Last Part of: Public school and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Does it meet the Needs?

To me, no, the public schools are not meeting Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) needs.  Many parents like I have chosen and are choosing to pull our kids out of the public school system despite the financial restraints, the belief that homeschooling causes a lack in social skills, and the assumptions that parents just have false expectations.  What has led me to ultimately believe that the schools are failing to meet, not only my children’s needs but all those with ASD, is the disturbingly low percentage rate of those with ASD receiving diplomas, the extremely poor outcome of ASD adults after public school, and my highly unacceptable personal experiences with ASD in the public school system. 

I previously mentioned that I have two ASD boys and am homeschooling the oldest one.  There are others like myself who after seeing one or more of our ASD children struggling in the public school system have chosen to quit working full time in order to pursue other options for our kids, like homeschool.  We do this despite the fact that we may have to pull a great deal more money out of our pockets than we did when our children were receiving free services in the public schools.  In order for our children to have a better learning experience and a brighter future many of us have accepted having a tighter budget.  I have found that although my budget is tighter, I do not have to pull a great deal more money out.  I have been able to find services that not only accept my medical insurance, but also provide my child with a higher quality of these services.  William, my oldest who I homeschool, is doing far better with these services then he ever did in the free services provided through the public schools.  Because of this I have found living on a lower income, worth it.  So no, to me at least, free services are not a reason to keep your struggling ASD child in the public schools. 

You do not need to go to school to learn the important social cues and appropriate behavior to succeed in life either.  There are other ways your child can interact with peers and those of all ages to learn these skills.  I personally have implemented a manners program in our homeschooling and we are involved in a group where we get together at least once a week with other homeschoolers.  We meet this group at parks, field trips, and at academic fairs; here social skills can be learned.  And there are other opportunities; my child plays daily with our local neighborhood kids, we go to the theatre together, we go shopping together, to visit friends and family, to museums…  Every interaction with another person during one of these events is an opportunity to guide, direct, and reinforce good behavior.  You do not need to go to school to gain social skills; there are social opportunities all around us.  I believe that with the right guidance ASD kids, not in a public school, can succeed socially.    

I find it rude that others believe parents, like me, just have false expectations.  I ask, Is it false expectations from parents or just low expectations from the school?  I know my child to be bright and capable of learning.  If he is not progressing in the system, should I not want change from it?  This to me is simply an excuse schools use for not meeting ASD needs.  

I believe if public schools were meeting the needs of ASD children the percent of those who graduate would be higher.  I want to remind you of a statistic I mentioned earlier, that according to Forbes magazine “about 56% of people with autism graduate from high school” (Walton).  Of all the students I know (and I admit that I only know a small fraction of those with the diagnoses) I believe them all to be capable of keeping up with their non ASD peers and earning a diploma.  I know for some it takes a lot more work than others, but with what I have researched and those I do know, I believe they all are capable of it.  I would like to remind you that I am not the only one who thinks this; on the Center for Education’s website it states that, “the majority of students with disabilities should be able to perform at grade level and graduate high school with a regular diploma” (Ulrich).  Many of those with ASD appear to be regular people who happen to have some rather unusual quirks, though these quirks are what causes them to struggle and excel in areas the average Joe would not.  ASD kids are capable of learning and they are capable of progressing academically.  Forty-four percent of ASD pupils don’t get to wear a cap and gown.  That is too high of a percentage for a group of kids who have the ability to gain the knowledge needed to earn a High school diploma.  This statistic shows me that the public schools are not meeting ASD pupils’ needs. 

                I believe in order to know whether something is working, one looks at the outcomes.  Another statistic I had mentioned previously from the top ASD advocacy organization, stated that “recent reports indicate unemployment and underemployment together hover around 90 percent for adults with autism” (Autism Speaks).  Ninety percent is a very large amount for any group of people.  As a mother of ASD children this bothers me.  As a taxpaying citizen this bothers me; who is going to care for this growing number of ASD adults to live?  These results are not satisfactory.  How is it that these kids capable of one day providing for themselves, are not?  The only answer I can come up with is that they are not being taught the skills they need to succeed prior to graduating and entering the world. 

