Searching for the right program

By Elizabeth McBreen

The Center for Autism Education

http://www.teachautism.org

Amy Buie opened the doors of The Center for Autism Education in August of 2002. In her work as a Certified Behavior Analyst, Buie found that too many children in her Missouri community were being turned away from public schools because of inadequate resources and a lack of special education programs. The Center is a non-profit, private school that serves the most challenging students, ages 6 to 21, with autism and other developmental disabilities.

The Center’s mission is to provide wayward children with a resource that allows them to fulfill their potential. Some of its students suffer from severe aggression and have been involved in the destruction of property. The staff teaches students the skills they need to successfully function in their home and community. They learn the life and social skills needed to become employed and independent. Class size is limited to two or three students who receive one-on-one instruction throughout the day. The staff meets weekly for ongoing training.

Partnering with the local Missouri school districts, The Center implements each student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in order to provide the necessary services to the "hardest of the hardest" students. The Center offers a safe and positive learning environment to children, regardless of their economic level or ability.

To achieve its goal of decreasing challenging behaviors while increasing learning behaviors, The Center utilizes Intensive Behavior Analysis Services. It also offers occupational, speech, music and pet therapies, discrete trial teaching, intensive social skills instruction, community integration and integrated work experiences.

The North Texas Autism Education Center http://www.teachautism.org

Founded by parents and professionals, The North Texas Autism Education Center (NTAEC) is run solely by volunteers. The organization does not work directly with autistic children, but trains individuals who do. Its educational programs include training for parents and professionals, ABA awareness and an online resource center.

Over 500 parents and professionals who have been trained at NTAEC educate children with autism across North Texas. Training is based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and the analysis of verbal behavior and focuses on teaching language and learning skills. NTAEC’s trainers are certified teachers with experience teaching autistic children and are certified in behavior analysis.

Besides training parents and professionals, it is NTAEC’s goal to raise awareness of ABA and autism. Trainers believe that increased awareness will lead to the empowerment of parents and teachers that is needed for early diagnosis and intervention. The online resource center offers a variety of tools that parents can use to help their children reach their potential, including support groups, school district information, medical resources, recreational programs, camps and early intervention.

Autism Treatment Center of America www.autismtreamentcenter.org

When they were told that their son Raun had "severe and incurable" autism, Barry Neil Kaufman and Samahria Lyte Kaufman refused to institutionalize him as his doctors advised. Instead, they designed home-based therapy program centered around their son. The program, completely unconventional for its time, recovered Raun from autism. He went on to attend an Ivy League university and become a teacher.

In 1983, the Kaufmans founded the Autism Treatment Center of America to share the program that helped Raun with other parents and professionals who work with developmentally disabled children. The Son-Rise Program is designed to help children improve in all areas of learning, development, communication and skill acquisition. In addition to offering educational techniques and strategies for implementing and maintaining a high-energy, child-centered program in the home, the Kaufmans took care to weave respect, love and acceptance into the educational process. The foundation of The Son-Rise Program is creating a safe, nurturing environment and joining the child’s world instead of denying it.

Parents are the most important asset of The Son-Rise Program. A key component of the program is empowering parents and providing attitudinal training so that they become confident teachers and therapists in their home. Parents are also taught how to join their child’s ritualistic, or "stimming," behaviors. Joining in these activities has been shown to lead to eye contact, development of social skills and play. A spokesperson for the program, Brenda Nashawaty talks about how important socialization is for autistic children, "Without socialization there can be no learning and no growth. No matter what a child’s level of development, Son-Rise can help parents connect deeply with their child and build meaningful social interaction that creates a path to recovery. Son-Rise parents learn how to generate within their child a delight in human interaction so that the child initiates communication and interaction."

Another key principle of The Son-Rise Program is finding a child’s motivation. Instead of using repetition, as many other treatments do, The Son-Rise Program uses motivation so that children willingly take part in exercises, remain interested and better retain what they have learned. The program has also been successfully combined with other therapies that have complimentary components. These include biomedical treatments, sensory and auditory integration therapies and gluten- and casein-free diets.

A five day "Start Up" training program is a prerequisite to other, more comprehensive training programs. It is recommended for parents who are using a home-based program they feel is not working, parents who feel burned out and want to be inspired, parents who want to begin a home-based program, family members who want to offer support to a parent but do not know how and professionals interested in learning new ways to reach out to their students. According to Nashawaty, there is also training available for teachers. The Autism Treatment Center of America offers a 24-month training program conducted at the Regional Centers, including trips to the Sheffield, Mass., headquarters. Trainees work as volunteers five days per week, three hours per day in a playroom with a Son-Rise child.

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