County Office of Ed hosts training workshops for teachers,
administrators and parents
The San Benito County Office of Education Special Education
Local Plan Area hosted the first of six full-day workshops last
week for teachers, administrators and parents who work with
children who have an autism spectrum disorder.
The workshops cover a wide area of topics from trends in state
and national standards regarding autism education to classroom
management to a list of established practices for working with
students with an autism spectrum disorder. ASD includes autism,
Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive development disorder, not
otherwise specified.
County Office of Ed hosts training workshops for teachers, administrators and parents
The San Benito County Office of Education Special Education Local Plan Area hosted the first of six full-day workshops last week for teachers, administrators and parents who work with children who have an autism spectrum disorder.
The workshops cover a wide area of topics from trends in state and national standards regarding autism education to classroom management to a list of established practices for working with students with an autism spectrum disorder. ASD includes autism, Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive development disorder, not otherwise specified.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 110 children born in 1998 was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder by 2006.
“More people than ever before are being diagnosed with an ASD,” according to a page on the CDC Web site. “It is unclear how much of this increase is due to a broader definition of ASDs and better efforts in diagnosis. However, a true increase in the number of people with an ASD cannot be ruled out. We believe the increase in ASD is possibly due to a combination of these factors.”
One thing that is clear is that the need for teachers, administrators and parents to understand how to work with autistic children is increasing as the number of diagnoses goes up.
According to the California Department of Special Education, in 2008-09, more than 53,000 students ages 3 to 22 were receiving services for autism. That is up from 20,000 in 2002.
Training for teachers
Ann England, the assistant director of the Diagnostic Center in Northern California, presented information about the evolution of state and national standards, research on established practices and some background on working with children who are diagnosed with ASD.
The Diagnostic Center, of Northern California, in Fremont services 35 counties and 500 school districts by offering free training, workshops such as the March 4 meeting and diagnosing children.
England served on the California Legislative Bleu Ribbon Commission on Autism and is a consultant to the California Superintendent’s Autism Advisory Committee.
“Parents went and said [the state] was not doing enough for autism,” she said. “So they created the task force to document what is the problem and what should we know about it. And what public policy should change or be added to deal with the problem. And it can’t cost any money.”
One of the major problems identified by the blue-ribbon commission was that parents of younger children were getting plenty of services, but once the students enrolled in public schools full-time they had to undergo another assessment by the schools so services were interrupted. The recommendation is to have the regional diagnostic centers work more closely with the schools so that an additional assessment is not needed.
Another recommendation was for teachers working with children who have ASD to get a moderate to sever credential to better equip them to deal handle students with a wide variety of behaviors.
“We all know now we have kids with a broad spectrum from mild to moderate in the classroom,” England said. “Teachers say they don’t have the training.”
Legislators approved the credential requirement, and teachers who have a student with ASD in the classroom have three years to complete the 12-14 units to be a qualified teacher. It was announced in October and England said, “That clock is ticking now.”
“We are starting to look at a way to satisfy those requirements,” said Chris Lompa, a program specialist with San Benito County’s SELPA.
England is also working as a trainer at the National Professional Development Center on ASD-Interagency Autism Planning Group at the University of California, Davis MIND Institute, which will be creating model programs for students with ASD in Folsom-Cordova. Teachers and administrators from other sites will be able to visit the model programs to learn what they can do in their own districts.
“To take that stuff and implement it in your classroom with real students is hard,” England said.
Early diagnosis
England said that searching for information on autism can be a bit overwhelming.
“2,220,000 results come up when you google autism treatment,” she said. “I’m going to funnel it down for you.”
One of the issues with autism is that scientists are still not clear on what causes the developmental disorders, which can include communication and social deficits as well as fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.
“Most studies suggest a genetic link,” England said. “And males are four to five times more likely to have it.”
One thing that most experts agree on is that early identification and intervention improves outcomes for children.
“Usually by age 3” parents can tell that something is a little different, but the median age of diagnosis is 4 ½ to 5 ½ years old. Medical professionals involved in state planning suggested that pediatricians do a check at 12 months and 18 months.
England said the early diagnosis will be classified as provisional and the children will be seen every six months.
“Kids are unique,” she said. “They may have a cognitive impairment. They may have Fragile X. Parents talk about the early years, and feeling jerked around.”
She said the best diagnosis is one that includes the collaboration of a variety of experts such as a psychologist, a speech pathologist, neurologist and others. The child should be observed in an unstructured environment with peers as well as in a structured environment. There also need to be extensive interviews with parents.
As many as 40 percent of children with autism do not talk. Some have cognitive impairments as well.
“No single intervention or approach has proven to be effective for every individual with ASD,” England said.
Established treatments
The National Autism Center released the National Standards Report in Sept. 2009, in which they reviewed more than 775 published research studies for people with autism under the age of 22. The team looked at the methods for the study, how many individuals were studied and whether or not other studies were able to replicate the finding.
In the end, they came up with 11 established treatments, 22 emerging treatments that need more research and five unestablished treatments.
“The bottom line is it was good research that was replicated and had beneficial results,” said England, of the established treatments.
Some of the practices that have been found to work include using schedules with the students, modeling, pivotal response treatment and self-management.
She also stressed that teachers, administrators and parents can download a copy of the National Standards Project, which includes easy to understand summaries of each intervention that will show what deficits are addressed, with which age group the intervention is most beneficial and what whether it is best used with children with mild to severe autism. England said the report also includes information about the studies cited and she encouraged people to go back to the original studies.
Her key advice to those present was simple:
“Don’t fight the autism.”
