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Frequently Asked Questions
“If you are ever going to increase your knowledge or create something meaningful you are going to have to risk putting yourself out there and ask questions." ~ my Dad
I have always valued any question from a student, family member or professional trying to understand a child’s strengths, challenges, find answers or connect to resources. It seems only natural to offer any insight, suggestions or solutions to those who ask.
PARENTS ASK:
1 ) What are the symptoms of autism?
- Communication Challenges: Language develops slowly or not at all: gestures are absent or are limited and atypical. Loss of language occurs in some cases.
- Social Interaction Challenges: Shows little interest in making friends; initiates social interactions only to have immediate needs met; and tends not to share accomplishments and experiences.
- Behavioral Challenges: Intensely repetitive motor movements or use of objects; child is consumed with a single item, idea or person; experiences difficulty with changes in the environment or transitioning from one situation to another; has frequent tantrums; and exhibits aggressive or self-injurious behavior.
2) How is autism diagnosed?
- There are no current medical tests for diagnosing autism, but when you are concerned about the developmental delays in your child, you should consult a physician. The physician can rule out various potential medical issues, such as hearing problems. Your child should be diagnosed by an autism specialist. This person should be a psychiatrist, pediatric neurologist, neuropsychologist or developmental pediatrician whose expertise is in ASD. These experts make the diagnosis when they observe certain characteristics listed in the Diagnostic & Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
3) What is the best way for children with ASD to learn?
- Every child learns differently. Different methods, strategies, materials, activities and equipment will need to be integrated to create the unique program that child requires based on their core challenges.
- It is wise to create an environment in which a student learns as independently as possible. Keep a student engaged by selecting high interest, preferred activities, materials and people. Students with ASD need times of structure learning, semi structured learning and child lead learning. Children require an environment that supports the child actively engaged in problem solving.
- I have observed home programs and school programs that do not allow the child to think. All tasks are prepared for them with all materials and equipment at their finger tips. All learning is directed by an adult who chooses the activities and never allows the child to solve any part of the task on their own. I have observed programs that never create an opportunity for the child to make a choice, ask for help or solve a problem on their own.
- Depending on the level of sensory challenge, social communication challenge, motor challenge and cognitive level additional supports will be needed to maximize learning.
- The greater the sensory challenges, the more limited the receptive and expressive language levels and the more restricted a child’s motor planning the more important it is to have a well organized visually and sensory supported environment.
- Environments with smaller student to teacher ratios are generally preferred.
- Allowing time for the student to process incoming information, providing opportunities for motor/sensory breaks and allowing for choices all create a more successful learning environment for students with ASD.
4) How can I locate a school that meets the needs of my son/daughter?
- First notify the principal at your home school that you have a child with special needs and request an evaluation for special education services. You may need to connect with the County Office of Education in your area or identify the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) in your county if you are unsuccessful with this first step.
- Secondly you may try the California State Department of Education web site (www.cde.ca.gov) and click on non-public school branch non public agency branch to identify state certified private schools in your area.
- Thirdly, you may wish to log onto the California Association for Private Special Education Schools (CAPSES) (www.capses.com) and search for special schools within driving distance from your home.
- Fourth, you might connect with a family resource center in your home area. Matrix Net Work ( Marin, Sonoma, Solano Counties) (www.matrixparents.org) or ParentsCAN Network, (Napa County) (www.parentscan.org) or Parents Helping Parents( San Francisco and South Bay Area) (www.php.com) and ask them for suggestions and recommendations.
- Another option is to connect with the California Regional Center in your area such as Golden Gate Regional Center (Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) (www.ggrc.org) or North Bay Regional Center (www.nbrc.net) Napa, Sonoma and Solano Counties. Most Regional Centers engage in collaborations with public school districts and are also aware of private schools in the area.
5) How can I make sure that I understand what supports and service my son or daughter needs to benefit from his/her school program?
- It has been my experience that an interdisciplinary team is truly needed when it comes to designing an appropriate program for children with ASD or similar developmental learning differences.
- An Educational Specialist, Speech/Language Specialist, Occupational Therapist and Psychologist or MFT should all be included on the child’s team. These experts should have experience and knowledge about ASD. Additional experts may be needed such as; Physical Therapist, Assistive Technology Expert, Floor time Specialist, Medical Practitioner, Nutritionist and Music and Art therapist to address specific challenges/needs.
