Autism Therapy: school

definition of school: Type of school that is supported through government funds.

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JVME, by Burrows, KE, and Adams CL, published in 2009, summarized Aug 31, 2010

Service dogs may be a friend to a child with autism and help keep the child safe, but the family with the dog needs the support of a good veterinarian.

The purpose of this study was to learn from families what it is like to have a service dog to support a child with autism. Each family must find its own way to bring a service dog into the family. The authors found that the troubles with service dogs may offset the good of having a service dog. The authors suggest that veterinarians look at the results of this study so that they can better help the owners of service dogs. Veterinary schools can teach veterinarians how to learn what needs to be known about families who want service dogs.


J Autism Dev Disord, by Gibson, JA, Grey IM, and Hastings RP, published in 2009, summarized Aug 19, 2010

Regular and high quality supervision of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists may improve the success of ABA intervention.

The focus of this study was on how ABA therapists feel about their work. The survey, of 81 therapists working in ABA schools, found that the therapists who were the most happy had the most support from their bosses. The therapists who received the most support from their bosses also felt that they were doing the best job with the students. The best bosses were those who showed empathy for the therapists and who had a style that rewarded the good choices of the therapists. The study was performed in Ireland, but the authors note that it did not include all ABA therapists in Ireland.


Behavior Change, by Carre, AJM, Le Grice B., Blampied NM, and Walker D., published in 2009, summarized Jul 13, 2010

Picture Exchange Communication (PECS) may be easily taught to children with autism, but it may be hard to teach the children to generalize PECS requests outside of therapy sessions and into school and home.

This study focused on the extent to which PECS training transfers to the classroom and home. The three children in the study (5-6 years old) learned PECS quickly. The children did not make many PECS requests outside of the therapy session. The child who had the most PECS training was also the child who made the most PECS requests in school. The authors suggest that it may be important to have trained PECS communication partners in the school and home in order to get the child to use PECS in different settings.


Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Hutzler, Y., and Margalit M., published in 2009, summarized Jun 22, 2010

Students with autism benefit from being included in a mainstream physical education class.

Most people believe that having children with autism in a normal classroom does not slow down neurotypical students, but few studies have looked at this issue. The main purpose of this study was to see how seven junior-high school students with autism learned field hockey skills within a normal classroom. The study also looked to see if the fact that the students with autism were in a normal classroom somehow slowed down the other students in the classroom. The authors noted that the students with autism acquired skills more slowly than neurotypical students. The students with autism did acquire skills more quickly, though, when they were in a normal classroom and their presence did not slow down the neurotypical students.


The Berkeley School District in South Carolina received grant money from the South Carolina School for Exceptional Children specifically to upgrade programs for students with autism. Uses for the money include training for teachers in the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), transition services for children moving from elementary school into middle school, and a job awareness and community connection program for older students with mild to moderate mental disabilities. Dr. Karen Whitley, Chief Academic Officer for the school district said, “Special educators will receive training on 11 effective treatment practices and data collection procedures for children with ASD’s. . . . In addition, parents of Berkeley County youth with autism can receive training on facilitating effective home and school partnerships.”

Read original article: School District Awarded $196,000 in Grants


Swabodhini, a school for children with autism and other developmental and physical disabilities, recently celebrated the first anniversary of its grocery store, Swayam, run by the students. The school started with two rooms in 1989, in India, and now is a two-story, multi-function therapy center. Swabodhini's mission is to "cater to those with autism, cognitive disability, attention deficit disorder, Down's syndrome and children with delayed development, all aged between three and 25." Treatment begins with an individual education program (IEP) for each student and includes therapies such as occupational therapy, behavior management, yoga, computer training, and experiential learning. Once students reach the age of 15, they receive vocational training as well. As part of the training, Swayam was started, and along with groceries, sells stationery and copying services.

Read original article: Celebrating Agency


Nana Kojo, father of a son with autism, and 13 others created the Autism Foundation of Ghana to help support children with autism. Currently there is one school in Ghana, Autism Awareness, Care, and Training Centre, that specializes in care and therapy for kids with autism. Kojo and others would like to see a special education teacher provided for every school in Ghana, but there currently are not funds for this. Part the lack of money is because of lack of awareness of autism in the country. Steven Adu, the Director of Ghana Education Service’s Basic Education Division, explains, “that awareness is important if autistic children are going to get the help they need. The more people know about autism, the more they’ll pressure their MPs to provide funding my department needs to give autistic children special care.”

Read original article: Autism in Ghana: A Parent's Perspective


A group of kids with autism in Brownsville, Texas got some practice navigating their new school before the school year started. Their teacher helped with social stories and videos on a Flip video camera of the new school. In the spring, the children and their parents went to the new school late in the afternoon when it was quiet and calm. The children and their parents were allowed to visit the school over the summer as well. Other ideas to help children make the transition include driving the route to the new school, making a calendar with changing activities as the summer ends, pictures of school supplies, and beginning the fall schedule of school, homework, and bedtime.