There is a community who welcomes ASD adults who are unable to live completely on their own.  This community, Marbridge, holds trainings for their ASD individuals on life skills and job skills.  They have expressed that “At Marbridge, we believe young people with autism can become self-determining adults, capable of competing—and winning—in the competitive workplace. Time and again, they prove us right” (Marbridge).  Marbridge has shown that with the right education, these kids can flourish, holding down jobs and progressing in a career.  Yet that education isn’t happening on a nationwide level and as a result a large percent of ASD adults are not meeting their potential.  I believe the percent of those unemployed and underemployed would be much lower if the public schools were teaching these ASD kids the skills they need to make it in life as taxpaying ASD adults.  As of right now this outcome of ninety percent of adults not working or under working, shows me that the public schools are not meeting ASD needs. 

To my disappointment I have not found any statistics on the percent of ASD homeschoolers, charter school students or private school pupils who graduate.  I had wanted to show the percent of those who graduate and what these ASD adults are doing after receiving a diploma or the equivalent of one.  Although I did not find any of these statistics on ASD kids not in a public school, I did find numerous accounts on websites and forums from other parents, who like myself, have pulled their kids out of public school, and with much relief discovered that their ASD student is happier and progressing faster.  I asked on one of these ASD homeschooling forums if anyone wouldn’t mind writing me a short message for this paper about why they chose to homeschool.  I had several parents respond, all with words that reflect what I have written here.  One mother, Andrea Plante, messaged me that she “opted to homeschool because public school just doesn't offer what our kids deserve. I can change her (referring to her child with ASD) IEP till the cows come home but it will never change the system.”  Another Mother, Nicole Largy, said “I haven't pulled my son out of public school yet but I am seriously considering it. I'm fed up with our school system.”  These parents, like myself and many more out there, love our ASD children and it hurts us to see our children struggling unnecessarily.  When the schools are not meeting our children’s needs, we see no other choice, but to try an alternate route.    

My personal experiences from having two ASD children in the public schools have led me to this belief that the schools are not meeting ASD needs and have given me ideas for how they could do better.  Last year in our local public school, my oldest child William, was more days than not coming home overwhelmed and his homework would usually end in tears.  I have always been an active parent with the schools, I know the teachers and principals, and I have a good relationship with all the staff.  I attend parent teacher conferences, Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, and have even called meetings to be held.  I believe the staff for the most part really do care and try to offer the most they can, however the schools are just not set up in a way that can fully meet the needs of ASD students.  These kids are not learning at an appropriate pace and not moving on successfully.  The public schools I believe would have a much easier time meeting these students’ needs if they had better training for all staff on ASD and hired specific ASD classroom aids for each class with an ASD student.  These aids would need to be in addition to normal classroom aids, having someone who can work one-on-one with just the ASD children.  William, I believe, would not have come home so overwhelmed if he had had the help of an ASD classroom aid.  I do not believe the way they do it now is working, pulling children out of their main classroom to work on specific academic areas they struggle with.   My youngest, Richard, is beginning to fall behind in areas as well now and I believe it is due to pulling him out of his mainstream classroom.  An in-classroom aid would be a more fitting alternative and something I plan to bring up during his next IEP meeting.  I do understand that children need pulled out for specific therapies, like speech therapy and occupational therapy.  Though having an aid would dramatically change the amount they are taken out and meet their needs more proficiently, being able to help them in the classroom.  I believe this additional aid in the classroom will raise the number who graduate and raise the percent of ASD adult’s employed.  This in turn helps the schools to better meet ASD students’ needs. 

