One Size Does Not Fit All: Autism Spectrum Disorders
April is Autism Awareness Month. This is a great time to build our understanding and to celebrate these individuals, their loved ones, and their educational and behavioral support teams. Not one person with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is the same. With an estimated prevalence of 1-2% of the U.S. and worldwide population, ASD is not […]
Effective Reinforcement Strategies for Children with Autism
by Tranika Jefferson, BCBA, LBA Many teachers have used “First ___, then ____” statements in planning lessons for teaching with their students with autism. For example: As adults, we also use “First ___, then ____” statements in our everyday lives. For example: Essentially, this method of using “First ___, then ____” statements is a behavioral analytic strategy […]
Using Student Strengths to Create Belonging
In my role as Director of Student Services, I recently observed in a classroom where a student, we’ll call him Lewis, demonstrated minimal eye contact, response (verbal or physical), or social interaction. Upon Lewis’s arrival to the classroom, I observed the educator working with him provide a number of visual, physical, and verbal prompts to […]
The Forgotten Service Providers: Rethinking Paraprofessional Collaboration
In delivering special education programming, it is becoming more and more common to support our students with disabilities within the general education classroom. No one will argue that students with disabilities, including those who have autism, don’t benefit from being around their general education peers and the high expectations that come with the general education […]
It’s About Progress, Not Perfection: Celebrating the History of Special Education and Autism Advocacy
Special education, as we know it today, was born out of conflict and has continued to serve as a lightning rod for controversy and litigation since the early 1970s. In the history of the United States few areas in the pantheon of education have drawn any where near the amount of debate, litigation, and scrutiny […]
