U.S. Schools Failing the Vast Majority of Students on Autistic Spectrum
By Jeff Rogers
Eyes Wide Shut
As a brand-spanking new school administrator, I was not prepared for what I was about to see when I walked in to observe my four-member Special Education staff for the first time in the school resource classroom. All four staff members, one certificated teacher, and three classified aides, had clearly positioned themselves in the room between one tall, clearly agitated student, and the rest of the class. The tall young boy was quietly "windmilling" his arms violently, sometimes hitting the staff members if they were unsuccessful avoiding his closed fists. Strangely, the boy said nothing the entire time, apparently choosing only to grunt and growl.
Each staff member was covered in bruises of all colors and shapes and sizes, mostly on their heads and necks and arms, at least those that could be most easily seen, and which represented their most recent efforts to avoid being hit, as well as those from the days and weeks before. Other students in the class cowered down over their desks, trying to focus on the lessons they had been assigned, but found it necessary from time to time to flinch away from wild blows that appeared to be coming their way.
Needless to say, I felt compelled to stay until class was over, and students left the room, especially the tall boy who most certainly commanded the center of everyone's attention. When all was said and done, two weary staff members (the other two had to escort the tall boy to his next class) told me the boy I saw causing such chaos was severely autistic. With dark bags beneath their eyes, and with a sigh and a tone of resignation, they explained that it wasn't like this all the time, but when it was, it was bad, really bad.
They could not control the boy. One minute he would be quietly doing a lesson with one of the aides, and the next he'd be pounding the aide's face with his elbows and fists. Most of the time, the rage would continue until the bell rang and the other students were quickly ushered from the room.
I was shocked. I had never seen or heard of such a thing. I felt sorry for the staff. They worked each day in a state of fear. And yet, when all was said and done, I was told there was nothing that could be done.
Just the Facts
1 in every 68 students in U.S. schools has a developmental disorder on the Autistic Spectrum.* That’s more than 1 million students in both public and private schools. And that population of afflicted students is growing at a race-car pace…119+% since the year 2000, with no signs of slowing down in sight.**
When you also consider that 1 in 6 students* has some kind of developmental disorder, including autism, that’s nearly 10 million special needs students America’s schools must successfully teach, along with 45 million other students in classrooms across the country.*** To be sure, schools have more than their work cut out for them.
Students with developmental disorders on the Autistic Spectrum is the fastest growing disability in the U.S., cutting across all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups; and affecting 4.5 times as many boys as it does girls (1 in 42 for boys, and 1 in 189 for girls).** And it rears its ugly head in all areas of child development, including speech, language, emotional/psychological, physical and intellectual domains.
“Students with autism present unique challenges to schools and teachers.”
--Beth Saggers
Teachers say they don’t feel prepared near enough to meet the needs of this growing group of disabled students. Schools say they don’t have the money or resources that are needed to do it right. And parents’ confidence in the ability of both to help their sons and daughters is lower than low. In her article, “Supporting Students with Autism in the Classroom,” Saggers adds that it’s high time for more than serious conversation about this mess.
What is often overlooked is the impact of autistic students on other students in the classroom. They are more than stressed too. Students on the Autistic Spectrum often require 4-times more assistance than their peers, which can leave those students high and dry when they need timely help.
The misinformation campaign that contends that autistic students should not be mainstreamed into regular classrooms is delusional and perhaps more than a bit discriminative. All students have a right to those classrooms and the opportunities they provide. And federal law makes sure we never forget that.
Saggers says we are talking about finding a way to provide the training and ongoing education teachers most need, raising the level of understanding about autism for all stakeholders in this important educational effort, marshalling whatever funding and resources are needed to make this challenge surmountable, providing more than adequate specialist support, and reducing class size in every class, so teachers have a fighting chance of meeting the needs of all the students in school.
Autistic Disorders on the Spectrum
Autism is technically a range of developmental disabilities that impair to varying degrees children’s verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction, which adversely affects their academic performance and social interaction in school. (paraphrased federal definition via Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.)
According to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, whether it be Asperger’s or autism, disorders on the spectrum are referred to collectively as a “pervasive developmental disorder.”
Ranging from Asperger’s Syndrome to acute autism, disorders along this continuum, in general, create challenges to communication and language development, social interaction, imaginative play, sensory processing and school behavior.