By writing this I hope I have shown the gaps, got you thinking, and perhaps even talking.  Whether you agree with me or not I hope you are more aware of ASD in our public school system.  If any of you have ideas that would provide a better education and brighter future for these kids, please share them.  Share these thoughts with your local public school’s principals, administrators, and teachers.  My hope is for our public schools to truly be meeting these kid’s needs.  I believe that when the public schools are meeting the needs of ASD, the graduation rates will raise, ASD adults will have an improved employment percentage, and overall the ASD experiences in the public schools will be better.  Let us keep the conversation going, no change will happen if we simply stop it here. 
(Written in May of 2014)

Works Cited

"Autism Residential Care at Marbridge." Marbridge Group Homes for Autistic Adults, Programs for Adults

with Autism Residential Care, Jobs For Autistic Adults. Marbridge, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014

Largy, Nicole. Reply to group post. 23 Apr. 2014. Facebook group page “Homeschooling with Autism

Spectrum Disorders - A place to share and support”

Plante, Andrea. Message reply to post. 23 Apr. 2014. Facebook group page “Homeschooling with Autism

Spectrum Disorders - A place to share and support”

"Strengthening Support for Adults with Autism." Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks, 04 Aug. 2012. Web. 06

Apr. 2014

Walton, Alice G. "Living Life With Autism: Has Anything Really Changed?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30

Nov. 2011. Web. 05 Apr. 2014.

Public school and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Does it meet the Needs?

Part one of four:

I am the mother of two boys, both with the diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  As an activist for my children’s education, I have dealt frequently with the public school’s special needs resources.  I personally believe that the public school system does not have the necessary accommodations and resources to meet the needs of an ASD student. 

Autism/ASD is a mental condition causing social quirks, sensory disorders, difficulty with language development, and an uneven distribution of strengths.  Children with ASD are not all alike.  One cannot tell if a child is autistic from simply looking at him/her.  Those with ASD are vastly and uniquely different.   While one child may be able to communicate fairly well, having a vast vocabulary and only struggling occasionally with a sound or two, another child on the Autism Spectrum may be completely non-verbal. 

Both of my children have the ASD characteristics I mentioned above, yet my oldest child’s characteristics are much more profound than those of my youngest.  This is where the spectrum comes in; William, my oldest, is higher on the spectrum than Richard, my youngest.  

William, my very serious, brown haired, blue eyed, nine year old, truly struggles with connecting his brain to his mouth.  He knows so much, yet he cannot voice it.  The first time he and I were able to have even a basic conversation, exchanging thoughts in spoken words, he was five.  Most kids begin talking in conversation around their second birthday.  Besides the verbal concerns, he has some extreme sensory issues with ground surfaces.   Grass, dirt, gravel, or any other area you may walk on that isn't flat, becomes a chore for him.  And that sensation of air sweeping across your face and ears, we call wind, is a huge sensory issue for him.  His social cues are off as well.  He doesn't always get or understand why a kid is looking at him a certain way.  Is he smiling because he wants to play with me or because he hates me?  Because of these issues the usual activities most boys his age enjoy (games of tag, riding a bike, playing catch..), are all a battle for him.  So he prefers to play alone and indoors. 

Richard, my hyperactive, blond haired, blue eyed, seven year old, who talks a lot and rarely takes a breath in-between sentences, struggles, but not like his older brother.  Though his speech was delayed, we have been talking in great lengths of conversation since he was four.  The struggles you can see most in him are with social quirks and sensory issues.  Having no personal space, a one track mind, and wanting to touch and feel objects with his mouth, chewing, licking, and tasting them, like babies do when discovering a new toy.  Although Richard has no problem talking with others, he prefers to talk about trains.  This has been an obsession of his since infancy, when he saw his first train outside our apartment’s windows.  Richard’s social cues are a bit off as well.  He doesn't understand while playing with another child, why that child might have paused, signaling to Richard it’s his turn.  Likewise, Richard doesn't know how to stop or pause to let the other child know it is their turn.  He prefers to play next to someone instead of with them.

Both of my children went into the public school system at a very young age, three.  They spent two years in pre-k before starting Kindergarten.  It was because of their diagnoses of ASD that I placed them straight into the public school system, hoping for early intervention.  It has been proven by experts in the ASD field, that early intervention makes for the greatest leaps and bounds in treating ASD.  At first I was thrilled with the services they were receiving and breaks I was getting.  Though throughout the years, as I have met with Principals, teachers, therapists, and other school faculty members, the less satisfied I have become. 

