Program helps autistic

School joins project to meet pupils' special needs

Web posted Monday, January 22, 2001

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By Melissa Hall
Columbia County Bureau

His classmates clapped and cheered as 5-year-old Alex approached the board.

Betty Myers, a kindergarten teacher at Bel Air Elementary, participates in Emory University's Inclusion Project, a program that helps integrate children with autism into the regular classroom. JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

"Alex, write the word 'mat','' instructed his kindergarten teacher, Angela Faglier.

With a black marker in 11-inch-high letters, he wrote MAt. The children clapped and cheered as he triumphantly took his seat.

At first glance, Alex resembles any other pupil in his Bel Air Elementary School kindergarten classroom. But though writing ``mat'' would be an ordinary task for some pupils, it isn't for Alex, one of about 40 in the Columbia County school system diagnosed with autism.

He is one of six kindergartners involved in Emory University's Inclusion Project at Bel Air, a program that seeks to integrate autistic children into the regular classroom.

If they weren't in the program, they most likely would be limited to a special education class for the day, or if they were in a regular class, they would not have a teacher trained to meet their needs, said Mary Jo Schroeder, the director of the project at Bel Air.

Five of the six pupils at Bel Air were taken to the school so they could participate in the program.

While they are in their regular classroom, they do what their other classmates do, though some might also receive speech or occupational therapy, and some with severe disabilities might have an aide to help them.

``It's like with any disability, there are extremes: those with mild and severe disabilities,'' Ms. Schroeder said. ``Certainly, if you are on the severe end, you would need special instruction, though that wouldn't mean that you couldn't have time with your peers ... The idea of the whole program is that all of these children - regardless of their severity - need time with their peers.''

Only one Georgia school a year is accepted for the program.

Sheila Wagner, a program coordinator at Emory University's Autism Resource Center, said Columbia County is the eighth school district participating in the program, which began seven years ago.

``In the past, people with this disability were considered a throwaway part of our society,'' Ms. Wagner said. ``We used to think that these children could not learn. Now we know we can teach these children. If we can start in kindergarten teaching them, then the better their communication and social skills ...''

Autism is a complex developmental disability, a neurological disorder, that affects the development of the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills, according to the Autism Society of America. Children and adults with autism typically have difficulties communicating, socializing, playing or interacting with others. Although autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors, children and adults can exhibit any combination of the behaviors in any degree of severity.

The Inclusion Project relies on interaction among pupils to help children with autism learn.

``You have to set the stage and the opportunities for them to experience some very strong models of both socialization and language so that they will be able to imitate them and do what the other children are doing,'' Ms. Wagner said.

Ms. Schroeder said the autistic children at Bel Air, such as Alex, have been readily accepted by their classmates, who consider them friends and playmates.

``The biggest thing is the acceptance of typical children,'' Ms. Schroeder said. ``They seek them out as friends and play with them on the playground.''

Ms. Wagner is usually in the school for two days a week training teachers and administrators involved in the program.

For teachers, the program is not easy but it can be rewarding. Teachers are typically not trained in special education, and this program adds extra classroom responsibilities.

But Ms. Faglier, Alex's teacher, said it has been worth the effort.

``I thought it was going to be harder than it has been,'' said the teacher, who has two autistic children in her kindergarten classroom. ``It's been a challenge, but to see the growth has been very rewarding.''

Ms. Wagner is now involved in the second phase of the program: expanding this service to other autistic children in the county.

``We have a very broad spectrum - children with very extensive needs at one end and others with very mild characteristics ...'' Ms. Wagner said. ``Even though we will be looking at more than 30 children in Columbia County with this disability, we are still looking at individual children.''

But Alex's mother cautions that the program is by no means a cure-all; rather, it is one piece of the puzzle in dealing with the disorder.

``I've talked to a lot of parents whose kids are newly diagnosed, and I don't want them to think that, `Oh, I don't have to do anything with my child. I'll just wait and put him in this inclusion program and he's going to be cured,''' she said. ``That's not the portrayal that we need to give to parents. But we do need to give them hope that if their child receives medical, behavioral and educational intervention they have a very good chance of functioning at a level where they can be included in a program like Emory's.''

For more information on autism, look online at www.autism-society.org/ or contact Lisa Bryant at the CSRA Autism Support Group, 279-4242.

Reach Melissa Hall at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 113.

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