All About Autism

March is National Disability Awareness Month. 

I think sometimes that we have so many “Awareness” months that they become trite and inconsequential.  Certainly, we are all aware of disabilities. But it was not so long ago that persons with disabilities were not thought to be able or worthy to receive an education.  Their only option was spending their life at home or being sent away to an institution to be forgotten.  That was the case in the early 50’s, just 70 years ago.  

Institutional reforms began in the 1960’s, and we in Erie were fortunate to have Gertrude Barber as a member of the Presidential Committee that brought to the forefront the needs of persons with developmental disabilities.  

Legislation was enacted in the 70’s to ensure the education and rehabilitation of children and adults with disabilities.  In 1987 President Reagan proclaimed March as Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. This proclamation, which was built upon the institutionalization movement of the 70’s and 80’s, inspired further social change by asking Americans to provide the “encouragement and opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to reach their potential.”

Fortunately, advocates continued to push for change by encouraging Congress to recognize that persons with disabilities deserve more. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 made discrimination against people with disabilities sanctionable. Soon after the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1994 passed, which guaranteed early intervention and special education.

So today in March 2022, the goal of the Barber National Institute continues: to enable children and adults with disabilities to fully participate in all aspects of the community whether it is education employment, housing, or recreation.   We are committed to working with families to secure necessary resources to achieve the dreams for their child or adults. 

We look forward to your continued support to enable us “to make dreams come true for our families” and to keep disability services at the forefront of our legislators and community.

Join us in celebrating this week, Read Across America!  Established in 1997 by the National Education Association, it is recognized on March 2, which is also the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  Dr. Seuss published his first book in 1937 and throughout his life wrote 47 children’s books noted for their playful rhymes and unusual characters. Theodore Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) was born March 2, 1904, and he passed away September 24, 1991.  

He was not a doctor, but he used the term to appease his Father who expected him to study medicine.  He has become somewhat controversial in the last few years by those that suggest that his work is not inclusive and does not reflect our diverse communities. The students at the Elizabeth Lee School, along with thousands of children across the country, will celebrate this day with numerous festivities. 

On a personal note, Ryan and I have celebrated this week in several ways.  He loves his Green Eggs and Ham, so that will definitely be on our breakfast menu.  He is also reading to the children in Happy Hearts Green Eggs and Ham.

Starting Monday, we have Red Shirt Day followed by Crazy Hat Day, Goofy Hair Day, Mix/Match Day and finally Crazy Sock Day on Friday.  Pre COVID, we had 50 + friends, supporters, and community leaders join us to read to the students.   We will continue to do this but conduct our reading virtually.  Hopefully, this will be our last year to do so before we can get back to in-person reading.

I am reading to the students as well.  I have carried on Dr. Barber’s tradition of wearing a Dr. Seuss hat for this.   She thoroughly enjoyed this event…and I do as well. My favorite past time is reading…did you guess!

I will close with the quote which is one of my favorites: “Kids, you will move mountains!  Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting!”

It may be difficult to believe, but Digital Learning Day (DLD) is today, February 22^th! It seems like yesterday that we were in the gym welcoming our exhibitors, staff, and friends from the community to this event. And then came COVID-19! We are continuing restrictions on visitors this year.

This year at the Elizabeth Lee Black School, we are using DLD as a way to celebrate the success of our educators, therapists and paraprofessionals who created and implemented research-based instructional practices that use technology both an in-school and virtual learning environment.

I think back to when we purchased our first Apple 11E…could that have been over 30 years ago?  Fortunately we had a handful of staff, led by Chris Curcio, who wanted to learn everything and anything about Apple.  Who would have guessed that today we would not only have mastered computers, but be using iPads, smartboards, TAPits, Smart TVs, Apple TVs, and webcams, just to name a few!

We have come so far in the past three years! And I am pleased to say that we have been very successful. We’ve developed a brief presentation to highlight some of our accomplishments that you can view here: https://prezi.com/view/CPC2KTJCkgbxphsHjjFn/

Enjoy!

Are you familiar with “developmental milestones”? They are the skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, or waving bye-bye. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, move (i.e., from crawling to walking).