We all meet, at least annually, to set up and discuss an Individualized Education Program (IEP).  An IEP is a legal document with a truly individualized plan for a student with a disability.  Things written in an IEP include accommodations made for the disabled student, such as therapies, disciplinary actions and teaching methods.   Basically an IEP is a plan parents and faculty set up, which in hopes will create the best results in a disabled child’s education.  Providing them with the necessary accommodations and resources needed to succeed.  It is through these meetings that I have discovered both federal and state changes that affect how the schools run.  Some resources that are needed and/or can help a child with ASD that were available at one point, no longer are, and other necessary resources never have been.  

Our economy has changed and with it has come budget cuts in our schools, leaving less money to pay for therapies these kids need.  Classrooms themselves have become larger and the staff and resources smaller.  Programs have changed and changed again.  Especially with the No Child Left Behind Act and now with the Common Core.  Though awareness of ASD needs has risen, accommodations and resources have not.

My experience with ASD, is not only with my own children.  I know and have met a large amount of others with the diagnoses, through the Special Olympics program and Autism help and awareness programs, like that of the New Mexico Autism Society.  I have learned that it is vital in an ASD pupil’s educational progression to have certain accommodations and resources available, which include:  Applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, one-on-one learning and/or a personal aid or tutoring, vast ways of teaching a subject, alternative assignments, extra testing time, adjusted testing, social skill support and guidance, frequent breaks, allowance of objects in the classroom to help relieve stress and/or sensory issues.

ABA therapy, physical therapy and a personal aid or tutoring have never been available to my children through the schools.  This has been frustrating, as I believe these help tremendously in academic progression.  I have been able to get William physical therapy outside of public school, through Medicaid.  And I was able to get Richard ABA therapy and tutoring outside of public school, through a state program.  However Richard doesn't need physical therapy and I have been unsuccessful in getting William the same state program for ABA and tutoring, due to it being somewhat of a lottery program.  Though through the public schools they both have been able to receive speech therapy.  Therapist occasionally come into the classroom and work with them one-on-one and as a group.  The therapists also pull them out of their main stream classroom and take them to a different room for one-on-one therapy and group therapy.  Both have been pulled out of their classrooms and gone to a special education classroom for one-on-one and group help in reading as well.  William has received help in math through these special classrooms too.  As the years have rolled by though, the less one-on-one time they have received in these therapies.  And while they have been pulled out, they have missed other lessons and assignments, causing them to have to play catch-up in their regular classroom.  This has caused them to be slower in other areas.  For instance, at first William was only being pulled out for reading.  While pulled out he was missing math lessons in his mainstream class and he began to fall behind in math.  Causing the school to pull him out for help in math and reading.  It is because of this, pulling a child out of their mainstream classes for help, that I don’t believe the current system is working.  William also received an iPad through the schools to help support and teach him in an alternate way.  Though they never showed the teachers how to incorporate it in the classroom.  It became a toy for him as no one used it academically.  This I have seen happen to everyone I know who was issued an iPad for support.  Both William and Richard have had a few successful alternative assignments, with visual cues and sight words and a few different ways of teaching a subject.  It is hard for a mainstream teacher to teach in vastly different ways, when working with a group, they tend to stick to whatever method gave the best results overall and what method the No Child Left Behind Act, or now Common Core, is requiring them to teach.  William and Richard have had extra testing time, adjusted testing, social skill support and guidance and have received frequent breaks.  Richard in one class was even given a special seat with a soft cushion to sit on. This seat seemed to help him stay focused better.  He also received special sensory objects he could chew on, so he wouldn't be placing other classroom objects in his mouth. Like he was with markers, toys, his clothes and classmates.  With William’s Autism he has never needed special objects in the classroom.  And although the schools have had occupational therapy available, my children have never needed it.   

