School changes pose big setbacks for autistic students
Charlie’s Extended School Year (ESY) class will be in the same classroom in the same school building as his current class is. This is good for Charlie, in part because he only started attending his current school not even two weeks ago and also because this is the third school (in the third classroom) that he has attended this year. And it is also simply good for Charlie to be in the same classroom, where he knows where everything is, and where the smells and the carpeting and the way the light comes through the windows are all familiar.
So, on reading about the closure of a school building that houses an autism program in Seattle in today’s Seattle Times, I more than share the parents’—-and the students’—-trepidation.
Superintendent Raj Manhas has recommended the closure of nine school buildings and—of the 2,400 students affected—316 (13%) are special education students. Says Colleen Stump, the district’s interim director of advanced learning and special education,
“By definition, students with autism really are successful when there’s routine, so it’s an issue.”
There is “no plan” yet for where to place the autism program that was at Garnet Hill Elementary, Stump noted; she was also quoted as saying that she is “‘cognizant’ of how important the transition will be.” Karie Krews-St. Yves, an autism-inclusion teacher, noted that
moving to another school will be a giant step back for some children.
“It’s kind of like the garden is full of weeds again and we’ve got to pluck them out and do this repetitive teaching,” she said. To learn to walk to the bathroom alone, for example, some kids need to go there with an adult 50 times to learn the route.
What about moving around some of the district’s 87% other—non-special-ed—students?
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