Autism Therapy: public school

definition of public school: Type of school that is funded by the United States government and free to children in the United States.

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Principals’ Attitudes Regarding Inclusion of Children with Autism in Pennsylvania Public Schools
J Autism Dev Disord, by Horrocks, JL, White G., and Roberts L., published in 2008, summarized Nov 24, 2008

School principals who believe that children with autism can be included in a regular classroom are more likely to include them in a regular classroom.

This study was designed to measure how school principals feel about inclusion of students with autism in the classroom. Principals with the most experience were the least likely to support inclusion. Principals who had personal experience with autism were no more likely to support inclusion. Principals with formal training in special education were more likely to support inclusion. The authors suggest that principals need to have more knowledge of autism and the role of inclusion in the lives of children with autism.


States Increasingly Mandate Special Autism Services
Managed Care, by Reinke, T., published in 2008, summarized Nov 17, 2008

Many states are seeking to follow the lead of Pennsylvania and Louisiana and expand private health insurance coverage for autism services.

This article discusses who should pay for autism treatments. Under the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), early intervention and special education programs must provide services to children with autism. This will be a large cost if health insurance has to pay the bill for services offered in public schools. The concern is that the cost of health insurance will go up so much that small businesses will no longer be able to afford health insurance. The hope is that more and more children will be able to shed the autism diagnosis by age 8.


Autism Treatment Survey: Services Received by Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Public School Classrooms
J Autism Dev Disord, by Hess, KL, Morrier MJ, Heflin LJ, and Ivey ML, published in 2008, summarized Jul 30, 2008

The top five autism therapies used in the Georgia public schools are: Gentle Teaching, sensory integration, cognitive behavioral modification, assistive technology, and Social Stories.

This article reports the results of a survey performed to find out the types of treatments, therapies, and interventions used by teachers working with students with autism in Georgia's public schools. The therapies differed by grade level and classroom type. The authors found that fewer than 10% of the therapies used with students with autism in Georgia public schools are based on scientific evidence. They propose that teaches may be wasting time and funds on treatments that may not work. About 40% of the therapies used by the teachers were not even mentioned in a 2005 review of autism therapies.


Applied Behavior Analysis: Beyond Discrete Trial Teaching
Psychology in the Schools, by Steege, MW, and Mace FC, published in 2007, summarized Jul 3, 2007

Parents need to look carefully to make sure that their children are receiving true Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy from public schools.

Many public schools use an autism-specific ABA program. These programs may be called ABA, but the teachers really only spend 45 minutes per day doing ABA. This is much less than the 25-40 hours per week of ABA therapy that should make up a real ABA program. The authors wrote this article to define ABA therapy and describe what ABA therapy should look like in the school system. The authors note that many programs that are called ABA are really just discrete trial training (DTT) and not as good for treating autism as a real ABA program.


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Madison Schools Set Example for Inclusion of Kids with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

Aug 2, 2010

Families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities have moved to Madison Wisconsin for the inclusionary nature of the public school system. The Moss family moved from Tennessee so that their son Garner could be integrated into general education classrooms. Now 17, Garner no longer requires an aide, is on the swim and cross-country sports teams, and is taking English, Chemistry and Personal Finance classes. John Harper, who oversees special education in Madison says, “. . . 88 percent of elementary students with disabilities were fully included in classes, along with 81 percent of middle school students and 63 percent of high school students. Most of the rest have a mix of general and special education classes; fewer than 5 percent are separate.” David Riley of the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaboration agrees with Madison’s policies and cites schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., and Clark County, Nevada as being inclusive.

