“The challenge for districts is in harnessing these students’ very high ability—almost genius ability in some cases—but at the same time, the students might have [trouble with] social interactions,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg offered four tips for schools as they try to support the growing number of students with autism and the educators who teach them.
1. Have a core district team of specially trained professionals who can jump right in at the first mention of an autism diagnosis.
2. The earlier a district can obtain a diagnostic evaluation of a student in the autism spectrum, the better, because the district will be able to better identify the unique needs of that student.
3. Early intervention is key. The earlier districts can begin working with a child with autism, the better the child’s prognosis for developing language and social skills.
4. Districts should engage parents and families of children with autism immediately, and each should treat the other as an equal partner. If parents can reinforce at home some of the work and methods that educators use with students in the classroom, it will benefit the student.
ASA’s Smith-Myles said students with autism, along with their schools, need several key supports.
Because each child with autism is different, each needs an individualized educational program. Ensuring that classrooms have adequately trained educators and professionals who understand autism is essential. And unfortunately, Smith-Myles said, there are too few university programs that focus on teaching students with autism.
Students with autism have diverse and complex needs, so a team approach is essential to ensuring that those needs are met. And the interventions that are designed for the classroom must match each child’s particular autism-related needs.
“We need training so that teachers know what those interventions are, we need modeling so that teachers can see what those practices look like, and we need coaching so that when the teachers try out these interventions and approaches, there’s someone there who has a degree of expertise and who is able to provide feedback,” Smith-Myles said.
But training and support can be a strain on already-tight school resources, and money that might be directed to helping students with autism takes away from other special-education programs that also are in need.
“Children with autism can succeed and do very well, or they can regress and not reach their potential, so the best intervention we have is education,” she said.
Links:
Colorado Department of Education
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