Education Resources

While there is no known cure for Autism Spectrum Disorder, there are treatment and education approaches that can address some of the challenges associated with the condition. Intervention can help to lessen disruptive behaviors, and education can teach self-help skills for greater independence.

Individual Education Plan (IEP)

The Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is a written document tailored for children with autism and children with certain other disabilities, that outlines their education. The purpose of an IEP is to meet a child's specific special education needs. It sets goals and objectives and describes what services a child will receive as part of his or her special education program.An IEP for a child with ASD might contain goals like Academic, Social, Behavioral and Motor.

Educational Placement

Educational placement options include the general education setting, special education placement, self-contained educational placement, and out-of-district placement. It is helpful to understand the types of placements that exist and how they work so that you can better participate in your team's discussion. Students with disabilities served in each of six different educational environments:

  • Regular classroom in a neighborhood school

  • Resource room

  • Special Education classes

  • A self-contained class in a general education school

  • Public or Private  school

  • Residential facility

  • Homebound/hospital placements.

Diploma vs. Certificate Bound

When making the tough decision on whether to choose the Diploma or Certificate track there are a few important factors to consider.The difference between certificate and a diploma when a student exits High School is:

Ø  Both a High School of Diploma and Certificate of Completion  allow students to participate in the high school graduation ceremony.

Ø  The Diploma track is the standard curriculum in general education. It has set courses (math, English, science, foreign language etc.) which all students are required to take.  

Ø  Graduation with Certificate is based upon the student opting out of the Diploma track for an “Alternative Curriculum”.  When a child in enrolled in “Alternative Curriculum”  the IEP team has flexibility to schedule  classes based on a student’s individual needs, which can include Community Based Instruction (CBI)

 

Placement Options:

General Education

In the general education setting (also known as “inclusion class” or “mainstream placement”), a student is in a regular class with their grade-level peers. In this scenario, the general and special education teacher should work together to develop accommodations and modifications to provide the student with access to the general education curriculum. While in the general education setting, the student may receive instruction from the general or special education teacher or may receive assistance from a paraprofessional if designated in the IEP.

When a general education placement is the best match for a student’s needs, the student participates in a more complex, natural setting that affords almost continuous opportunities for generalization—that is, applying new skills to different people, environments, and settings—which is critical for students with autism. When appropriate, related services such as OT, PT, and SLP may be provided. These services will be determined by the IEP team and documented in the IEP.

Special Education

Students whose educational needs cannot be adequately met in the general education setting may require specialized attention in a more controlled setting. In such a case, students complete grade-level work in targeted subject areas in a setting frequently called the Resource Room. In the Resource Room, a special education teacher works with a small group of students and utilizes instructional methods that will foster meaningful progress for those students. Related services may be provided in the Resource Room setting or a different room outside of the general education environment. Different students require different amounts of time in the Resource Room, and the IEP will designate what percentage of a student’s school day should be in the Resource Room and what percentage in General Education.

Out of District Placement

While a self-contained educational placement may require a student to go to a school outside your neighborhood, an out-of-district educational placement places a student in a specialized school specifically designed to address targeted areas: specific disability groups, special types of learning needs, special behavioral or emotional needs, and/or some combination of these. When an out-of-district placement is the best match for a student, that student typically has access to highly specialized educational programming in the presence of structure, routine, and consistency. However, similar to a self-contained educational placement, generalization must be carefully considered and access to the “general” population by the school can be limited or nonexistent.

Self Contained Placement

Placement in a self-contained classroom means that the student is removed from the general education population for all academic subjects to work in a small, controlled setting with a special education teacher and paraprofessionals. Students in a self-contained class work at various academic levels with different textbooks and curricula, using a variety of research based teaching strategies and materials. While some students continue to access some general education settings (e.g., lunchroom, recess, and/or special classes like art, music, and library), other students are “100% self-contained,” meaning that they are never, or very rarely, included in the general education setting. Some self-contained educational placements require a student to go to a school outside your neighborhood.

For a student who has autism and whose team has determined partial inclusion in settings that include so-called “specials” and recess, the inclusion must be carefully planned. For example, the lunchroom is one of the most problematic settings in the school for many students with autism due to their primary impairment in social skills. Therefore, occasions when they may be included for social participation need as much planning and support as might be required for inclusion in an academic period of the school day.