Read original article: A School District That Takes the Isolation Out of Autism


Arizona State University Offers Speech and Language Certificate Program to Fill a Need for Therapists in Public Schools

Jul 26, 2010

In Arizona, as in a number of states, the children with autism and special needs require more speech and language pathologists than are available. Arizona State University’s (ASU) Speech and Hearing Department is implementing a program that grants certification to its undergraduates – Speech and Language Pathologist Assistants (SLPA). SLPAs will be allowed to work in the classroom while supervised by a fully qualified speech pathologist. The hopes are that the SLPAs will eventually get their masters degree and become fully licensed. ASU students are eager to begin working with children in schools, hositals, and clinics. Cathy Bacon, a clinical associate professor in the program states “Our undergraduate program already provides a rigorous basic scientific background to understand the fundamental processes and disorders and disease of speech, language and hearing. This certificate program will provide clinical training and coursework to allow undergrads to practice in the field prior to pursuing a master’s degree.”

Read original article: Speech Certification Program Addresses State Shortage


A Sixth-Grader Talks About His Asperger's

Sep 25, 2009

Paul is a Madison, Wisconsin sixth-grader, who happens to have Asperger's Syndrome. His speech-language pathologist, Penny Bright, of Mind Matters Clinics, has worked with him during the last couple of school years. She explains that many of the interventions that have helped Paul gain communication and socials skills include Berard Auditory Integration Training (AIT), and Fast ForWord®, along with speech therapy. Paul says that he has had his ups and downs at school; he found elementary school to be easy, but a year at a French Montessori school to be a bit more difficult. He especially liked the format where he could learn at his own speed and learn from others. Public school has been harder for him because of issues like bullies, and kids who don't understand him. He likes doing computer work and other tasks alone, but is afraid of not fitting into a group of friends again. He hopes someday to be as talented as he feels his university-teaching parents are.

Read original article.


Egyptian Ministry of Education Works to Mainstream Children with Autism

Sep 7, 2009

The Egyptian Ministry of Education (MOE) hopes to have 10% of children with autism and other special needs mainstreamed into public schools by 2012. In order to reach this goal, the MOE is hard at work training teachers and psychologists and preparing schools for the physical changes they will need to make to accommodate special needs students. The program will be rolled out in phases as schools are ready; the MOE hopes to have 500 private and public schools prepared to pilot the program this upcoming school year. There are currently some good private schools, but often times they are too expensive for most families with special needs kids. Dream Ideal Education School is a boarding school based on a Canadian model that offers life skills training along with academics for children with disabilities. Another private school, The Baby Academy, does not differentiate between children with special needs and their peers. Mainstreamed schooling is critical in Egypt because of the nearly 2 million children with special needs, only 1.8% of them are being reached.

Read original article.


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Please comment on this autism topic.

Public school systems - Chicago suburbs

Mar 11, 2009 by Anonymous

Which public school system has the best special education department for autistic kids?  Any input would be appreciated.


Any suggestions

Aug 31, 2008 by Anonymous

 My son is 9 y/o & in 4th grade in public school. He is in mainstream class with spec ed 1hr/day, specch 30 min/wk, & OT 30 min/wk. We take him to a behaviorist regularly, he is on meds for tx of symptoms.  I have heard of others using fish oil & other supplements. Do these work? Also, we feel at a loss of what to do further to help him. He still has a lot of social & behavioral issues. Thanks, Niki


speech therapy

Jun 20, 2007 by Anonymous

My eleven year son has low functioning Autism.  He is non-verbal.  He attends public school in a special education center.  He is recieving only 1/2 hour of speech a week with three other students in his classroom.  I have been fighting to get him more speech and to have him get one-on-one speech.  Can some one point me in to the right direction of where to find research studies that I can bring to his IEP to support my claim that he is not getting the services he needs or what approach should be used with him? 


Speech Therapy

Jun 20, 2007 by Anonymous

My eleven year son has low functioning Autism.  He is non-verbal.  He attends public school in a special education center.  He is recieving only 1/2 hour of speech a week with three other students in his classroom.  I have been fighting to get him more speech and to have him get one-on-one speech.  Can some one point me in to the right direction of where to find research studies that I can bring to his IEP to support my claim that he is not getting the services he needs or what approach should be used with him? 


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Please comment on public school or other autism therapy topics.

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