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Autistic students at Lex school step out of their normal routines to say 'Thanks'
Photo by: Malena Ward, Kearney Hub
Student Alex Cast and her mother, Jenny Cast, attend the autism program’s second-annual Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner is a way to bring together and say thanks to the many adults who support the children. Alex did much work creating placemats and setting the tables for the dinner. She also made cupcakes for dessert.
LEXINGTON — It disrupted their routine, but a class of autistic students in Lexington thanked parents, teachers, para educators and a team of support staff with a Thanksgiving dinner.
Guests invited to the second-annual dinner included a bus driver, school nurses, social workers, speech pathologists, psychologists, school board members and school administrators such as the special education director. It was a large group of adults for less than a handful of students, but all had ties to making life better for these children.
Teacher and autism coordinator Lori Pflaster said some token of appreciation seemed appropriate because the students require a lot of assistance. Three of the students are non-verbal.
“We are a high-needs group. They hear from us a lot,” said teacher Dianne Karges of the network of support personnel gathered for the dinner Friday. The turkey served during the meal was raised and donated by Superintendent Todd Chessmore, said Pflaster.
The students prepared for the occasion by making paper placemats with painted handprints embellished to resemble turkeys.
Alex Cast, a fifth-grader, set the tables and made cupcakes for dessert. Miniature pumpkins used as table decor were obtained by the students during a field trip to a pumpkin patch in Cozad.
“The dinner is not so much for the kids. It is for the family, to see the support,” Pflaster said.
The meal broke the students’ routine. On a more typical day, they each sit at the same spot at a circular table within their classroom at lunch and eat from the colored trays they prefer to use.
Learning to use a fork and table manners is part of their training. Pflaster said the students don’t eat within the school’s cafeteria because that would be too overwhelming.
Pflaster said of classroom instruction, “We pretty much work one-on-one or two-on-one,” referring to the ratio of teachers to students. She noted that the class of four students uses a modular classroom at Sandoz Elementary School and is served each school day by two full-time teachers and five para-educators — three are full time and two work part time.
A student’s daily schedule is depicted through simple picture/word cards on the wall under a student’s name near the entrance to the classroom. Working from top to bottom, a student selects a task and goes to the appropriate station to complete it. Each student has an office or workstation where he or she can work without the distraction of others. The room also has areas for music or tactile stimulation.
The students are taught how to use a picture exchange communication system book to indicate their wants, such as preferences for food, activities or colors. They receive a snack daily that they must ask for.
Lexington Public Schools has 30 students identified with autism spectrum disorder or ASD. There is a wide level of function with ASD, and only four of the students are grouped in the Sandoz classroom. The others attend traditional classes.
Statistics suggest that one in 91 children have a condition considered part of the autism spectrum, and there is a greater rate among boys. Districtwide, only two girls are diagnosed as autistic, Pflaster said.
The children function at an 18-month age level and greater, she said. Some are high-functioning academically with top scores in a subject such as math, but they lack social skills. They may also lack organization skills.
Pflaster said she taught in a regular classroom for 12 years before coming to Lexington five years ago when a position opened in the autism program.
“It just kind of became a passion,” she said of her love for the students. “The kids are so unique. Everyone is different.”
Pflaster and Karges said even with the same students and same structured routine each day is different — something they are grateful for because it makes their work rewarding.
e-mail to:
betsy.friedrich@kearneyhub.com
Autism Spectrum Disorders facts
Autism spectrum disorders are a group of developmental disabilities caused by a problem with the brain, although scientists do not know yet what causes this problem. Its effects on a person’s functioning can be mild to severe. There usually is nothing in appearance that sets those with this disorder apart, but they may communicate, interact, behave and learn in ways that are different from most people. Thinking and learning abilities of people with ASDs varies from gifted to severely challenged. Autistic disorder is the most commonly known type of ASD, but there are others, including pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified and Asperger Syndrome.
More info on autism
According to Lori Pfaster, teacher and Lexington’s autism program coordinator, every person with autism is an individual, and like all individuals, has a unique personality and combination of characteristics. Some mildly affected people may exhibit only slight delays in language and greater challenges with social interactions. They may have difficulty initiating and/or maintaining a conversation. Their communication is often described as talking at others instead of to them.
People with autism also process and resend information in unique ways. In some cases, aggressive and or self-injurious behavior may be present. People with autism may also exhibit some of the following traits:
- Insistence on sameness; resistance to change
- Difficulty in expressing needs, using gestures or pointing instead of words
- Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language
- Laughing and/or crying for no apparent reason; showing distress for reasons not apparent to others
- Preference to being alone; aloof manner
- Tantrums
- Difficulty in mixing with others
- Not wanting to cuddle or be cuddled
- Little or no eye contact
- Unresponsive to normal teaching methods
- Sustained odd play
- Spinning objects
- Obsessive attachment to objects
- Apparent oversensitivity or undersensitivity to pain
- No real fears of danger
- Noticeable physical overactivity or extreme underactivity
- Uneven gross/fine motor skills
- Nonresponsive to verbal cues; acts as if deaf, although hearing tests in normal range
More about lexington
Posted in Local on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:30 pm Updated: 8:13 am. | Tags: Lexington,
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PTL247
Thank you to the teachers and staff who make each student's day a little brighter. Not everyone is able to work with a special needs child, it is a gift. Isolation use to be the trademark of dealing with those with Developmental Disabilities. I remember as a child going to school in Sumner, these students would go to a special school in Cozad and nothing much was said about them. Now, being a parent of a child with Moderate/ Severe Autism, I am thankful for the breakthroughs that have been made to include many of these students in regular education classrooms. Thanks again to Theresa and all her staff for the wonderful work you do.