Legat,+Jenn+Autism

My name is Jennifer Legat. I am 27 and live in Brookings. I ended up on the 5-year plan while completing my undergraduate degree. I first attended college at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, Alaska right out of high school. I spent three years up there before applying to go on an exchange program. I got accepted and traveled to Sydney, Australia where I attended Macquarie University for a term. After my term at Macquarie I decided to take some time off of school and spent the next 8 months traveling around Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand. It was the most amazing experience. When I returned to the states I decided to stay in Oregon and enrolled at Southern Oregon University to complete my degree. I graduated in Spring of 2008 with a BS in Arts and Letters with emphases in English & Writing and Women's Studies. After graduation I moved back to Brookings. While in Alaska I worked part time as a Substitute Teacher for all grade levels and really enjoyed it, so when I returned to Brookings I began working at our local schools. I started as a substitute aide and then last year the Superintendent endorsed me and I was able to receive my Substitute Teaching license. I mostly work at our elementary school, but occasionally get called for the middle school. I am currently in the MAT program to get my teaching license for upper elementary and middle school and my endorsements will hopefully be in science and language arts. My ultimate goal would be to teach middle school science, but if that is not possible I would like to teach fourth or fifth grade. I had a very hard time with school throughout the years and was finally diagnosed with a learning disability during my final year in college. I had a difficult time learning many things and would often times feel stupid for not understanding. It was a horrible feeling, because I knew I was intelligent, but then would have experiences where I felt completely lost. Finding out that I had a learning disability in a way was a relief. I finally had an explanation other than stupidity for why I didn't understand some things and it taught be how I understand things the best. My biggest fear going into teaching is that I will have a difficult time conveying concepts to my students because of my learning disability, but I do feel that my learning disability will benefit me because it really makes me aware of the problems that students with learning disabilities face and how they feel and I know from my past teachers how I want to and don't want to treat those students to help them succeed. Although I have worked with students with disabilities and have personal experience, I am hoping that this class will give me a broader understanding of the types of disabilities that I will encounter as an educator and methods to successfully work with these students. In my spare time I love to travel. My travel destinations are usually places with wonderful SCUBA diving opportunities as diving is one of my biggest passions. I learned how to dive while in Australia and overcame my fear of sharks! I especially love photographing my dives. I have an underwater housing for my camera and love to chronicle my dives with pictures and videos. When I can't travel to tropical places for diving, I enjoy fishing in the ocean and on the river, camping, hiking, quilting, painting, and reading. I also have my own business--Ocean View Labradoodles--raising miniature labradoodles.



The reason I chose to research Autism is that it is such a broadly used term for so many disabilities within the Autism spectrum that I would like to learn more about the various disorders associated with Autism. I spent a year after college working with an 11 year old boy with Autism as one of his home school therapists. His disorder was mostly related to intellectual disability, but he also had minimal issues with motor coordination and attention. He could not speak, so I began learning sign language and we met with specialists who taught us how to most effectively teach him. I very much enjoyed my year working with him and I would like to learn more about the other disabilities within the Autism spectrum and how to best work with them in the classroom setting.

The Top 5 Things I Learned About Autism 1) Autism is the term used to label a group of brain development disorders. The disorders vary throughout the Autism spectrum and are characterized by difficulties with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors. Disorders in the spectrum can be associated with intellectual disability, physical health issues, and difficulties with motor coordination and attention. Being on the spectrum means that there are multiple levels of disorders that people can be diagnosed with. High functioning people with autism are at the mild end of the spectrum and low functioning people with autism are at the severe end of the spectrum.

2) There are multiple parts of the brain affected by autism: the Cerebral Cortex (higher mental functions, general movement, percention, and behavioral reactions), the Basal Ganglia (regulates automatic movement), the Amygdala (emotions), the Hippocampus (memory), the Brain Stem (survival functions such as breathing and hear rate), the Corpus Callosum (communication between right and left hemispheres), and the Cerebellum (motor skills, balance and coordination, and speaking). 3) People with ASD can be extremely intelligent. They will often have a fixated interest on something and when you take these fixated interests and broaden them into a career you can get very successful people living with autism.

