* This article was originally written in fall 2007, Mariam Sambe
I have worked with children who have autism for three years. During this
period, my main wish was to have some skills that could help me get through the
children’s minds and understand their needs. Consequently, I always had the desire
to study this disability, and hopefully come with a type of assistance in the
communication ground.
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| Autism Awareness Ribbon |
Autism is a brain development disorder that affects
communication and social interaction. Five particular journals and research
papers have helped me build a better understanding of autism, and have enabled
me to find ideas for further research in the language issue of autism.
The five articles I chose to analyze here are taken from: 1. the National
Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), 2. the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 3. the National Institute
of Mental Health (NIMH), and 4. two articles from the Canadian Autism Intervention
Research Network (CAIRN).
These five publications are remarkable sources for my study. They allow
me to learn large amounts of valuable information about autism and how to treat
some of its issues. They also give me ideas for further research, particularly
in the field of communication and interaction. Let me be more specific on how
these articles are beneficial for this project.
The content of the publications are extremely useful in the aspect of
information. The journals start by explaining what we already know about
autism. Meaning, they express researches that have been done until today. The two
articles that best deal with this aspect are the ones from the NICHD (2005) and
the NIMH (2004). Here, I learned global information about the disability: how
it affects children’s brain development, their communication ability, and their
social interaction. I also became aware of how many people are affected by
autism and how they try to cope with it. These valuable information not only
answered many of the questions I was asking myself, but also helped me think
about new ideas for my project. Thus, during the readings of these two
journals, I built the basic understandings of autism, and then got more
interested in going further in my research. It made me realize where the
research about autism was lacking, which helped me know what to focus on.
The second factor that made me appreciate the effectiveness of the
articles is an aspect taken from a journal that is specific to the speech and
language department, the NIDCD (2007). Here, there is a focus on the
communication issue of autism, which is what I am interested to learn and
develop. The causes and consequences of this issue are thoroughly explained. I
have leaned when and how there is a difference of communication ability between
a child who has autism and a typically developing child. Other than the basis of interaction issues described in this journal,
what also interested me is its focus on research made specifically for
communication development. This prospect enabled me to know where and
how to center my attention. It narrowed down my global thoughts about
communication ability to a specific case: how the speech and language issues
are treated. Therefore, studying this article helped me to become aware of how
to focus on a single and precise matter.
As you can see, up to now I have been
talking about the basic contents of the articles. However, I did not choose these
journals only because they give me significant information on different aspects
of autism. What attracts me as well is how the sources are reliable and
valuable. Indeed, all the articles I selected are from accredited organizations
that concentrate on varied types of research in the field of autism. They are
written by researchers who have adequate experience with several children who
live with autism. This showed me that I could trust the sources. Also, the
articles were not contradictory between each other. The tests the researchers conducted
came out with similar reasoning and evidence. This aspect illustrates that the
journals are reliable. In addition, they all measure what they are supposed to.
Meaning, they only concentrate on autism itself and not on any other related
disability such as Asperger syndrome or pervasive developmental disorders. Thus,
validity was respected as the evidences that supported the reasons were exactly
based on what they were studying. As a result, the five journals respected both
reliability and validity.
At present, let me make clear comparisons
between my journals so as to illustrate their contrasts and their similarities.
In order to facilitate my division, I split the five articles into two groups.
On one side, I set the two journals from the CAIRN and call this section <X>.
On the other side, I place the three articles taken from the NIDCD, the NICHD, and the NIMH. This section is
identified as <Y>.
Though X and Y share some
similarities in the content of the study about autism, they still vary in some technical
aspects. The two articles from X are concise and strictly talk about specific
studies. The first one focuses on behavioural interventions that can treat
autism. The second one analyzes what the role of parents of children with
autism should be, in order to help in the development of their children's
communication. Therefore, each of these publications deal with only one specific
subject that is studied in depth.
