Good news for teachers and autism students
T
he latest study by current and
developed by Wetherby and others to target
of complex neurodevelopment disorders experts focuses on school-age kids characterized by restricted and repetitive – and a curriculum that improves patterns of behavior and difficulties with social In one school, students got regular classroom
their learning whether or not they’re on the communication and interaction. Classroom teaching supplemented by a website. In the
autism spectrum. teachers know it well. other, participating teachers received three days
The three-year study involved 60 schools,
“General education teachers in most states aren’t
ASD’s most significant challenges.
They randomly matched pairs of schools.
of SCERTS training – plus regular coaching,
mostly in North Florida. Its findings were required to have autism training, and yet they access to extra reference materials and videos
reported in June in the Journal of Consulting and find themselves with kids with autism because of themselves in the classroom. Children at
Clinical Psychology. that’s the law,” said Lindee Morgan, the study’s SCERTS schools performed better.
“There is a solid body of research on
other principal investigator, a longtime colleague
“They were initiating more, participating
treatments for preschool children with autism of Wetherby’s who now is at Emory University. more, having back-and-forth conversations
spectrum disorder,” said Autism Institute “These days, more than 70 percent of kids on more, and responding to their teachers
Director Amy Wetherby, one of the study’s the spectrum have no intellectual disabilities. and peers more frequently,” Morgan said.
principal investigators. “However, this study is Therefore, schools are moving more toward Kindergarten teachers told her: “Putting this in
one of only a few demonstrating the efficacy modifying and adapting the mainstream classroom place helped my whole class.”
of a treatment for school-age children. And in ways that are not only helpful for kids with the most impressive part is it was conducted in autism but also good for all the students.”
general and special education teachers.”
Their latest study measured the effectiveness of
The study was funded by a $3 million grant
from the Institute of Education Sciences in the
U.S. Department of Education.
a curriculum called SCERTS (SCERTS.com),
public school classrooms with a good mix of
“Autism spectrum disorder” refers to a group
former FSU Autism Institute
3