Criterion 4

Students need specialist one-to-one intervention at least weekly, or specialist monitoring at least once a month together with daily special education support provided by others. This support must be to help with needs arising from a severe disorder of both language use and appropriate social communication.

Henare: 4 years 10 months - a brief profile

Henare does not appear to understand spoken language. He uses jargon-type babble that is unintelligible and does not seem to have any communicative intent. Henare will sometimes tug on his mother's clothes to get an immediate need met, but he cries and has tantrums when not understood.

Henare has great difficulty engaging in or attending to activities, and participation is fleeting and intermittent. With persistent encouragement from an accepted adult, he is learning to carry out simple actions with a small range of familiar toys such as blocks. This has taken intensive intervention over a long period of time.

When an adult does not work with Henare he is totally absorbed with small cars and puzzle pieces, and either lines them up or holds them close to his eyes while babbling and squealing with excitement. It is extremely difficult to interrupt him and change his focus of attention.

Henare finds any changes to his routines and environments very distressing and, at times, is inconsolable. He does not interact with other children. He will walk over them and their activities to get what he wants. He likes to be outside and spends long periods of time running up and down the fence line.

Henare meets Criterion 4.

This criterion is for students who have communication and social behaviour that is extremely unusual, repetitive and inappropriate in their social context. They have an absence or severe impairment of social interaction, communication and imagination and carry out a narrow, rigid and repetitive pattern of activities that appear meaningless to others.

The intensity and combination of these characteristics vary with each student, but are apparent most of the time.

These students with very high needs:

• seem remote and unaware of others. It is extremely difficult to gain their attention which is only achieved when the student has a very strong need
• have very severe processing problems and seldom respond when spoken to or give any indication that they understand the purpose of communication. They are mainly non-verbal, may use a word occasionally and lack interest in imitating actions or words
• often show a fascination for specific objects or actions that are used in a ritualistic way
• are extremely anxious and disruptive in new environments or situations and unable to tolerate change or variation in routines
• may communicate their feelings (including distress, frustration and confusion) through aggression or self-abusive behaviour. For some students self-injury can also be a repetitive habit.

These students need frequent, intensive psychologist and/or speech-language therapist intervention to take their unusual and inappropriate behaviours into consideration while helping them to engage, be understood, to respond and learn.