4) The rate of autism has risen to 1 in 110, or 1% of the children ages 3-17, and there is a 4:1 ratio of autism in boys to girls. More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes, and cancer combined. Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability, the cause is unclear, and there is no known cure. Children have, however, shown significant improvement from early diagnosis and use of effective interventions. Although autism is more prevalent, it receives far less funding than other less prevalent diseases.
 * Leukemia: Affects 1 in 1,200 / Funding: $277 million
 * Muscular Dystrophy: Affects 1 in 100,000 / Funding: $162 million
 * Pediatric AIDS: Affects 1 in 300 / Funding: $394 million
 * Juvenile Diabetes: Affects 1 in 500 / Funding: $156 million
 * Autism: Affects 1 in 110 / Funding: $79 million

5) Many people with autism feel that their peers and their teachers do not understand them. Teachers and administrators need to learn how to work with children with autism and embrace their differences. Children with autism spectrum disorders learn differently than many other students. There are methods that have been discovered to increase student success and teachers who will be working with students with ASD need to be aware of these methods and the multiple resources available to teachers working with children with ASD.

= Resources If you only have time to look at one resource: =

__**Autism Spectrum, Socialization Problems, and Communication Disorders**__ 5 out of 5 Although a brief slideshow, it does discuss, in detail, the basic information on the autism spectrum and is a very good introduction to the topic. media type="custom" key="12820014" = If you have more time: =

You can read a lot of information about autism spectrum disorders, but I feel that, once you have a good basic understanding, you gain the most by actually experiencing students with these disorders, so I have included videos that look at the lives of children and adults with ASD.

5 out of 5 This is a BBC production that examines what it is like growing up with autism through the eyes of a 13 year old girl, Rosie, who has Asperger's. Rosie also introduces us to other children with autism--Ben, Tony, and her brother Lenny--to give us multiple views of how children are affected by this condition. media type="youtube" key="FeGaffIJvHM" height="315" width="560"
 * __My Autism and Me__**

4 out of 5 This brief documentary about autism was created by Alex Plank, an autistic film director. This documentary is interview-based. media type="youtube" key="jLOCYubVc7g" height="315" width="560"
 * __Autism Reality__**

__**Autism: The Musical**__ 5 out of 5 This documentary is a little over an hour and a half long. If you have time to watch it, it is a very inspirational film. It follows a group of five children with autism who participate in writing, rehearsing, and performing a full-length musical. Although children with autism are diagnosed as not having the ability to do these kinds of things, this film celebrates the human spirit while bringing attention to the epidemic of autism. Part 1 media type="youtube" key="G43qNZjmfz0" height="315" width="420" Part 2 media type="youtube" key="AX5iEDQYE2E" height="315" width="420" Part 3 media type="youtube" key="DkcbjLtD0ws" height="315" width="420" Part 4 media type="youtube" key="Z0GogzLwsC8" height="315" width="420" Part 5 media type="youtube" key="SkFwhR-qYp4" height="315" width="420" Part 6 media type="youtube" key="h99eu6EctPU" height="315" width="420" Part 7 media type="youtube" key="TilyDpobc3A" height="315" width="420"

As well as understanding what Autism Spectrum Disorders are, teachers also need to understand how to best assist the students with ASD in their learning process. There are many sites available that offer information for teachers on this subject. Below are some of my favorites.

http://www.dodea.edu/curriculum/special_ed/pdf/AutismGuide.pdf 5 our of 5 This is a very informative document and gives so much good information for teachers needing to learn more about working with students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. This document has so much valuable information and wonderful strategies for working with children with ASD. __Every teacher should read this__. This guide was designed to provide a framework for decision making and to guide teachers and families in identifying appropriate educational services for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The guide discusses what is meant by ASD and what some characteristics are. The guide then looks at approaches to programming for ASD students, including a developmental approach, applied behavior analysis, structured teaching, psychotherapies, sensorimotor therapies, and play. The guide then discusses the best practices in programs including pupil-teacher ratios, intensity of services, transitioning children from early intervention to school services, collaboration among agencies and providers, parent and family roles, and resource personnel. There is a section on arranging the learning environment because the physical layout of a classroom is very important to consider with planning learning experiences for students with ASD. The guide touches on the physical structure of a classroom, schedules, transitions, and work systems. There is a section discussing challenging behaviors that children with ASD will often present with and how to handle these behaviors, including steps on completing a Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA). The guide also includes a detailed section on communicating with students with ASD. Instructional strategies to use with children with ASD are discussed. There is a section on social skills of children with ASD and a method for training peer partners. The guide discusses essential vocational and life skills that students with ASD need to learn to succeed in life. At the end of the guide, you are given multiple methods for evaluation and assessment of children with ASD.
 * __Reaching and Teaching Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders__**