- Appropriate goals and services can not be designed without thorough assessments in the core challenges of the child with autism (communication, sensory and related motor challenges, cognitive, emotional regulation and social development).
- Thorough observation and assessment leads to appropriate goal setting and support services.
- I recommend that every family keep up to date on current state of the art methods and strategies for ASD. Parents can do this through parent to parent connections, family resource networks, attending local and state wide conferences ie joining the National Association for Autism (www.autism-society.org) or even their local association, San Francisco Bay Area Autism Society, sfautismsociety.virtualave.net. Participating in parent support groups are a great way to learn how other families are making sure their child receives the best possible supports and services.
- Some families contract with private consultants to help them navigate the school systems and coordinate the teams working with their son or daughter. Some families look to the consultants to keep current on methods and strategies and make appropriate recommendations on an ongoing basis.
6) When the services my child is receiving during his/her school day are not adequate, how do I work with my school district to get additional services? Where do I find outside providers to work with my child privately?
- Your child’s rights are protected under the Individual Disability Education Act and as the parent you may request (in writing) an IEP (individual education program meeting) any time during the year and as frequently as needed. It is through this collaborative planning meeting that supports and services are determined. Remember that appropriate services are determined through thorough assessments. Parents are permitted to seek outside evaluations to demonstrate needs if they do not feel the district’s assessments are adequate. Parents may bring outside providers to the IEP meeting to provide information and to work in collaboration with the district’s faculty and staff.
- Some families choose to supplement school services by scheduling additional speech therapy, occupational therapy, academic tutoring, music and art therapy or physically therapy after school or between school sessions.
- Parents can find a list of California Department of Education certified specialists by accessing (www.cde.ca.gov) and clicking on the non-public agency link. Parents can connect with Parent Resource Networks (www.matrixparents.org or www.parentscan.org) for lists of local providers.
- Families can connect with the Special Education and Psychology Departments at their local colleges (Dominican University of California www.dominican.edu , College of Marin www.marin.cc.ca.us , Sonoma State University www.sonoma.edu , San Francisco State University www.sfsu.edu ) to find additional respite, after school care, summer help and one on one home program support.
- Parents may also want to ask their Special Education Local Plan Area (Marin SELPA http://199.88.112.54/selpa/selpa.html ) for a list of specialist that they contract with to provide therapeutic services.
- One additional resource may be your local hospital which has a variety of outpatient clinical services such as CPMC (California Pacific Medical Center www.cpmc.org ) to support children and families with special needs.
7) How can I find after school or summer social recreation program to serve my child with special needs?
- I suggest that parents connect first with their case workers at their local regional center (Golden Gate Regional Center www.ggrc.org, North Bay Regional Center www.nbrc.net ) and have them provide a list of social recreational programs that offer services to children with ASD and other developmental learning challenges.
- Easter Seals offers a variety of after school and summer programs for special needs children, teens and adults with autism and other developmental learning challenges.
- The Jewish Family Child Services offers after school and summer programs for special needs children including children with ASD http://www.jfcs.org/default.asp
- It is always good to check out the local YMCA, Jewish Community Center and Community Center in your town. They generally have after school and summer classes that will offer some options for children with ASD and other special needs.
PROFESSIONALS ASK
1) How can I maintain a current level of expertise in the field of ASD?
- It is very helpful for teachers and other educational and clinical professionals to establish a membership in a professional association. The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) at www.cec.sped.org provides on line resources, a professional journal, discounts on their annual convention and expo and more, including access to professional liability plans. The Autism Society of America (ASA) at www.autism-society.org offers advocacy, education, support, service and research.
- It helps to sign up to receive free organizational newsletters from parent resource networks such as Matrix www.matrixparents.org or professionals like Michelle Garcia Winner http://www.socialthinking.com. These newsletters often provide an update on special events, legislation, new books or significant workshops and seminars.
- I suggest that professionals stay connected to their colleagues and meet socially at least twice a year to share stories, strategies, information from seminars and workshops they have attended or to just find support. I suggest professionals make sure they are enrolled in a yearly conference or institute to keep up to date on the latest research, methods, strategies, materials and equipment being published in their fields. www.autismsociety.org
- Sign up to receive catalogues on newly published assessments, equipment, books and materials. Southpaw http://www.southpawenterprises.com/ contains the latest sensory products as well as other tools and materials occupational therapists need. Abilitations http://www.abilitations.com/ is another wonderful resource for classroom teachers and occupational therapist. Future Horizons http://www.futurehorizons-autism.com/ is a resource for books, conferences, articles, equipment for all types of professionals and parents.