It is because of the lack of, and quality of some of these accommodations and resources, William has fallen through the public educational system cracks, slowing his progression down.  This year after our IEP meeting, it was apparent that he would not have any one-on-one time.  This I believe to be the most vital accommodation and resource in helping an ASD pupil succeed academically.  In each new grade William has entered, the student to teacher ratio has increased, making it harder to work one-on-one.  I knew this would cause his progression to slow down even more or possibly even stall it.  So at the beginning of this school year I pulled him out of the public school system.  I am able to provide William with one-and-one time and with more of the accommodations and resources I listed, than the school is able to now. 

What surprised me the most when I informed the school of my decision to pull him out was their immediate support.  They are very aware they cannot meet his needs and thought homeschooling would be a better option for him. 

Since pulling him out I have seen his progression rise.  I have met many other ASD parents who have also found that homeschooling is the better option for their ASD child/children.  As well I find it sad we can provide them with more at home, than the public school system can.  I am but one person, with limited resources, they have an entire faculty.  And it would make sense that they would have the access to resources I do not, with the funding they receive. 

But with the student to teacher ratio gap widening, I see that it is almost impossible to make accommodations to a student with special needs, even when an ASD child is placed in a special needs resource room, a special education class for those with disabilities only.  In these classes, unless your child’s special need is physically and visually apparent, like those with Down syndrome and Cerebral Palsy, the needs of the less noticeable are usually pushed aside to meet the needs of the more obvious ones.  Many special needs children that are apparently special needs demand a lot more daily task help.  Most ASD pupils do not need assistant with daily activities once in grade school.  They can use the bathroom alone, feed themselves, and do the other necessary day to day tasks needed to function on one’s own.  In these classrooms it is easy for a functioning ASD student to be overlooked.  Many non ASD disabled children cannot do their day to day tasks and daily work without help.  A teacher of these students will usually care for the non ASD child first, knowing that the ASD child will be fine on their own.  I have seen this and have seen many days go by, where the teacher never makes it to the ASD pupil.   ASD experts also advice against ASD students being placed strictly in a special needs classroom, saying they thrive more in a regular classroom.  ASD children are able to successfully co-mingle with non-special needs children and it is actually good for them to do so.  Mingling with other children without diagnoses sets examples for them as to what is and isn’t socially accepted.  It also helps them to grow, to play and communicate with others who know when to pause for a turn or know that when you’re smiling it means you’re happy.  This environment is teaching them.  ASD children have the ability as well to keep up with their other classmates academically.  So there is no need to be placed in a classroom where the academics standards are different and they will be pushed aside to meet the needs of a more severe special needs pupil.

I also see though how difficult it is to provide a student in a regular classroom with outside classroom therapies and not miss anything while outside the classroom.   No matter how much reassurance I have gotten that they won’t miss anything, they do.  Leaving the student more confused about assignments due and falling further behind in their academics.  Through homeschooling William, I have been able to assure he is not missing a lesson.  He is not being taken away from one lesson to work on another lesson, or past lesson, or therapy.  He receives physical therapy and speech therapy through Medicaid.  I can change the way I am teaching a lesson if it is not working for him.  I can adjust the way I test and the timing that he is tested.  I can allow him frequent breaks, give him social skill support and guidance.  Though I am unable to give him ABA therapy.  I am learning more and more on how to teach him, and am having more success than the school.  He is on par with all of his studies but reading now.  And I have high hopes he will be on par with that, within the next year.  He is still Autistic, still has the same quirks, though his education is progressing and at a faster pace than when in public school. 

Richard, my youngest, as he is not as severe on the spectrum as William, I have chosen to keep in the public school system for now.  He loves public school and is progressing with the other students in a regular classroom.  I have been able to get him outside school help, ABA therapy and tutoring, which I was unable to get for William.  I believe this is what has helped with Richard in his progression in the public schools. 

My purpose of writing this paper is to bring awareness, that the public school system does not have the accommodations or resources to truly meet their ASD pupils alone.  Schools need to hire aids for each classroom and teachers need to have the training to teach an ASD pupil.  They need to have all the resources I have mentioned above available, without taking away from their standard academics.  I believe ASD pupils unfortunately are not able to progress in the way that their non ASD peers are without these accommodations and resources.  From my experience the Public school system does not meet the needs for an ASD pupil to succeed in the system.  
(Written in February of 2014)