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/docs/autism.pdf 5 out of 5 This document was written by the Ministry of Education in British Columbia in 2000. This document is similar to the above "Reaching and Teaching Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders" document. This document is longer and includes a section specifically on teaching students with Asperger's, directions on developing IEPs, and offers case studies. Analysis and observation charts are also included in this document. A very helpful section that this document includes is a section listing multiple additional resources you can use to further your research.
 * __Teaching Students With Autism: A Resource Guide for Schools__**

__**These websites are great collections of resources for teachers working with children with ASD.**__ __//TeachersFirst's Resources on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Asperger's//__ http://www.teachersfirst.com/spectopics/autism-asperger.cfm 5 out of 5 This website offers teachers a wonderful collection of resources to aid them in educating students with ASD. Each website offered gives a quick summary of what kind of information is given as well as the grade level the information is recommended for and what kind of resources each site has to share.

__//Site for Autistic Support Teachers//__ http://www.angelfire.com/pa5/as/asteachersites.html 5 out of 5 This website offers a huge collection of supports for working with children with ASD. There are a ton of free, printable symbols available for picture boards. There are also a lot of websites dealing with all aspects of supporting students in your school or classroom with ASD.

//__Teaching Methodologies Information__// http://trainland.tripod.com/teaching.htm 5 out of 5 This website offers multiple resources on teaching methodologies that can help teachers work better with students with autism.

//__TeacherVision: Social Skills and Autism__// http://www.teachervision.fen.com/autism/resource/10154.html 5 out of 5 TeacherVision is a wonderful website full of resources for educators and this particular page on the site gives multiple resources with techniques and strategies for teachers to help their students with and without autism interact with each other.

__**Special Education Services**__ __**Autism: Interventions and Strategies for Success**__ http://www.specialed.us/autism/index2.htm 5 out of 5 This site provides six very informational articles on autism written by Susan Stokes, an autism consultant working for the Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) #7, Department of Special Education. A PDF print version of the six articles is available here, http://www.specialed.us/autism/Autism.pdf, but the web version of these articles include pictorial displays of the tools and strategies discussed in the articles. The six articles are: Assistive Technology for Children with Autism, Children with Asperger's Syndrome: Characteristics/Learning Styles and Intervention Strategies, Effective Programming for Young Children with Autism (Ages 3-5), Structured Teaching: Strategies for Supporting Students with Autism, Increasing Expressive Communication Skills for Verbal Children with Autism, Developing Expressive Communication Skills for Non-Verbal Children with Autism. This website also has many additional valuable resources, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

__**Understanding Autism & Positive Behaviour Support**__ 5 out of 5 This slideshow was produced in Australia and gives clear and valuable information on using positive behaviour support programs with students with autism spectrum disorders. media type="custom" key="12820826"

__**Teaching Tips for Children and Adults with Autism**__ http://www.angelfire.com/ky/touristinfo/index4.html 3 out of 5 Dr. Temple Grandin is a scientist, best-selling author, and professor at Colorado State University. She is also a person with autism. This list was written by Dr. Grandin in July 1996 to give educators tips to follow when working with people who have autism. According to Dr. Grandin, "Children with autism need to have a structured day, and teachers who know how to be firm but gentle." These tips help educators reach these needs. Also of interest are the books she has written, which give invaluable insight into the lives of people living with autism. You can explore her work at www.templegrandin.com.

http://www.education.com/print/parent-teacher-communication-autism/ 3 out of 5 This article, from education.com, describes the roles that parents and teachers should take to have effective informal communication about their student with autism. Laura Shumaker, an author and mother of a child with autism, feels that communication between parents and teachers should be constant and detailed and this document shows some of the steps that parents can take to facilitate good communication with their student's teachers.
 * __Communication between Parents and Teachers of Autistic Children__**

