Personalized Learning Approach - Essay Help

School Profile

ABC school is an elementary school system that has been providing educational program at elementary level while using different approaches towards learning in all core curriculum areas. The staff at ABC school system are dedicated and committed towards developing a caring, safe and learning environment in the classrooms. Our school understands the value of schooling at elementary level as it is considered as major milestone for parents and their children especially those that are fighting with autism. Currently, the school is not using individual learning methods very effectively for the autistic students. Hence, I am hereby demonstrating how we can encompass personalized learning approach that can be used for autistic students at ABC school along with pros, cons and challenges related to it.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Children

Autism is a neurologically based disorder that affects the ability of person to communicate and interact with other people and the environment around them (Yell, Drasgow, & Lowrey, 2005). This disorder is now recognized to be one of the most common disorder affecting learning abilities of children. Every autistic child has a different perspective towards the people they meet and the environment with which they interact. Mainly, the three major development areas affected by autism in every child are inability to communicate with others appropriately, inability to interact socially with others and inability to participate in range of activities (Virginia Department of Education, 2011).

Currently, we are not using personalized learning system at this level. However, it is to be noted that for autistic children, personalized learning approach can make a huge difference in their life. No two children with autism disorder are the same (Virginia Department of Education, 2011). Some of the major characteristics seen in children with autism are described in the table below:

SOCIAL INTERACTION ISSUES	COMMUNICATION ISSUES	BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES
Issues in interpreting the nonverbal language. Rigidness in adhering to rules and regulations. Trouble in understanding the instructions given in class. Poor judgment of personal space. Difficulty in understanding the perspective of the other person. Trouble controlling emotions and anxieties.	Delays in expressive or receptive language communication. Literal understanding of speech and instructions. Show signs of Echolalia (repeating last word heard). Lack of pretend play	Intense or restricted interests in different things like dates, coins, maps etc. Unusual sensitivity levels towards sensation. Unusual repetition behavior at both verbal and non-verbal level. Difficulty in transiting from one thing to other. Might show aggressiveness, self-injurious behavior or sometime disruptive reactions.

Personalized Learning

The educational goal for the elementary school-age children with autism disorder includes development of cognitive and academic skills, encouraging appropriate social behavior of autistic students, supporting the communication and development of language (Bulger, 2016). I have a strong belief that through personalized learning, we can provide the autistic children with an environment that can help them in sharpening up their social interaction skills, communication skills and behavioral reactions. Personalization in education is still not described properly in research as different schools and learning areas see personalization with a different view (Bulger, 2016). I see personalization in education as a concept evolved from adaptive learning, competency based education and differentiated instruction learning. The figure 1 below shows the schematic range of “personalized learning” genres and terms used in literature more often.