MANAGEMENT OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) and COLLABORATIVE TEAMS

Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition related to the development of the brain that can lead to persistent challenges with socialization, restricted interests, and repeated behaviour. Diagnosis for ASD is used as a basis of DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder) produced by American Psychiatric Association. ASD is observed in children during early years of life and significantly affects an individual’s wellbeing. Autism has remained a mystery for many specialists and researchers  for years. Although the cause of autism is still unknown, a number of strategies have been developed that have helped so many people around the world to live independently. So far there are no authentic facts for ASD prevalence in Pakistan however the statistics is roughly calculated from South Asia that ASD might be as common in Pakistan as somewhere else around the world. In a country like Pakistan where Autism is still a new phenomenon especially in rural areas, we have very restricted qualified human resources to provide a reliable rehabilitation service for a child with ASD and their family. Apart from that due to inadequate awareness exposure, knowledge, and incompetency in diagnosis, these children go undiagnosed and are mishandled.

Subject Coordinators Leadership Roles for School Improvement

The leadership roles of subject coordinators, by and large, have remained less explored especially in the developing countries. Consequently, their involvement in school improvement s virtually unknown. It was this gap in the existing literature, as well as the apparent insignificance of the position/role of subject coordinators in school improvement, that initiated this study. The present study examines a subject coordinator's leadership roles for school improvement in one junior boys' secondary school in Pakistan. The purpose is to look at the what and how of his leadership roles. Also explored are the facilitating and hindering factors encountered during the performance of these roles. The research uses the qualitative approach. It is a case study using multiple sources of data including primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews, informal conversations and observations. The secondary data source was office documents. The study reveals that the subject coordinator had a very minor, almost non-significant, role at the strategic level, where school directions are set. His roles tend to be concentrated at the second - operational level, and the third - personal level. The factors that facilitated his leadership role enactment included, his personal interest, selected school structure, and outside school change factors. Prominent among the factors that hindered his performance were the lack of certain specific skills, and heavy workloads of other teachers. For further research, a network analysis of intradepartmental, interdepartmental and interschool relationships, and their impacts on subject coordinators' leadership roles is suggested.