Learning Style Profile
Learning Style Profile
The Learning Style Profile for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (LSP) is designed to assist educators and interventionists with understanding an individual child's Learning Style characteristics and patterns. It targets 10 intervention areas that represent the greatest challenges for professionals in the classrooms based on the learning style differences of ASD. These patterns provide a guideline for creating and maintaining appropriate educational and intervention programs to advance children from learning style weaknesses to learning style strengths.
The LSP is specifically designed as an efficient and practical guideline for incorporating Learning Style Components into the general structure of classroom and intervention settings for a more balanced educational approach. It also promotes a more developmentally balanced Learning Style Profile for each child to support the child's individualized education program (IEP).
The LSP addresses teacher and interventionists' needs by:
1) Providing a reference tool and intervention guideline that address the core challenges of ASD and learning style differences
2) Prioritizing the learning style differences in children with ASD at early childhood, primary and secondary grade levels
3) Profiling learning style differences to design effective classrooms and interventions
4) Assisting with "how" to set up the classroom and interventions based on learning style differences for children with ASD
5) Addressing an individual child's learning style profile
6) Addressing "how" to teach an individual child based on his or her learning style profile
Learning Style Differences in ASD
In contrast to typical development, children with ASD often do not learn to interact with others in socially meaningful ways. They may not seek out social opportunities for learning social, communication and interactional conventions and expectations. Environmental and interpersonal cues often go unnoticed, thus affecting social, emotional communication outcomes and judgments.
Learning style differences can severely limit a child's ability to notice others in their environment and thus engage in, and learn from social interactions. These children subsequently experience difficulties in developing shared meanings, shared affect, shared emotions and eventually, conventional behaviors due to their learning style challenges.
The child is often unaware of the need to look up and around and seek interpersonal and environmental cues in order to make an independent decision to engage and participate in social interactions established by a partner(s). The child misses important cues and sequences of social, cognitive and language information offered by a partner. In social settings such as small groups or classrooms, the child may also be unaware of interpersonal and environmental cues that help guide social exchanges and thus miss opportunities to learn and participate in a) classroom routines, b) activity themes, and c) social interactions.
RMAC uses the Learning Style Profile as a foundation in its assessments, interventions and family systems approach as well as all programs, workshops and services.
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