__//**Disability Community Based Learning Project**//__

For my community based learning project I decided to attend an IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting at Kalmiopsis Elementary in Brookings to learn more about the IEP process and what role each participant plays in the process. On Tuesday, January 24, 2012 I was invited to attend an annual IEP meeting for a student in elementary school. I didn't know which student the meeting was for until I got there, but it turned out to be a student I had worked with in the classroom on multiple occasions, which was nice because I felt more comfortable in my understanding of the situation. When we reached the meeting room, Helena--the principal--introduced me to the other people in attendance. I had worked with the Special Education teacher multiple times and she felt very at ease having me in attendance, which was also nice. To start the meeting, Laura--the Special Education teacher--has us all introduce ourselves and sign in. There were seven people in attendance: myself, Laura, Helena, Daniel (the general education teacher), Hege (the occupational therapist), Amy (the physical therapist) was on speakerphone, and Christina (the student's mother).

The student whose IEP we were discussing was a 5th grade male student born in 2000 who suffers from **Duchenne muscular dystrophy.** I knew that MD affects muscles, but did not know any details, so I went home and researched the child's disability and gained the following information from a website called PubMed Health. DMD is an inherited disorder and involves rapidly worsening muscle weakness. Other forms of MD worsen at a much slower rate than DMD. DMD is caused by the presence of a defective gene for dystrophin, which is a protein in the muscles. It can often occur in people without family history of the condition. DMD affects males more frequently than females and approximately 1 out of every 3,600 male infants are affected. There are multiple symptoms and they usually appear before age 6. Some symptoms include fatigue, mental retardation, muscle weakness, and progressive difficulty walking. Commonly by age 10 the child may need braces for walking and by age 12, most are vonfined to a wheelchair. There is no known cure for DMD so treatment is meant to control symptoms and maximize the person's quality of life. Activity is highly encouraged. DMD worsens very quickly and death usually occurs by age 25, typically associated with lung disorders.

Learning more about this disease made me realize what an exceptional person this student it. At his age he is expected to be using braces or even confined to a wheelchair, but he isn't. In addition to his physical disability, he also has some sort of learning and/or mental disabilities--though it wasn't discussed in much detail during the meeting.

After taking attendance, Laura began discussing the IEP. The primary issue they discussed was his physical disabilities. He has a very low endurance, though many agreed he has been improving, and they also agreed that he has gained strength, which they were all very excited about. The first item in the IEP that the team went over was the Special Factors that must be considered as part of IEP development. There are six factors: Does the student need assistive technology devises or services?; Does the student have communication needs?; Does the student exhibit behavior that impedes his learning or the learning of others?; Does the student have limted English proficiency?; Is the student blind or visually imparied?; and Is the student deaf or hard of hearing? The Special Factors needing consideration for this student are communication needs and behavior that impedes his learning or the learning others. At this time, assistive technology devises or services are not necessary, but a note was made that it may become necessary within this year. Both of the Special Factors are discussed in depth in the IEP.

Next the team discussed these factors in more depth. Daniel, discussed how the whole class works as a team to help the student. He does exercises every day at home and at school and they focus on stretching. Christine pointed out that he has really started wanting to be involved with other kids and the therapists agreed. He will hurry to get done with therapy so he can return to his class. He does often try to distract others and this is something that does need work. He should be receiving Speech Language therapy, but there is no Speech Language Pathologist employed by the school district at this time so no services are actually being given. They turned to the mother and wanted to know her specific concerns so they could discuss them as a team. Christine is concerned with the gaps his math skills and says he gets frustrated very quickly. She is also worried about his transition to Azalea (our middle school) next year. Recommendation were made to go and meet and introduce the student to the 6th grade teachers he will encounter before school begins. A positive aspect is that his physcial and occupational therapists will remain the same and go with him to Azalea. The general education teacher, Daniel, is concerned that the student has figured out how to kind of play everyone and they are doing too much for him that he is capable of doing himself.

Next the team discussed the student's strengths--wanting to participate and physical improvement--and his weaknesses--time management and behavior issues. This led into the discussion of his goals and objectives. There are measurable Annual Goals listed in the IEP and for each Annual Goal, there are multiple measurable shot-term Objectives to help him reach the Annual Goals. The behavioral goals have not been met, so they remain unchanged and in effect.

