Teachers Focus On Helping Kids With Autism Develop
The Autism News | English
Students at Westwood Intermediate School come to Kristin Anderson’s room for extra help with things like social skills.
Click here to watch: Helping Children With Autism Develop
By Maya Nishikawa | WCCO (CBS)
According to the Centers for Disease Control about one in 110 children have some form of the disorder. That’s a jump from the one in 150 kids the CDC used to use as a guideline. They think the jump is in part due to better diagnosis and recording of kids with Autism.
With more children identified with autism spectrum disorders, there is more demand for special education services. In Minnesota, there’s an effort not just to provide special education, but to raise the bar.
Students at Westwood Intermediate School come to Kristin Anderson’s room for extra help with things like social skills. Anderson is an Autism teacher, though she didn’t start out with that intention. This job came along and she’s learned to employ a lot of different strategies to help her students with Autism Spectrum Disorders or ASD.
“They have a very different learning style. So, just figuring out how they learn best is one of the key things. And there’s constantly different things that come up,” said Anderson.
Although there is a growing need to teach kids with ASD, the state does not require specific training to teach these students. There is an effort underway to change that. The state board of teaching is working on creating an Autism teaching license. This plan began a couple of years ago at the urging of the Autism Society of Minnesota. Teachers earning the license would get specialized training.
“The preparation would be very targeted to meeting the needs of ASD kids. And it’s similar to what we do in eight other special education areas right now,” explained Karen Balmer, Executive Director of the Board of Teaching.
The hope is more teachers like Anderson will step up. She’s glad she did.
“They really, really just touch your heart. The things they say, and the relationship you build with them. They let you know that you’re somebody they can trust. It’s very rewarding.”
Eventually, the state would require teachers working with students with ASD to have an Autism license.
The earliest the state might start issuing the licenses would be the fall of 2011 and then there might be some phasing-in time as teachers get the training they need.
Source: http://wcco.com/health/autism.license.Centers.2.1379228.html
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