Student: Erin Martin Date: April 10, 2020

Reading Assignment: How the Special Needs Brain Learns by David A. Sousa – Chapter 9

Reading Summary and Two-Column Note Form

Part 1: Summary: In no more than three separate sentences, summarize the key
information the author is conveying in this chapter. (Suggestion: Give a one-
sentence summary for each of the major sections of the reading assignment.)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disability in which individuals may have

deficits in interacting with other individuals, being able to express themselves verbally or
nonverbally, remembering certain things, sensory inputs, cognitive abilities, and
repetition in actions, activities, and interests. Although there are no known causes of or
cure for ASD, there are many discoveries of genetics, the brain, tendencies of individuals
with ASD, and theories that help understand individuals with ASD and how to best help
them, such as providing needed support and/or special education in school systems.
Researchers continue to learn more about individuals with ASD to see how their body is
affected and how to best help them in the future, including searching for cures, while
educators continue to use the best interventions and teaching strategies to help students
with ASD succeed in school and be prepared for life beyond school.
Part 2: Personal response
Write the words, phrases, sentences that
strike you. Note the page numbers.
Provide no more than three quotations
across the text assignment.
1. “Four previously separate
developmental disorders are
classified as a single condition
called autism spectrum disorder.
This classification now includes
autistic disorder (classic autism),
Asperger syndrome, pervasive
developmental disorder—not
otherwise specified (PDD-NOS),
and childhood disintegrative
disorder” (204).
2. The typical deficits for children
with ASD include struggling to
interact with others, expressing
oneself verbally or nonverbally, and
repetition in actions, activities, or
interests (204).
3. A specific symptom of ASD may
be increased sensitivity to sensory
inputs, such as sound, sight, or
contact with certain materials (206).
Write your thinking about what the author
says. Make connections to personal
experience, other texts you’ve read, and/or
to what you know about schools.
1. I believe it is important to know the
different types of ASD to
understand what a student may be
experiencing or why they are
behaving a certain way. This
reminds me of book and movie
characters, children I have worked
with, or individuals I have read
about that have ASD, causing me to
remember and think about the
developmental disorder they were
diagnosed as having.
2. It is important to know about the
behavior of students with ASD and
how they may act. This provides
educators an opportunity to support
these students and help them
succeed in the classroom and be
accepted by all their classmates.
The information from the book
causes me to think about Temple
Grandin, whose quote was
mentioned at the beginning of the
chapter. I watched her biopic in a
course last year and enjoyed
learning about her life. I remember
that the deficits listed in the book
are actions Grandin experienced in
the film.
3. I have learned about this symptom
of ASD previously and think it is
important to know what students
with ASD are sensitive to so an
educator can avoid having these
sensory inputs in the classroom. I
also see this symptom in a new lens
after watching Disney+’s short film
Loop. Loop features a girl with

4. “Because males inherit only one
copy of this [X] chromosome, they
are more susceptible to the
consequences of its defects” (211).
5. Savant skills are abilities that
around 10% of individuals with
ASD express. These skills are
incredible abilities; they almost
seem prodigy-like. An example of a
savant skill is being able to recall
entire pages from texts (212).
6. “Researchers have reviewed many
of these interventions and
treatments and found four that have
been rigorously researched and that
repeatedly yield significantly
positive outcomes for students with
ASD” (219).
ASD, and the short film does a
wonderful job at depicting the
heightened sensitives to sensory
inputs, such as sound.
4. This reminds me of when I learned
about why certain deficits are
typical in boys. I was taught this in
school and always remembered
since women have two X
chromosomes, they have a
decreased susceptibility of
obtaining certain deficits. This is
because one X chromosome can
“hide” a deficit in the other X
chromosome, causing boys to more
commonly have certain deficits as
they only have one X chromosome.
5. I always think savant skills are
remarkable. It is amazing of what
individuals with savant skills can
do. Savant skills remind me of the
movie Rain Man, as the character
Raymond had savant skills.
Although I have heard a lot about
this movie and have read
summaries, I would like to
eventually see it and its portrayal of
an individual with savant abilities.
6. It is important to use interventions
and treatments that have been
scientifically proven to help
children with ASD in areas they
need help. These strategies will
increasingly help children with
ASD succeed in school and life
after school. This reminds me of
Professor Meyer’s ED 243
individual lesson plan I created.
Within the lesson plan, I was to
include scientifically based
practices that may be able to apply
to my lesson and the diverse
learners in my classroom. These

7. Strategies that can help students
with ASD may regard using
specific teaching and discipline
practices. For example, maintain
routines and model activities and
appropriate behavior for activities
in the classroom to help students
with ASD be successful in the
classroom (221-222).
practices will help my students
receive the best learning
experience.
7. I believe it is important to learn
strategies to adapt my teaching and
discipline practices to help students
with ASD have a truly enriching
learning experience. These
strategies remind me of approaches
I have seen teachers use in their
classrooms while I was on school
visits, even classes without a
student with ASD. They model
activities and behavior. Thus, if
these strategies help all students,
children with ASD will not feel
different from their classmates.