On the other hand, the three journals from Y are concerned about the
general overview of autism. They give information about every study that is
being done or that has been done in the past. They have a descriptive genre
which makes them long articles because they deal with every aspect of autism: the
causes, the consequences, all the treatments, the varied researches made, and
so forth. Y articles are interesting but very broad so I used them as
dictionaries. When I had an enquiry I look at one of these three articles so
that I could get a general understanding.
The second difference between the two clusters
of journals is the way they deal with their claims and warrants. The two
articles from group X have one particular claim each. Since explanation is on
one single issue, the journals are concentrating on a specific aspect. Thus,
they only have one claim supported by several reasons. There are also various
warrants that connect the reasons to the single claim. Conversely, Y
publications are analyzing diverse aspects of autism. Hence, they have several
claims in their articles. Each part of each article has its specific claim.
This is because there is not just a single idea expressed.
Adding to this, there is a difference in the
position of the claims. Articles in X place their claim at the end of the
journal. They lay it in the conclusion. This is not the case in the Y journals.
Depending on the section they are discussing the varied claims are sometimes in
the beginning, sometimes in the middle, and sometimes at the end of each part.
The differences between X and Y in
organizing claims, reasons, evidence and warrants allowed me to see two types
of argument styles. Even though the arrangements are different, they are coherent
to the specific idea the articles express. Thus, in both case I clearly
understood the main points of the reports.
The last difference between X and Y is in
the writing style. As I went through the journals, I noticed that all of them
have a specific ability to catch my attention but they employ different strategies
to do so. Journals Y use clear and understandable terms. Though factors related
to autism are complex to comprehend, Y publications do not use jargon terms. Therefore,
I was able to comprehend and appreciate the explanations thoroughly. This
caught my attention since I did not have to look for definitions every now and
then.
In contrast, articles X are a little hard
to grasp. Since they deal with a specific characteristic of autism, they use
some complex terminologies that make it challenging to understand. There are no
definition and description of complex ideas. X articles are not made as an
overview but as an analysis of a specific issue. It seems like the writers of
journals X believe that the readers already have all the basic knowledge about
autism. Thus, the writers of X articles are more detailed in their explanation
than those of Y journals. Though these articles are harder to understand than
those from section X, the fact that they are more detailed gives me more
precision.
Let me now illustrate the similarities
between articles X and articles Y. First of all, they are both objective. They
do not try to persuade or to win readers over. I really appreciate this aspect
because it helps me shape my own view on what I feel. The tone of the journals
is neutral which allows readers to be informed without feeling obliged to take
a side.
The second similarity of the journals is
that they are all up to date. Indeed, the five articles are dated from 2002 to
2007. This means that in case of inquiry it is possible to contact the
organizations in charge of the journals or the authors who wrote them. Also, it
makes the source highly convincing and credible because the researches were
made recently.
In conclusion, I want to highlight that all five publications are
outstanding supplies for my study and any other study you might want to pursue regarding autism. They allowed me to learn essential information
about autism and gave me a good sense of how to examine possible treatments. Their focus on the
communication and interaction field gave me ideas for further research.
Furthermore, I enjoyed their argumentative styles even though they have different
approaches. I highly recommend you to pick one of these articles (if not all five of them) and to give it a read if you are interested about autism. You will be able to
thoroughly comprehend some of the facets of autism.
References
Campbell, JM (2003). Efficacy of
behavioural interventions for reducing problem behaviour in persons with
autism: A quantitative synthesis of single-subject research. Research in Developmental Disabilities,
24, 120-138.
National Institute on Deafness and
Other Communication Disorders (2007). Autism and communication. National Institutes of Health. Bethesda , MD
Sigman, M. & Siller, M. (2002).
The behaviours of parents of children with autism predict the subsequent
development of their children's communication. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32(2), 77-89.
Strock, M. (2004). Autism Spectrum
Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders). The National Institute of Mental Health, 1-37.
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/upload/autism_overview_2005.pdf
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