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Today’s Purpose - Tomorrow’s Promise. Berrien RESA
Berrien Regional Education Service Agency
Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
ConnectionsLearning • Shar ing • Growing
Volume 7, Issue 1September-October 2012
Contact Information:
Berrien Regional Education Service Agency711 St. Joseph Ave.P.O. Box 364Berrien Springs, MI 49103-1583(269) 471-7725
Assistant Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer, Eric [email protected]
Lighthouse Education Center379 W. Glenlord Rd.St. Joseph, MI 49085(269) 429-2351
Mike Marinello, [email protected]
Sandi Brueck, Assistant [email protected] views and perspectives shared in “Connections” may not necessarily reflect those of the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency, affiliated schools, staff or board members.
Berrien RESA complies with all federal and state laws and regula-tions prohibiting discrimination, and with all requirements and regulations of the United States Department of Education and the Michigan State Department of Education.
New Faces
Our education community’s autism population is growing and we are expanding our programs at Berrien RESA to accommodate students identi-fied as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We have hired additional ASD staff; please welcome new teachers Miss Kerri Walvort and Mrs. Jennifer Gano. Miss Wolvort and Mrs. Gano are teaching in two of our new elementary off-site programs. We also would like to welcome a number of new paraprofessionals: Larry Carter, Kate Szczpka, and Susan Newitt.
Kate SzczypkaParaLEC
Kerri WalvortTeacherOff-site (Watervliet)
Jennifer GanoTeacherOff-Site (Niles)
Susan NewittParaOff-site (Niles)
New sites
Facility expansions include off-site classrooms at Washington Elementary in Coloma, Waterv-liet South School and Ballard School in Niles. Berrien RESA would not be able to help our students have access to inclusion opportuni-ties without these partnerships with our local districts.
Not pictured: Larry Carter.
Today’s Purpose - Tomorrow’s Promise. Berrien RESA www.berrienresa.org
Berrien RESA...Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Today’s Purpose - Tomorrow’s Promise. Berrien RESA www.berrienresa.org
sigN-up to receive “coNNectioNs” via email!visit www.berrienresa.org to learn more! click on the special education tab and look for the resource section.
where are BerrieN resa’s autism programs?With the prevalence of autism growing, so are our programs. At Berrien RESA we serve students with
autism in programs both at Lighthouse Education Center and at 8 off-site locations. We are fortunate to have a preschool program at Brown School in St. Joseph, plus five elementary programs at Lighthouse, Roosevelt Elementary in Lake-shore Public Schools, Washington Elementary in Coloma, Watervliet South Elementary, and Ballard Elementary in Niles. Our middle school programs are located at Lighthouse and Upton Middle School in St. Joseph. We have two high school programs at Lighthouse and St. Joseph High School. Finally, we have transition programs at Lighthouse and Southshore Racquet Club in St. Joseph.
Our students are well-supported by our autism teachers, a school social worker, two speech therapists, occupational therapists and administrators. We believe in the team approach when working with our students, so staff meets frequently addressing individual needs. By having 8 off-site classrooms, the staff also work together to provide inclusion time for each child to the greatest extent possible. Along with the staff already listed, we also have two autism consultants who work in our programs part of the time. They are available to meet with teams as needed. We have a great team working to meet the needs of students with autism across the county.
uNiversal DesigN For learNiNgAll students are general education students first. With this in mind, special educators keep their eyes on what is going on in general education to help move our students in the right direction. One of the techniques for curriculum is called “uni-versal design for learning (UDL)” (Stockall, Dennis & Miller, 2012).
UDL is a way for all students to access curriculum. There are three principles in UDL. The first one is that teachers will provide multiple ways of representing curriculum as we all know students learn differently. For instance, one student may be able to read words on a page while another student may benefit from having material presented in a visual or auditory format. One way we do this in both general and special education programs is to present picture schedules to students to help with transitions or present visual representations related to a specific topic being taught (i.e. a picture of our president when the teacher is teaching about the election).
A second principle of UDL is allowing children multiple means of expression. For instance, in a general education class-room, the teacher may want students to write one sentence about the election. If a particular student is not yet able to write a sentence, he/she may be able to draw a picture or state a sentence verbally or by using an augmentative commu-nication device. Again, by allowing these types of expression, students are able to access the general education curricu-lum.
The third principle of UDL is ensuring that students have various opportunities of engagement. This includes finding out about a student’s interests and what motivates him/her and using this to plan lessons related to the curriculum. Any time we can address interests, preferences and/or learning styles, we find better success for all students.
In the autism programs offered through Berrien RESA, we continuously work in our classrooms to ensure that the prin-ciples of UDL are incorporated. We also work with the general education staff when our students are transitioned out into their classrooms.
Stockall, N., Dennis, L., and Miller, M. (2012). Right from the start: universal design for preschool. Teaching Exceptional Children. Vol. 45 (1).