I was very interested to read that the developmental milestones are being updated, which is the first time since 2004.  These revisions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in collaboration with the Academy of Pediatrics, were developed by a group of 13 developmental experts and pediatricians.  The revisions raised the percentage of children who typically meet certain milestones from 50 to 75%.  Also, the CDC added milestones for 15 months and 30 months and defined social and emotional markers such as when a child hugs a doll or another toy.   

Certainly, there have been societal changes as to when children are expected to complete various activities, such as tying their shoes and picking up cereal.  These changes are designed to give parents, doctors, and therapists clearer benchmarks as to when children typically do things. 

I believe many parents use these developmental guidelines as a marker for how their child is progressing or not.  I know that I kept a copy of them at my bedside and would periodically see how Ryan was doing.  When I saw that his expressive language skills were not on par, I referred him for a speech and language group.  He was 14 months. 

Certainly, as a person in the field, I was very conscious of the milestones, perhaps more so than many parents. 

Why are they important?

These new guidelines will support parents and physicians in considering referrals for evaluation. The earlier diagnosis will result in earlier intervention services, which is a WIN/WIN for all.

In the Elizabeth Lee Black School, we celebrate all of the holidays by decorating the classroom doors and windows. It always amazes me as to the creativity of our staff and students.  I confess, that when it comes to art projects, that definitely is NOT one of my strengths!  So, I thought that I might share some of the activities our staff are doing with the students so that you might try them out with your children at home. 

One of our classrooms made mess-free finger painting. The staff put paper down, poured some paint of the children’s’ choices (Valentine’s Day colors) on it, and covered with plastic and taped the corners down. The students “finger painted” and spread all the colors out, and then staff added a cut out heart around it and put the student’s name stamp in the corner.

Another classroom is doing a couple Valentine’s Day projects:  

“I love you to pieces” tissue paper heart – Students used two hands to tear tissue paper (red, pink, white) into pieces. Students then glued the pieces of tissue paper inside a Valentine’s Day heart.

Pom Pom Painting Heart – Students used big, fluffy pom poms attached to clothes pins to “dip and dab” red and pink paint around a heart outline. Once the students were completed, we lifted the heart outline off the canvas they were painting on. Each student’s pom pom heart is a little different, which makes it even more fun!

Another art activity for Valentine’s Day is one that can modified for any ability level using watercolor paper, color spritzers (spray pump bottles with shimmer paint) and a cut-out heart. Trace a heart, cut it out, attach to paper with tape, spritz paint, remove heart. You can mix any color paint with water to make the spritz.

The PreK Counts program used air dried clay to make hearts using cookie cutters and then painted them. Children also brought in their own boxes to decorate as their Valentine mailboxes (first covered them with wrapping paper of their choice and then they used stickers, sequins, heart cutouts and doilies to decorate them. Kristin Fisher, a PreK Counts teachers says, “We also take the time during the week of Valentine’s Day to focus on being a good friend and I love the “love monster” book series to read with the students and we make our very own love monsters.”

Happy Valentine’s Day!

On an annual basis, I like to look back at some of the interesting research of the past year and share some of the most salient parts. Today, I am focusing on new strategies in autism screening.

Strategies in Autism Screening

Wearable sensors are providing a novel way to track early development. A mobile app tracks toddlers’ gaze patterns, which had been shown to distinguish children with autism from their typical peers. Voice recorders are also being used to track small differences in young children’s speech.

Motion sensors are being utilized to evaluate how babies move, their speed, and the complexity of their movements throughout the day. Babies with fewer complex movements are at greater risk of developing autism.

A new deep learning model flags toddlers with autism based on patterns of other conditions in the children’s medical record.  The algorithm generates predictions based on patterns of conditions that often concur with autism. The model identified diagnostic codes grouped into 17 categories of conditions associated with autism, including immunological disorders and infectious diseases.  The algorithm combed the electronic health records of more than 4 million children 6 and younger, including 15,000 with autism.  The autism co-morbid risk score is an estimate of how likely a child with a particular history of comorbidities is to be later diagnosed with autism. A score above a certain level indicates that a child should be referred for diagnostic testing.  The algorithm accurately identified 82% of autistic children at 2 and 90% at 4.  

