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The Importance of Residential School-Based Family Support
Providing school-age support for families and caregivers with an autistic child varies based on the school program the student is enrolled in. It is imperative that alongside the programming and support autistic students receive, parents receive similar services. This includes but is not limited...
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A Call for Reform of the Least Restrictive Environment
Section 1412(a)(5) of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) outlines regulations regarding the least restrictive environment (LRE). The statute states: To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care...
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Unmasking New Opportunities Through Virtual Learning
The COVID-19 crisis has forced us to face many new challenges while we rethink our ways of teaching and connecting to our students. Despite the difficulties of distance learning and the inability to physically interact with our students, this experience has opened many new doors and has inspired us...
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Giving Girls a Chance: Educating Females with Autism
While autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is more prominent in males, females are also diagnosed at much lower rates (Autism Speaks, 2019). Females diagnosed with ASD require similar services in addition to diverse gender specific supports from their special education teachers and related service...
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Building Communication Competence through Milieu Speech-Language Therapy
Speech and language therapy treatment is typically viewed in two ways: pull-out versus push-in. Pull-out therapy occurs outside of the student’s classroom for an allotted amount of time, typically without his or her peers, while push-in therapy, in the school setting, is when services are...
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Transdisciplinary Transition Assessment and Instructional Planning
A cornerstone to successful transition from school to work for students on the autism spectrum is individual assessment that yields meaningful information for instructional planning. Transdisciplinary assessment, which involves the student’s full educational team, provides a comprehensive profile...
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Supporting Students with Autism Through Evidence-Based Employment Intervention
Unemployment rates for people with disabilities currently are hovering around 80%, with even higher rates for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). Over the past several decades, employment outcomes for students with autism have remained consistently poor...
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Integrating Evidence-Based Models to Educate Adolescents with Autism
Educating adolescents with autism spectrum disorder require specialized programming that takes into account their complex learning characteristics. While certain practices have been shown to be effective in educating students on the spectrum; historically, the field has been vulnerable to claims of...