Read original article: Beginning a New School Year For Children with Autism



Please comment on this autism topic.

Responding to rebound therapy

Jul 24, 2010 by Anonymous

The phrase "Rebound Therapy" was coined by the founder, Eddy Anderson MCSP, Cert Ed, in 1969 to describe the use of the moving surface (bed) of a trampoline in order to provide therapeutic exercise and recreation for people with a wide range of special needs.


Rebound Therapy is used to facilitate movement, to promote balance, to increase or decrease muscle tone, and to aid relaxation and sensory integration. It is also used to improve fitness and exercise tolerance and to improve communication skills


It is popular in special needs schools and is becoming increasingly popular in mainstream schools with a special needs unit; partly because the trampoline is a piece of apparatus that virtually all people, regardless of their abilities, can access, benefit from and enjoy. 


The UK body for Rebound Therapy is “Rebound Therapy dot org” who state that in addition to the benefits listed above, it is an ideal vehicle for cross curricular teaching activity; with the potential for teaching such things as numeracy, colour recognition, positioning (left, right, backwards, forwards, clockwise and anticlockwise), communication, social awareness and consideration of others.


They further state that the unique properties of the trampoline offer ample opportunities for everybody to enhance movement patterns.


The work is intrinsically motivating and enjoyable and returns high value in therapeutic terms for the time and the effort involved.


The fact that the activity is so enjoyable can enable it to be used as a motivational aid to learn. Many teachers also report increased concentration and willingness to learn in the classroom following a Rebound session. 


“Rebound Therapy dot org” are responsible for the development and provision of certificated staff training courses for schools and centres throughout the UK.


The courses have received approved status from the Professional Development Board for Physical Education which is supported by afPE.


More information about Rebound Therapy and staff training courses can be found on their website: www.ReboundTherapy.org


Their email address is: info@ReboundTherapy.org and telephone no is 01342 870543


A month or so ago, I noticed my 3-year old mild to moderately diagnosed autistic grandson picking up books (albeit upside down) and pretending to read - I suspect he was mirroring what he understood in his special school pre-school class. One problem with Aidan and books is that after a few seconds, he's finished with the mock reading, and may tear them up during play.

I bought some muslin, cut it into approximately  5" x 7" pieces, folded the edges over, stitched them down (to prevent fraying), then added a button hole in the top left corner of each.  I gathered family pictures, and using Publisher, reversed them horizontally, added names (Aidan, Mom, Dad, Grady, Nana, etc.) also reversed, put four pictures w/names on a page, and printed to iron-on t-shirt transfers.  After cutting them apart, I ironed one picture w/name on each muslin page, and attached all via a piece of tulle ribbon (strong), knotted tightly. I had originally thought of a metal key ring, but nixed that because it'd be too hard to thread and secondly, because it could accidentally hurt someone if hurled. 

I had enough pages to add "action pictures" of Aidan getting a haircut, riding a horse, jumping, eating, and the very last page was one with him going "night-night". 

Aidan has a limited and reluctant vocabulary, but as he flipped through the pages with me while I said each name, he repeated most of them. He can also throw, bend, and generally play with the book and it won't break and is washable. 

And I've just ordered Look Who Is Coming for Aidan, and may order more for other grandchildren w/out autism. I applaud the authors.


A month or so ago, I noticed my 3-year old mild to moderately diagnosed autistic grandson picking up books (albeit upside down) and pretending to read - I suspect he was mirroring what he understood in his special school pre-school class. One problem with Aidan and books is that after a few seconds, he's finished with the mock reading, and may tear them up during play.

I bought some muslin, cut it into approximately  5" x 7" pieces, folded the edges over, stitched them down (to prevent fraying), then added a button hole in the top left corner of each.  I gathered family pictures, and using Publisher, reversed them horizontally, added names (Aidan, Mom, Dad, Grady, Nana, etc.) also reversed, put four pictures w/names on a page, and printed to iron-on t-shirt transfers.  After cutting them apart, I ironed one picture w/name on each muslin page, and attached all via a piece of tulle ribbon (strong), knotted tightly. I had originally thought of a metal key ring, but nixed that because it'd be too hard to thread and secondly, because it could accidentally hurt someone if hurled. 

I had enough pages to add "action pictures" of Aidan getting a haircut, riding a horse, jumping, eating, and the very last page was one with him going "night-night". 

Aidan has a limited and reluctant vocabulary, but as he flipped through the pages with me while I said each name, he repeated most of them. He can also throw, bend, and generally play with the book and it won't break and is washable. 

And I've just ordered Look Who Is Coming for Aidan, and may order more for other grandchildren w/out autism. I applaud the authors.


Responding to recess:

Apr 9, 2010 by Anonymous

I have found that many school teachers and administrators are taking away recess as a consequence to excessive "behavior" or meltdowns or difficulty with non structured time.  Most kids really need their recess.  Any studies or articles on it?



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