Educating Students on the Autism Spectrum: Individuals With Disabilities Act (continued)

Frequent communication between parents and teachers is essential to helping the child generalize what is learned in school and at home to other settings. Often parents and teachers will communicate daily through a notebook that the student carries to school and back home each day. Monthly or more frequent meetings to troubleshoot problems and to evaluate the current program and goals may be necessary, too. Ideally, these meetings should include all parties involved in the creation of the child’s IEP. The team should consider exchanging telephone
numbers and e-mail addresses to make communication more immediate and efficient.

Failure is certain when the child with the disability is placed within the regular education setting with no backup support, no specialized training of the teachers, and no education of the classmates (Gresham, 1982).

Key Elements to Create an Appropriate Educational Environment for Students with ASD

• A teacher who sets high expectations for the child and who encourages peer interaction and mentoring
  as appropriate.
• Special and regular educators who collaborate in instruction and who have a sense of ownership in the process
• Individualized instruction with decisions based on careful collection and analysis of data focused on measurable
  goals and behaviors
• Special services are brought into the classroom to facilitate generalization and to prevent stigmatization
• A collaborative team approach -including regular and special educators, school administrators, supplemental school personnel, and parents or guardians -is employed to set goals and to evaluate progress of the IEP
• An assumption that all children can acquire skills if instruction is modified to help the child succeed
• Adapting the school environment by extending school hours or the school year and coordinating with home caregivers.

References

Goldstein, H., & Ferrell, D. (1987). Augmenting communicative interaction between handicapped and non-handicapped preschool children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 52, 200-122.

Goldstein, H., & Wiskstrom, S. (1986). Peer intervention effects on communicative interaction among handicapped and nonhandicapped preschoolers. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 19(2), 209-214.

Grandin, T. (1988). Teaching tips from a recovered autistic. Focus on Autistic Behavior; 1, 1-8.

Gray, C. (1995). Teaching Children with Autism to “Read” Social Situations. In K.A. Quill (Ed.), Teaching Children with Autism: Strategies to Enhance Communication and Socialization (pp. 219-241). Albany, NY:Delmar Publishers.

Gray, C., & Garand, J. (1993). Social stories: Improving responses of students with autism with accurate social information. Focus on Autistic Behavior; 8, 1-10.

Gresham, F. (1982). Misguided mainstreaming: The case for social skills training with handicapped children [abstract]. Exceptional Children, 48.

Harris, S.l. (1994). Siblings of Children with Autism: A Guide for Families. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House.