Burrell gets training to better teach autistic students
Share this post:
Burrell School District has qualified for training from a state Department of Education program to bolster the effectiveness of its program for autistic students.
Burrell will receive the free training and consulting from the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network’s Autism Initiative, the training arm of the state Department of Education.
About a quarter of public school districts in the state use the training for the specialized instruction for autistic students, said Mike Miklos, co-leader of the Autism Initiative.
The Autism Initiative training helps teachers teach autistic students critical skills to help them better function given their deficits in social communication and repetitive behaviors, he said.
“Some of the key areas of instruction we offer teachers is for them to teach effective ways for students to ask for things they want,” Miklos said. “Skills for self-advocacy are critical.”
The Autism Initiative has been offering is services for about 15 years.
“It’s critical we teach individuals with autism to value interactions with other people and develop other ways to communicate that are sensitive to the child’s interests and abilities,” Miklos said.
Greg Egnor, Burrell’s director of student services, said, “This is just one more opportunity for our special education program to beef up our support to not just better train our teachers but to provide more in meeting the needs of the students.”
There are about two dozen autistic students in the Burrell School District, but that number fluctuates.
The autism training will focus on delivering and developing verbal and communication skills, said Egnor.
For example, a typical student with autism might be high-functioning, but might not be able to process information the way a typical student does. The style of instruction that Egnor and other teachers at Burrell are receiving help autistic students become more verbal.
“This is a special method of teaching used by private schools that specialize in special education,” Egnor said.
“We’ve been bolstering our program for autistic students for the last several years so we can provide the instruction, so parents in the district don’t have to go to a special private school,” he said.
That has included creating life-skills rooms and training three teachers — one elementary and two secondary teachers — at no cost to the district, Egnor said.
Egnor and some Burrell teachers went through training from the Autism Initiative last year when they started to roll out a small part of the enhanced instruction, he said. The district will continue training and roll out more through the school year, he said.
About one in 59 students is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders, according to the Autism Network.