ISSN: 2165-7890
Anna Chinyama
Kyle Preparatory School, Zimbabwe
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Autism Open Access
I L I L A is inclusive learning and intervention for learners with autism. It is an educational programme whereby the learning and intervention processes for learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder takes place while they are among other children of their age range who are non-autistic. I L I L A is an idea that generated from a situation when autistic children had been brought up in a community where the population had very little knowledge about autism. The small town of Masvingo had no centres where these children could get intervention. It was the plight of the desperate parents who approached the school and the teachers for help that led to the creation of I L I L A. I L I L A is a collaborative effort between the school, Clinical Psychologists and the parents, to provide effective, practical and experiential intervention in the education of learners with A S D among other non-autistic learners and not in isolation. Intervention is based on the principles of programmes, theories and philosophies of education. It is also based on a combination of A S D approaches that are internationally accepted as best practice for A S D intervention. Approaches include: 1) Observations - covert, overt, participant, non- participant and contextual observations; 2) Interviews- interviews are done to collect valuable information from parents and caregivers; 3) visual over verbal is also done and; 4) the Makaton communication programme to enhance communication. More approaches can be applied as the learners become more developed.