2) How can I as a teacher support the needs of my families?
- Treat the parents as an equal member of the child’s education team
- Make them feel valued and heard
- Establish an effective process for communicating. Remember that some families do best face to face, while others are okay with a phone call and written communication. Be very careful of emailing. It is a common challenge to convey just the right amount of emotional support and information in an email.
- Schedule consistent appointments with families to keep them current on their child’s progress. If you have children with communication challenges, remember that they are unable to report how their day went to their parents. This causes great anxiety for families. A child’s report of the events may not be accurate and set the family up to believe either nothing is going right at school or nothing is being learned.
- Provide opportunities for the parent to observe their child in all parts of the program
- Send examples of child’s activities home.
- Find ways for parents, who have the time, to volunteer. When parents are engaged in their child’s program anxiety decreases and learning generalizes to the home and community.
- Remember that parents, of children with developmental learning challenges, continue to hope their child will accomplish the same things as their typical developing friend. They believe that more intervention is better. They believe that they have lost time and that every minute without intervention is a loss minute.
- Research indicates that parents of special needs children go through a loss process as their child ages and fails to meet the expected developmental milestones. These feelings can and do affect the way parents connect and may put pressure on professionals. It is important that professionals understand what it feels like to be a parent of a child with complex challenges.
3) What kind of technology supports can I provide to the students with ASD?
- Technologies strategies help develop comprehension, communication, attending, organization and academic skills. There are three levels of technology strategies (low, mid and high)
- Visual schedules, object schedules and activity schedules are considered low tech resources (TEACCH program http://www.teacch.com/ ) Students are shown the days’ events or the steps of an activity through pictures, words or by objects. This provides organization and encourages independence while building comprehension.
- Calendars, written/picture directions, rules, wait cards, take your turn cards, help cards or choice boards are also low tech resources that are helpful for organizing the students’ school day, providing alternatives to communicate and to establish understanding.
- The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) http://www.pecs.com/ is a low tech communication system found to be helpful for non-verbal children who understand that pictures, words or objects have meaning and are able to operate a motor system of communication.
- Social Stories http://www.thegraycenter.org/; personal stories using words, pictures or drawings are a great low tech resource for building comprehension and to prepare a student for a challenging social situation.
- High Tech resources are video taping and the use of computers. Touch Window by Edmark, is great resource. Intellikeys by Intellitools http://www.intellitools.com/ offers both hardware and software for academic and communication support. A digital camera and a scanner are also very helpful technology devices.
4) What is the best way for children with ASD to learn?
- Every child learns differently. Different methods, strategies, materials, activities and equipment will need to be integrated to create the unique program that child requires based on their core challenges.
- It is wise to create an environment in which a student learns as independently as possible. Keep a student engaged by selecting high interest, preferred activities, materials and people. Students with ASD need times of structure learning, semi structured learning and child lead learning. Children require an environment that supports the child actively engaged in problem solving.
- I have observed home programs and school programs that do not allow the child to think. All tasks are prepared for them with all materials and equipment at their finger tips. All learning is directed by an adult who chooses the activities and never allows the child to solve any part of the task on their own. I have observed programs that never create an opportunity for the child to make a choice, ask for help or solve a problem on their own.
- Depending on the level of sensory challenge, social communication challenge, motor challenge and cognitive level additional supports will be needed to maximize learning.
- The greater the sensory challenges, the more limited the receptive and expressive language levels and the more restricted a child’s motor planning the more important it is to have a well organized visually and sensory supported environment.
- Environments with smaller student to teacher ratios are generally preferred.
- Allowing time for the student to process incoming information, providing opportunities for motor/sensory breaks and allowing for choices all create a more successful learning environment for students with ASD.
5) Can you suggest activities and resources when trying to integrate children on the spectrum with their typical peers on public school sites?