There is a growing push to expand genetic screening for newborns to improve early identification of some autism linked conditions. Additional genetic conditions linked to autism include Fragile S, Rett and Angelman.  But the process to add a condition is lengthy and complicated. 

How to make research more efficient, more cost effective, and operate on a geographical scale is the challenge facing researchers today. It will be very interesting to read what evolves in 2022.

The Elizabeth Lee Black School has always been a place where each and every one of our students are celebrated for his or her unique talents and contributions while being given the opportunity to pursue his or her full potential. As we come to a close on School Choice Week, we learn more about the many aspects of our school that students love so much. Here are some additional pieces of artwork students at the Elizabeth Lee Black School made this week. The Elizabeth Lee Black School is one of a kind, and we are so happy to support our incredible students!

School Choice Week is always an exciting time to learn about what aspects of the Elizabeth Lee Black School our students love so much. From the adaptive playground equipment, which allows for enrichment of our students, to the opportunity to interact with their teachers and friends through hands-on learning, our students showcase their love for the Elizabeth Lee Black School through their artwork. Here are a few examples of students’ artwork created for School Choice Week!

Great students and great schools deserve a celebration. From Hawaii to Erie to New York City, America will light up in yellow and red to raise awareness about K-12 education opportunities during National School Choice Week, January 23-29.

Starting today, National School Choice Week is the largest ever celebration of opportunity in K-12 education… Millions are participating in over 50,000 events and activities from coast to coast.

This week is inclusive, positive and welcoming with the theme of raising awareness of all educational options: public, charter, private, magnet, online and homeschooling. The goal is that families can find schools and learning environments that best meet the needs of their children and parents can be part of the decision-making process.

One of the favorite activities of our students is responding to the question, “Why do I like my school?” Check out their responses over the next few days. The responses are as different and unique as our children. Some write their responses, others use pictures. It’s a joy to read each child’s comments.

School choice week acknowledges the importance of choosing a school based upon a student’s learning preference whether it be Montessori, traditional, or virtual learning. My and our school’s motto is that if a student is not learning, it is our responsibility as teachers and administrators to determine how the student does learn. Many children come to us after failing in their previous education environments, and it is up to us to determine how to teach him/her for success.

Be sure to watch for pictures of National School Choice Week at the Elizabeth Lee Black School! Our school is one of a kind…The BEST!

It has been a challenging year!

We remain committed to “stay in school” barring COVID cases.  We have closed individual classrooms based on COVID but fortunately have not needed to close the school.  Many if not most of our staff were vaccinated in our clinics in January and February and with the ability to vaccinate children now from 5 and up, we are seeing more of our student body vaccinated.  When we do quarantine, we move to virtual instruction.  I am very proud of our school team who have become “experts” at virtual instruction.  Currently we are investigating the opportunity for in- school testing funded by Pennsylvania Department of Education.  I will keep you informed as to how this develops.

Grants have been a wonderful opportunity for us!  We have received funding from the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, the Childcare stabilization program, the Governor’s Emergency Education and Relief and Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools.  This has allowed us to make numerous facilities improvements, provide funds for premium pay, recruitment and retention, Personal Protective Equipment, an Outdoor classroom, Smartboards, technology, and technology infrastructure.

Our collaborations have continued. In the General McClane School District we offer a therapeutic Elementary classroom, and an Autism Support classroom which has allowed their students to remain in district and receive intensive supports from BNI staff.  Our Early Intervention Therapeutic Program is housed at Emerson Gridley and meeting the needs of three- to five-year-old children who have some intense therapeutic needs. We are consulting with the Titusville School District with their student who require multidisciplinary support and students with Autism.  I hope to continue to expand our collaborations so that we can provide the expertise and intensive support from BNI staff within the neighborhood schools of school districts.

Family engagement has increased as we frequently have daily contact with families on Teams and are able to demonstrate skills during remote sessions and in person instruction.  Families often “jump on” teams and interact with their children.  As a parent expressed to me” This is the most wonderful experience.  I can see what my child can do and what I need to do to help him learn.”

So, yes there have been struggles with COVID but I am proud of our staff, our students and our families who are meeting these challenges every day.  2022 will be a very good year!