Accommodations and Autism: How Far Should Schools Go?
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...The new Therapeutic School and Center for Autism Research will feature a number of innovative elements specially designed for the students. These include:Clearly, the architect knocked himself out to find solutions to specific problems cited by parents, teachers and therapists. But my first thought was not "wow - a dream come true!" Instead, I immediately wondered what would happen to the students once they walked out the doors of the school. Would they immediately be overwhelmed by every sound and sensation? Would the extreme accommodations offered by well-meaning adults actually serve to make daily life even tougher?
- An unprecedented fire alarm system using the strong cadence of march music in conjunction with a regular fire alarm tone to effectively alert students and staff while not adversely affecting students with autism who may be hyper-sensitivity to loud noises.
- Specially designed classroom observation windows which allow cutting-edge research without a distracting one-way mirror.
- Tamper resistant wall outlets with protective internal shutters to prevent electrical accidents.
- Noise-reducing antimicrobial carpet appropriate for the many educational and therapeutic activities taking place in each classroom.
- Bathrooms designed to accommodate students from 3 to 23 years of age with widened stalls but without auto-flush sensors in order to prevent potentially intimidating loud noise and unexpected flushes.
- Indirect lighting with dimmers flexible enough for students with special needs while also maximizing illumination and minimizing shadows.
Accommodation, within limits, is a fine thing. Of course it makes sense to provide a blind student with books on tape, or to be sure a ramp is in place for a student in a wheelchair. But books on tape are available in every library and book store. Ramps are now federally mandated in all public places. Specially-designed carpets, lighting systems and bathrooms aren't. And once a student graduates from school - assuming that he is living outside of an institutional setting - bright lights, loud noise, and social expectations are bound to be a part of daily life.
Perhaps (and I don't know yet), this particular school does have a plan in place to support students as they gradually learn to manage more stressful environments. But it's not clear to me that most schools do.
In fact, as students with autism show anxiety or uncertainty, they're pulled into more and more specialized, segregated settings. There, autistic students may be more comfortable, and thus more easily able to attend to lessons. But without help in learning to manage the outside world, these students will have a terribly difficult time transitioning to the demands of adulthood.
What's your opinion on accommodations for students with autism? How far should schools go? Should there be a plan in place for helping autistic students to manage the sensory and social demands of the typical world?
Comments
Some accommodations one may agree are set up to make that learning area easier for those teaching. It would make teaching better when you eliminate all the triggers however, a child isn’t at school 24/7 and there is a while wide world out there beyond those doors. For instance, a fire alarm system. If a child does not learn what that noise is meant for, they may never escape beyond the melt down to get out of that Target store. Carpet creates static, so while reducing the noise, it may create other issues like being zapped al day long. Quiet toilet flushing can be a cool thing, but wouldn’t you think you’d end up with the melt down at home when your own toilet was flushed?
I duuno, I teach my child to learn to adapt and cope with these things as best he can, and I would not want him in a setting that eliminated so many real-life things.
I agree - the child will not be at school all the time and needs to learn to cope with real world realities. It is true that many autistic children have sensory issues that may be difficult to cope with, however,we have always favoured a desensitizing approach in dealing with them with near perfect results. One catch… it takes time. In fact, time + consistency can overcome almost anything. So, it may be admirable to accommodate for everything, but I don’t beleive it’s ultimately in the child’s best interest. Instead, spend the money on training and hiring exceptionally qualified people to work with our autistic children, for this is the area that I find is most lacking and brings about the most challenges at school.
I think some of the adaptations are valid (I liked the electrical outlet adaptation — for safety issues);however, every child may react differently to certain stimuli. What may be uncomfortable to one child, may not be an issue to another child. It would be a daunting task to take into consideration what is appropriate for every student. I think as long as the setting is safe and adaptable it works.
I think such accomodations are fantastic. In my work I have recommended similar changes for individual classrooms in schools with a high population of individuals with autism. Schools are places of learning and it can be extremely difficult for a student to learn if they are distracted or full of anxiety about potential noises, etc. I do think programs need to be in place to teach students to deal with real-life situations and practice necessary skills, but I see nothing wrong with providing a safe, stress-reducing environment for learning.
We constantly have to de-sensitise our child to sensory stimuli that overwhelm him — this involves writing social stories or coming up with less obtrusive ways to help him handle the input. You’re right — our kids are going to have to live in this world, so we need to teach them coping skills instead of not exposing them to overload. We are teaching him how to cope with waiting in long lines, how to express when someone is bothering him by standing too close, he uses earplugs during a fire drill — he can still hear the alarm, it’s just not as loud. I completely agree that money is best spent hiring highly qualified staff who are TRAINED in how to work with children with autism. It has made every difference in our son’s phenomenal progress!!
I think we need both. My autistic brother is now an adult. He had the benefit of many programs to desensitize him to re-world issues, but potentially could have made much more rapid progress if that could have been combined with classroom work environment that could have let him focus more effectively.
How about abolishing the IDEA alltogether. This is a law that costs billions of taxpayer dollars, jams courts with frivilous lawsuits and does nothing to help children with autism.
How fabulous to have part of the day in a non-overload scenario. Yes, I need to be able to deal with the “real world”, but should I HAVE to ALL THE TIME? “Normal schools” are built with the requirements of students in mind, so why not build other types of environments for other types of kids that provides respite from distractions and annoyances?
Sensory Integration Dysfunction is with Autistic individuals 24/7 so even a brief reprive from sensory overload to the child who suffers, I’m sure is welcome.
For people with physical disabilities, the world can be very un-accomodating, so they learn as best they can to adapt. I don’t think that you are sheltering an Autistic person by making their lives easier by removing stressors for a part of their day.
Our son Joe is autistic, now 20 and still attending public school through the year of his 21st Birthday. My wife and I are thinking a lot about what comes next. Although our school system on Vashon Island, WA. has been consistently terrific, a learning environment designed just for kids with these sensitivities is truly wonderful to read about.