The team next looked at the student's Service Summary. There are four sections in the Service Summary: 1) Specially Designed Instruction; 2) Related Services; 3) Supplementary Aids/Services:Modifications/Acccommodations; and 4) Support for School Personnel. In addition to the services, the summary also tells the anticipated amount/frequency, antipated location, starting date, ending date, and the provider. This particular student is receiving specially designed instruction in Math, Communication, Adaptive PE, and Social/Behavior. He is also receiving Occupational and Physical Therapy. The accommodations listed are preferential seating, read math orally, access to adult supervision for field trips, allow to walk at own pace, break tasks into small steps, frequent checks for understanding, extended time on assignments, and shortened assignments. The school personnel is supported by consultation to teaching staff and SLP consultation. At the bottom of the Service Summary there is a section about Nonparticipation Justification. This section asks if the student needs to be removed from the regular classroom, extracurricular, or nonacademic activities for the provision of special education services, related services, or supplementary aids and services. In this case, yes. The team them need to document the parameters of the removal and justification for the removal.

Finally the team touched on assessments. There are Statewide Assessments and the student will participate. However, there are no District Assessments for the student to participate in, so that part of the IEP is left blank.

The team ended the meeting by explaining that the current IEP is good for one year, but they will be meeting again at the end of the year with the student's new case manager from Azalea to make sure everyone is aware of how the transition to the middle school will happen and everyone is clear on the student's needs.

Once the meeting was officially over I asked a couple of questions. One for Christine was if she felt comfortable explaining to me what his actual diagnosis was. That is when she told me about Duchenne muscular dystrophy. I also asked about the actual evaluation process. I found out that they are required to complete annual evaluations and, although they must make multiple attempts to have the parent/s present, the parent is not required to be present for the annual to occur. However, there is also a three year re-evaluation process that happens to re-establish a student's eligibility and the parent/s must be present for this process to go forward. I also asked if Christine would allow me to keep a copy of the IEP so that I could refer back to it if needed. She was very nice and said that would be no problem. I was very thankful to her, and the whole team, for allowing me to be a part of this process and told them that I really feel that I learned a lot from this opportunity. At home, I reviewed my notes as well as the IEP packet that Christine allowed me to take home. Most of the information was familiar and I remembered reviewing it in the meeting, but the third piece of the packet was not discussed. The first page is the IEP Meeting Participants page where we all signed in. The second page was the Special Factors page that we discussed. The next section of the IEP discusses the student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance. We did not really discuss this information during the meeting. This information discussed his test results and present academic levels. It also discussed his functional performances. I don't know why this information was not discussed in the meeting. I am thinking that maybe there wasn't any updated information in the report and it had been discussed before, so the team did not go over it again, but I don't know.

For the most part, Laura was the one talking during the meeting. She would bring up concerns and Christine would often add to the discussion. Helena had to leave early because she had a district meeting and Amy (who was on the phone) had her next appointment show up so she had to leave also. Daniel stayed a while longer, but he left early also. Laura, Christine, Hege, and I finished the meeting. It seemed to me that Laura and Christine were the most important participants in the meeting and the others were there to listen to the discussion and, at times, add their input. I don't know if this is the way the team meeting is supposed to go, but it is my impression of the meeting I attended.

I found the IEP meeting that I attended to be very educational in teaching me more about the processes behind an IEP and how much time and effort goes into creating and implementing the IEP of each exceptional student in our school. The meeting I attended started at 2:45pm and we did not finish until 4:00-4:15pm. It really made me have a better appreciation for the special education teachers who have to be involved in every IEP procedure. There are so many laws and rules to know. At one point in the meeting the team was trying to decide how to word something. Helena made a suggestion and Laura said it wouldn't work...it was too vague and Lynn (the Special Education Director for the district) would not like it or accept it. I made me really appreciate the procedure of involving a whole team of people to create the IEP because you can have help and feedback to find the best procedures for each student. I was also very happy to see what a strong presence that Christine was in the process of her son's IEP meeting and his services. When we were talking, she discussed all the efforts outside of class that she goes through to help her son. He has a specialist in Ohio he sees at least once a year. He also goes to OHSU numerous times a year for appointments. She also is constantly researching special trials for him to participate in that might be able to help her son. She is such a strong woman and obviously cares so much for her son. It was refreshing. I am so glad that I had this opportunity to observe and learn more about the processes involved in IEPs. It was a very good look into what I will be experiencing once I become a classroom teacher and I appreciate the chance to have a preview before I go into the real thing as a participant.