipment) and low tech (does not use electronic equipment). Some behavioural interventions (such as theory of mind training, video modeling, and visual schedules) rely on technology for their delivery. Board maker pictures as the stopping and starting points for letters can be a way to engage students wanting to learn to form letters. Allowing the student to choose the pictures makes it meaningful to them and may help engage them so they will want to practise. Computer access aids include hardware (such as mobile devices) and software (such as apps) that enable people to access, interact with and use computers. Daily living (or functional) aids are devices and tools (such as videos) which are designed to help people perform daily living activities, such as getting dressed, getting around safely and so on. Education and learning aids (such as robots and visual schedules) are designed to help people cope with educational tasks such as reasoning, decision making, problem solving etc. Recreation and leisure aids (such as models and games) are designed to help people participate in sports, social and cultural events. Motor aids any devices and tools which make use of, or which aim to improve, motor functioning i.e. control, coordination and movement of the whole body or parts of the body.
Specific types of aids include: Environmental aids (such as workspaces) which are designed to remove or reduce physical barriers for individuals with disabilities, hearing and listening aids (such as noise cancelling headphones) which are designed to help people gain a better sense of, and more control over, their hearing and auditory processing, multi-sensory aids (such as multi-sensory environments), which make use of many different tools and devices at the same time, positioning aids (such as therapy ball chairs) which are designed to help people gain a better sense of, and more control over, their own balance and coordination, tactile aids (such as weighted blankets) which are designed to help people gain a better sense of, and more control over, their own tactile sensitivity, vision and reading aids (such as coloured filters) which are designed to help people gain a better sense of, and /or more control over, their vision.
Specific medical devices include those used in: biofeedback including electromyogram, heart rate variability biofeedback and neurofeedback training; hyperbaric therapy; transcranial stimulation including transcranial direct stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation. The LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning) is described as being particularly beneficial for the autistic, because of its heavy emphasis on motor planning. The use of consistent motor patterns is advantageous because it decreases the need to learn the meaning of a symbol, results in more automatic and therefore faster communication over time (e.g. touch typing), and reduces the cognitive demands associated with continually analysing and choosing from different symbol sets. Frustration sometimes may misguide the students as well affluence becomes a curse. Proper student counseling through any clinical psychologist in every university and in other higher education is needed.
Cloud computing is encompassing everything from infrastructure as a service through to software as a service. In the middle, there is a platform tier providing the micro services that power the likes of Android and iPhone apps. It also may help improve autistic student productivity, conferencing and collaboration, extend the reach of higher education, personalise education and improve learning outcomes.
Other innovations are rapidly emerging through startup companies. One example is Learnmetrics, a company that wants to make report cards obsolete. They have a cloud-based application that analyzes educational data to give teachers real-time insight into student performance. Cloud-based application can help autistic students complete higher education.
Lesson for Bangladesh: Higher educational institutions must take special care for autistic students. Low and high tech innovations depending on the nature of the need of the autistic people should be arranged, each university should utilise cloud computing for benefits of autistic students, each HEIs should spend at least 10 per cent for welfare and educational purposes of autistic people and it may be tax-free. Assistive, Adaptive, and Rehabilitative devices at the university level should be established by the top management of the universities. As Bangladesh government is trying to ensure inclusive autism in the development processes for sustainable development goals, private sector as well as NGOs should come forward.
Social awareness should be raised for autistic personnel for their normal life cycle. Collaborative role of public-private and foreign strategic alliances for autistic people are very important. Each HEI must appoint a clinical psychologist. Monthly check-up for the students and academicians in Bangladesh can be made mandatory.
(Muhammad Mahboob Ali, PhD, is a professor at the Dept. of Business Administration, Daffodil International University)
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