Title: Successful Practices for the Inclusion of Students with ASD in Regular Classes
1Successful Practices for the Inclusion of
Students with ASD in Regular Classes
From Policy to Implementation
- Moira Sinclair Louise Moreau
- Ontario Ministry York Region District
- of Education School Board
- moira.sinclair_at_edu.gov.on.ca louise.moreau_at_yrdsb.
edu.on.ca
2Ministry of Education
- The Education Act governs the operation of
schools and school boards
3Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)
- Stipulates that every individual is equal before
and under the law, and has the right to equal
protection and equal benefit of the law without
discrimination and, in particular, without
discrimination based on race, national or ethnic
origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or
physical disability.
4Ontario Human Rights Code (1989, Revised 2000)
- Administered by the Ontario Human Rights
Commission - Supports equal treatment for all individuals
- November 2004 Commission released Guidelines for
Accessible Education following their 2003
Consultation Report
5Ontario Human Rights Code (1989, Revised 2000
cont.)
- This document sets out a broad definition of
disability, from a human rights perspective along
with key policy positions on the duty to
accommodate and the undue hardship standard.
6Ontarians with Disabilities Act(ODA) 2001
- The purpose of this Act is to improve
opportunities for persons with disabilities and
to provide for their involvement in the
identification, removal and prevention of
barriers to their full participation in the life
of the province.
7Under the Education Act
- School boards must enrol all pupils who have a
right to attend - A pupil has the right to attend until the age of
21 - A pupil has the right to attend secondary school
for 7 years - Special education programs and services are
provided to Ontario residents without payment of
fees.
8Hierarchy of Legislation
- The Ontario Education Act
- Regulations under the Act
- Ministry Memoranda
- Standards and Guidelines
- Board Policies and Procedures
9Policy/Program Memoranda(Statements of Ministry
Policy)
- 11 Early and Ongoing Identification of
Childrens Learning Needs - 81 Provision of Health Support Services in
School Settings
10Roles and Responsibilities
11Funding
- A. Funding Allocation
- The special education envelope continues to be
protected with some differentiation that occurs
to reflect funding for students with very high
need. - The administrative time required to identify the
student with high need is to be kept to a
minimum, ensuring that the focus for service is
on the students, not on paper work. - The cost of providing programming, supports and
services is shared among Ministries for those
students requiring extensive care and treatment
within the school day. - Those aspects of the current model that are
effective are to be maintained.
12Funding cont.
- B. Flexibility
- Boards are provided with the flexibility to make
decisions locally so they are able to provide the
most appropriate programs, individualized
supports and services for students with special
education needs. - C. Accountability
- There is a focus on accountability for the
allocation of special education funds used to
provide programs and services, as well as a
demonstrating the improvement of student results.
13Universal Themes
- Learner is always right children with autism
will teach us how they learn best - Students with ASD are entitled to environments
that - maintain academic, social and communicative
achievement - positively facilitate acceptable behaviour
- recognize that students with ASD are inductive
learners not deductive learners - Continued capacity building through professional
development keep it alive! - provincial conference, regional forums,
Board-lead initiatives, symposium - networking opportunities, - at regional (e.g.
portal) and board specific
14Universal Themes
- The prevalence of ASD is increasing
- Coordination of provincial government,
educational systems, schools and communities - Essential Triad
- technology - teaching procedures
- coordination - consistent application of
technologies - utilization effective implementation
- Team work and collaboration are essential to
ensuring positive outcomes for children and youth
with ASD
15Leadership Provincially and Locally
- Cultivation of optimism and competency We can
do it attitude - Change must be developed with staff, parents and
administrators - Involvement of all school staff from the earliest
stages - Specific goals and implementation strategies
should be developed to guide organizational
change and program implementation
16Ontario Gets Excited!
- Ministry of Education drafts Standards for
Programs and Service Delivery for ASD - Ministry of Education provides funds for the
piloting of the draft Standards - Ministry of Education coordinates and funds
Provincial Conference on ASD with International
speakers (English and French) - Ministry of Education invites other Government
Ministries to participate
17Ontario Gets More Excited!
- Ministry of Education funds 7 Regional Forums on
ASD, hosted by 7 local school boards for 72
school boards, 33 school authorities and 10
Provincial school sites (English and French) - Ministry funded 100 delegates from 10 boards
board prepared for 500 delegates
18Ontario Gets More Excited!
- Ministry of Education makes available additional
specific funding for assertive technology and
resources for the ASD population - Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the
Ministry of Education partner to provide School
Support Programs
19York Region District School BoardSteps up to the
Plate
- Forum proposal was written and accepted as one of
the 7 host boards - Steering committee comprised of board, Ministry
and parent representation - Forum topics were based on
- local district issues of principals, teachers
and teaching assistants - Improved educational planning, programming and
instruction for students with ASD
20York Region District School BoardSteps up to the
Plate
- Planning committee structured the Forum as a
vehicle for perpetuating the excitement of
ongoing learning, planning and leadership in the
area of ASD for years to come by - Inviting a renowned and captivating keynote
speaker (Michael Powers)
21York Region District School BoardSteps up to the
Plate
- Providing practical, relevant workshop sessions
(leadership, planning instruction themes) - Keeping the momentum after the forum
- Fostering networks among the boards
- Providing a website for continued interactions
(newsletter, discussions, Qs As)
22Supporting Structures at the Local Level
- The YRDSB has established
- A multidisciplinary ASD support team
- Programming
- Crisis response
- Linkages with community agencies
- Professional development series
- Demonstration sites
- School Support Program partnership
23Key Emerging ThemesPlanning
- Children with autism will teach us how they learn
best - program development needs a choreographer
- no one discipline can have all the parts
- Make use of baseline assessment to inform
instruction - Have a vision of what you want the child to be
able to do - identify the steps for learning
- teach for success
- Well defined appropriate program goals
considering strengths and needs in - academics
- communication
- social
- behaviour/self-regulation
- sensory
- Team approach with strong home/school partnership
24Instruction
- Student at the centre
- explicit teaching of communication, social
interaction, behaviour and academics - paced at the level of the learner
- Its only effective if it works
- you have to try it and create your own evidence
base
25Instruction - Academics
- Instruction is evidence-based
- Formative assessment continually informs
instruction - Multiple sources of data used
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Instruction is based on evidence that
demonstrates understanding of the learning
26Instruction - Communication
- Behaviour is Communication!
- teaching functional communication replaces
challenging behaviors
27Instruction - Social
- SOCIAL COMPETENCE
- Best predictor of positive, long term outcomes
for people with special needs - Need to find time to teach social skills
28Instruction Behaviour/Self-regulation
- Functional Ecological approach specific
environment where the behaviour fits - Outcome was the change good enough?
- Teach students what to DO not what not to do
- Focus on POSITIVE methods for changing behaviour
29Instruction Sensory
- Student with sensory dysfunction has three coping
options - Aggression
- Flight - avoid or escape
- Fright
- Cannot learn without support for sensory needs
30Leadership Learning to Date
- Multidisciplinary Team Models system supports
- supporting schools with program development and
delivery - Building capacity of regular education teachers,
administrators makes it work - Special Educators need a team
- coordinated multidisciplinary approach in
classrooms - Advocacy and collaboration
- be prepared to build positive relationships with
families under difficult conditions - Listen to parents perspectives.
- Cultivate trained, caring school community
- Generalization of models/structures,
implementation process, strategies and supports
to all students