The continuum of autistic disorders range from being able to function successfully in a classroom, displaying strong academic abilities, having an exceptional knowledge base in a narrow area of interest, and possessing only subtle social skill deficits, all the way to lacking virtually all language capabilities, seemly being held hostage to an internal world, and completely unable to handle any emotional or physical contact, or changes in routine or learning environment.
Teachers most often report that children on the continuum are more than all that is listed below when compared to their peers: more anxious, withdrawn, depressed, irritable, explosive, resistant, aggressive, perfectionistic, emotionally labile, and more apt to underachieve.
The National Autistic Society says having a disorder on the autistic spectrum is like living in an “alien world,” unable to read people, most often misunderstanding what they are thinking and feeling, and living and breathing in a heightened state of anxiousness…all too often feeling “on the edge.”
“…our nation is failing the vast majority of…school-age children with autism…”
--John McLaughlin
The Basics
In his recent article, “Why Model Autism Programs are Rare in Public Schools,” McLaughlin explains that educating a child with autism can cost up to 20-times more than what it costs to teach a “neurotypical” child. It’s much easier to make excuses, rather than put our money where our mouths are.
Further, there is no single way to teach students on the spectrum. A great deal of training and ongoing professional development is a must. Current teacher education, even specialist area training, only scratches the surface of what teachers really need to effectively meet autistic kids’ needs.
If schools would at least provide the basics of what we already know works with students on the autistic continuum, Laughlin contends, we would be doing a lot better than we are doing right now. For one, we need to practice “strategic silence,” which will create more of a purposeful calm in our classrooms than chaos.
We have no choice but to provide one-on-one specialist assistance to spectrum students. They already, for the most part, live in world of their own. You can’t just throw them into a classroom with 30 other students and answer their questions as they arise. At some point, there is going to be a blow-up that will derail the entire class.
Lessons must be tailored with individual needs in mind, as well as help autistic students to be a part of the overall social-educational atmosphere. Mainstreaming means including, and whether they like it at first or not, even students on the continuum must feel like a part of the class.
Re-grouping contingency plans must be a regular part of life in the classroom when any student reaches a point of frustration and “loses it.” With most autistic students, it’s not a question of if, but one of when they will need to retreat to a safe and soothing place to head off any volcanic emotional eruptions.
And lastly, the most possible attention must be devoted to enhancing language and communication deficits, depending on the child and their level of need.
“Accept the difference, not indifference.”
--National Autistic Society
Beyond the Basics
The National Autistic Society recommends a whole host of ideas that schools should not just seriously consider, but immediately implement:
- Make all communication crystal clear. Say exactly what you mean.
- Keep language direct; no double meanings.
- Allow ample time for information or direction processing.
- Check for understanding every step of the way.
- Never confront aggression with aggression. Teach to head it off.
- Use visual aids as often as possible in lessons. The Picture Communication Exchange System is very effective.
- Role play social skills you want autistic students to learn and practice.
- Always prepare ahead of time for any change…transition, activity or follow-up.
- Keep routines and arrangements the same, be consistent.
- Split time in mainstream and resource classrooms as needed.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, in “Lessons from the Front Lines: Helping a Student with Autism Soar,” contends that programs already exist that work well with students all along the continuum of the autistic spectrum. We just have to replicate what they are doing.
One, the entire school community shares in the planning and implementing for success for every student. Everyone is on the same page. Everyone has a hand in the process, from beginning to end.
Two, they begin with a focus on the particular sights and sounds and colors that hinder or help each student in their school. Then they eliminate all that hinders or harms student performance and enhance whatever helps.
Third, while they establish and follow strict routines and environmental arrangements, when change is necessary, even a transition to another lesson or activity, students are prepped well ahead of time so there are no surprises to contend with.
Fourth, everyone knows their stuff. They know and understand the basics of autism in its various manifestations, and they know the plusses and minuses of each child before they ever begin working with him or her in person. Not much can be left to chance working with a child on the spectrum.
The Essence of What Parents and Schools Face
Visualize, if you will, a triangle, with its three points representing the basic difficulties faced by any child on this continuum of frustration (from the National Autistic Society):
- Social Communication…verbal and non-verbal language efforts
- Social Interaction…physical and emotional activity with others
- Social Imagination…understanding how others think, feel and react.****
*Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015.
**Autistic Society, Facts, and Statistics, 2016.
***National Center for Educational Statistics, 2017.
****Davis Autism International, “The Triad of Impairments.”