Teacher provides structure
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
BENTONVILLE - When Mackenzie Wilson's seven students arrive in her classroom each day, they are each given a sticker that tells them to check their schedule.
The children then go find their large, colored schedule on the wall and find out what they need to do next. They repeat this step between each activity. Each schedule is color-coded to match a student's assigned color. A square with that color is also placed on the floor in front of the door so a student knows where he or she is to stand in line. Another square of that same color shows the student where he or she will sit.
All are somewhat common procedures for young children, but in most classrooms, this much structure becomes unnecessary after a day or two. Students in Wilson's class, however, need that structure every day to be able to learn. All of her students have disorders on the autism spectrum.
"Autism spectrum disorders, also known as pervasive developmental disorders, cause severe and pervasive impairment in thinking, feeling, language and the ability to relate to others," according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Wilson is the teacher for Apple Glen Elementary School's first classroom dedicated entirely to children with autism. There are a growing number of such classrooms in the district because of the number of children with disorders on the autism spectrum who are being diagnosed or moving into the district. All of Wilson's students receive some form of therapy, including occupational, physical and speech therapy. Therapists handle those services, and it's Wilson's job to minister to the students' academic needs.
Although her certification allows her to teach up to the fourth grade, all of Wilson's students are either in kindergarten or first grade. Her classroom employs a mixture of standard methods - such as the use of centers - and specific methods for the needs of a child with autism. Take, for example, the visual schedules. A child with autism will have some form of a visual schedule throughout his academic career. The form will simply change to meet the child's perception needs and age.
"A child with autism needs a lot of structure and routine," she said. "The visual schedules help with that. It helps them process (the information ). A child with autism processes better with visuals than with auditory."
All of Wilson's students also require what are called "sensory breaks," in which they will perform a variety of activities based on their individual needs. This includes exercises, such as playing on a special swing, bouncing a ball or even being touched with a "sensory brush. "Children with autism don't process their sensory information the way most children do, and the sensory breaks help them become more focused.
"It calms them down," she said. "It helps because their body senses are out of whack."
Wilson first became interested in teaching children with autism during her college days when she was a nanny for a family with a child with autism. She then had a student with autism in her pre-kindergarten classroom when she studenttaught, Wilson said.
"I just loved it," she said.
Her work is apparently paying off; both school-work and parent reports show that not only are her students behaving better, they are learning, Wilson said with a smile.
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