(A photo of the teacher and educational assistant in the Autism Spectrum Disorder class. Photos: Stittsville Central)
South Carleton High School has a specialized program for students who are high on the autism spectrum. Students join a class that focuses on each of their specific needs to help them learn as much as possible from school. This program allows for schools to keep their students until the age of 21 and has a cap of six students per class.
At South Carleton, the Autism Spectrum Disorder class’s routine starts off with breakfast in the mornings. Each student makes their own meal, whether that be toast or cereal. This gives an opportunity for students to receive any one on one help they might need with making breakfast. This help might not be as readily available at home if they have other siblings or have busy mornings. Making breakfast and learning table manners are valuable skills that are so important for students such as these to learn and ASD classes help facilitate that.
Following breakfast, students participate in a game. This teaches taking turns, communications and patience amongst peers. Students in the ASD class don’t have the same sense of patience or communication skills as you and I. Games help teach all of these necessary skills.
Once high school students graduate they usually start down a career path or get a job. This is still the case for some of the students in the ASD program. In their morning routine, select students put on a uniform and collect all of the recycling around the school. This helps teach students how to quietly and slowly walk through the hallways as well as gives them pre-work experience. Putting on a uniform and being given responsibilities provides an amazing and valuable experience that can be applied in their future endeavors.
After a body break, math and literacy lessons begin. It depends on the day, but usually an hour is given for either math or literacy. It’s important to give lessons in smaller, manageable chunks to allow for as much processing as possible. If these students were being taught lessons at the same pace I receive, processing and retaining information would be even more of a struggle. Math lessons focus most of their attention on money and how to use it. Literacy lessons focus on reading skills and comprehension.
South Carleton’s ASD class uses the service news2you for all of their stories. News2you includes pictures to help students better understand what they’re reading. Students each take turns repeating words of the story after their teacher. A lot of these students cannot or struggle to communicate their words and feelings so this exercise helps build those speech muscles. Once the story portion is completed, sheet work is handed out. This is one of the many areas where each student gets a very personal experience. Since the students are all at different levels and require varying levels of assistance to complete their work, each student is assigned a different sheet. Some trace letters while others might be forming sentences.
Especially after substantial lessons like this, neuro-divergent students need what teachers call body breaks. This is when the students get to go outside and walk the track. People on the spectrum need time to work out their energy and move their bodies. These students will never be expected to stay seated all day. They are given the space to move around both in and out of the classroom.
Snack times are also built into and allowed throughout the daily routine. For similar reasons to breakfast and following the same logic, lunch time is also an opportunity to learn. Knowing to push down the toaster and table manners can be a learning curve for people on the spectrum.
When the lunch hour is over on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the ASD classroom offers a service called coffee cart. Teachers pay a monthly fee for their choice of coffee or tea and from time to time a special sweet treat. On coffee cart days, students take turns making and delivering coffee to staff. This teaches patience while waiting for teachers to get their mugs as well as flexibility. Flexibility can be a huge obstacle for these students. It’s of such benefit to them that they learn to be flexible in school with the help of professionals. Coffee cart is another example of pre-work experience to help bridge that gap between high school and the work force.
Fine motor skills are the order of the day once the coffee cart deliveries are completed. Some students participate in arts and crafts, while others bake. Some students may require more hands-on help during activities like these while others may work more independently. Fine motor skills will help with writing and simple hand function. Cooking lessons are another example of how teachers help the students develop life skills. One student cracked the eggs and mixed the batter while another formed the cookies, once again to help build up that hand strength and team work. The students are then given another body break.
On days when the coffee cart is not in operation on Tuesday and Thursday, fine motor skills take up more of the afternoon time. Starting in November, students go swimming and skating on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One of the biggest dangers to people on the spectrum is drowning. By helping teach students to swim every week from November to April, South Carleton helps minimize this risk.
Skating and swimming lessons aren’t the only field trips this class goes on. They also frequently take community walks learning to stop at crosswalks, the importance of staying on a sidewalk and how to treat people and animals walking on the street.
South Carleton also has what they call integration field trips and reverse integration. In this context integration has the ASD students mingle and join with the mainstream program students. Their integration field trips are things like joining a class for gym one day or meeting the kids in the daycare at South. Reverse integration happens every Friday which the teachers call Fridays with Friends. During Fridays with Friends, students from Parenting classes can come and make a bracelet or just hang out with ASD students. These field trips help as mainstream students learn about ASD classes and helps the ASD class students get used to being around other students.
By the end of a long school day everyone is tired so the students play a game. Music-driven games are enjoyed by every single student, so teachers and students alike play a kahoot. Kahoot is a multiple choice selection game that can be about anything you’d like. In the ASD class they choose to play kahoot where you pick what you think the title of a song is. This once again pushes for that participation and patience.
Although routine is important especially for ASD students, good days and bad days still exist. In the South Carleton ASD classroom, they have an entirely separate space available for their students to take some time to themselves whenever they like. This gives them a space where they can self-regulate and calm themselves down. Outside parties will likely never be able to fully understand what goes on inside the heads of neuro-divergent individuals. By giving these students the space to calm down, it pushes home that independence.
South Carleton High School’s ASD program is of great benefit to all of the students requiring this program. Teachers can constantly work one-on-one with students and help each individual excel in their education. If you or a loved one have a child who is high on the spectrum, specialized ASD classes might be the route for you to consider.
This sounds like a wonderful program. Great article!