- The work of Dr. Pamlea Wolfberg is worth exploring http://www.wolfberg.com/IPGModel.html . Dr. Wolfberg is the co-founder of the Autism Institute on Peer Relations and Play-Center and adjunct faculty at San Francisco State University. Her books Play & Imagination in Children with Autism and Peer Play and the Autism Spectrum are worth reviewing for ideas. These books can be obtained at www.asperger.net./amazon.com
- It is always helpful to have older children read biographies written by people on the spectrum. Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin can be purchased at www.FutureHorizons-autism.com or www.amazon.com Songs of the Gorilla nation by Dawn Prince-Huges can be obtained through www.crownpublishing.com or www.amazon.com and Send in the Idiots by Kamran Nazeer can be obtained through www.bloomsbiuryusa.com or www.amazon.com. Finding novels that have characters representing the traits of autism can also be a great resource; Al Capone Does My Shirts www.amazon.com, written by Gennifer Choldenko is a wonderful book and was a New York Times best seller in addition to wining the Newberry Honor. Gennifer had a sister with autism and incorporates her true life experiences with autism in her novels for children.
- I believe it helps when the teacher of the classroom makes every attempt to be a resource to other teachers on his/her site and to offer to come speak with students in other classrooms about the children in his/her special day class.
- If you are on an elementary site, you might think about developing lunch buddies and game day buddies and recess buddies to build integrated play activities in your classroom on the play ground or in the cafeteria.
- You can always look to the older children on your site to become mentors and tutors working with your students a social and leisure and academic tasks.
- I believe that there should be a careful process when integrating a child with ASD into another classroom. It is important to identify a child’s strengths first and to find an activity that the child can join where he or she is going to be successful. If the special need student is successful at computers then find a classroom that he/she can join when they are working on computer activities. If a student is good at science then integrate during science. It is important for both the child with special needs to feel successful and his typical friends to see him/her succeed. Some students have exceptional skills and these too lead to great integration opportunities.
- Prepare your student for integration and prepare the receiving classroom for integration. Some students have a difficult time making transitions. Many students’ anxiety increases due to unclear expectations.
- Make a plan for integration. Perhaps walk by the classroom and look in. Have the student drop something off in the classroom. Have the student meet the teacher several times without having to stay. Find a way to connect one of the typical students with your student before the first day of integration. Explain what is going to happen during the time the student is going to be in the classroom. Use a visual schedule if needed. Increase the time in the classroom over time.
6) How can I support the Para Professional in my classroom?
- Set clear expectations for roles and responsibilities and the outcomes you will be expecting.
- Set specific times for you and your instructional support person to collaborate
- Provide consistent feedback and encouragement
- Determine the most effective way to communicate with each other
- Ensure that the Para Professional feels valued and understands that they are key member of the educational team
- Establish clear and consistent communication expectations in regards to parents. Discuss what information is to be communicated and how that communication is to be delivered to the parent.
- Understand the level of expertise of the Para Professional
- Ensure that the Para Professional understands ASD (social challenges, communication challenges, behavioral challenges, sensory challenges and cognitive challenges)
- The Para Professional is not to assume the teacher’s role but is there to support learning. The teacher should prepare lessons, demonstrate methods and strategies, observe the Para Professional and provide feedback on an ongoing basis.
7) How can I find time to collaborate with all members of a child’s team?
- Due to the complex learning challenges of children with ASD it is imperative that providers come together to share assessment and ongoing information, develop appropriate goals and objectives, communicate the progress and challenges, determine effectiveness of intervention and identify ways to support each other and the family.
- To maximize the chances for collaboration it is helpful to schedule support services on the same day with some overlap. If providers are on the same site at least once a month a meeting can be scheduled.
- I recommend that the entire team get together with the family prior to each IEP meeting to share progress, discuss methods and strategies and develop a shared understanding.
- It is important for each provider to communicate informally with the family and each other monthly on progress. Quarterly progress reports should not only be shared with the parents but with each provider as well. All too often only the families see the progress reports from all providers.
- Some teachers have found that creating a program binder for each student, keeping a communication section going between all providers is helpful. Each provider can glance through the communication log to see progress and challenges. The teacher can update a student’s schedule and deliver important information coming from the family.
- During parent conference weeks have instructional aides and providers join so information can be communicated consistently.
- Set up confidential group email conferences with the child’s team and keep all members up to date.
- Designate a case manager for the team and make sure the case manager sees that the circles of communication between providers is maintained.
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