At Visalia Unified School District, students with autism are being educated under a new program that administrators say increases attention on language development, behavioral and social skills, and academics. Instead of being placed in special day classes with students of varying intellectual challenges at schools throughout the district, they’re attending a single school and being taught in classrooms composed only of students on the autism spectrum. About 60 students, preschool through sixth grade, are enrolled in the Collaborative Autism Partnerships program established two years ago at Veva Blunt Elementary. “It’s a school within a school,” Assistant Superintendent Doug Bartsch said. “They are in a separate program, but they can wear the Veva Blunt Rockets shirts with pride,” said Serena Rodriguez, a teacher on special assignment. Introduction To Public Policy Wheelan Pdf Free.
Students join general education students for lunch and assembly. Fourth- through sixth-graders also go to physical education and music class with general education students. Some students participate in after-school activities such as track club and the Pro-Youth/Heart program. Although currently an option only for elementary grades, a similar program will be launched this year at both a middle school and high school yet to be named. Autism spectrum disorder involves difficulty in social interaction and communication, and many engage in repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping or rocking. The district started Collaborative Autism Partnerships as part of an overall restructuring of special education instruction.
The program has five teachers, a speech therapist, school psychologist, occupational therapy assistant, instructional aides and a teacher on special assignment to coordinate services. The staff-to-student ratio is about 1-to-3. Currently, each class has eight to 12 students. Typically, there is one teacher and two aides. Student Kevin O’Leary, 10, a fourth-grader, has autism. At recess, he can be found at the playground swings. He also has the ability to quickly identify the year and make of cars on the road.
His mother, Mary Jarvis, said the program is helping her son progress. “I like that my child is surrounded by peers that face similar struggles like he does,” she said. “They are mainstreamed into things like P.E. And music so they are exposed to typically developing children. It’s important that he’s surrounded by people who are positive examples.” Administrators say they want the program to help students with autism move into regular education classrooms whenever possible.
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Thunderpants Movie Trailer. “The goal is to transition as many as possible to their home school site,” said Michel Lambert, a Visalia Unified principal whose duties include overseeing the Collaborative Autism Partnerships program. In the past year and a half, six students have gone to their home school and a less restrictive learning environment, he said. That is in keeping with the the California Department of Education’s goal of breaking down walls between special needs and general education students, so those with special needs can be better educated and better integrated into the community.