New Autism Education Study: a failing grade for teachers
17/10/11 15:51
A report from Michigan State University is making waves. Finally, someone has called the special education profession on the carpet and exposed the fact that almost half of Michigan teachers are unqualified to teach kids with autism. This comes as no surprise. It’s not that Michigan is an exception and that teachers in Michigan area particularly poorly trained. Michigan was singled out simply because Special Education Professor, Dr. Summer Ferreri, was brave enough to actually do the study! Special educators around the world have failed children with autism; the relatively large marketplace of academic ideas the United States has allowed this issue to be exposed to light first.
The Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT) has done a wonderful job cataloging the problem with education of children with autism across the United States, so there is no need to add to their analysis here. The key point is that we already know what to do. Now, we need to do it! We need to:
1) train the current and future teachers in best practices, and
2) not accept any treatment or technique with no science backing it up.
I look forward to more studies that grade teachers who work with children with autism, since that is the only way to raise the academic and treatment bar. One hopes that these studies find their way to other countries (such as Canada) where it is still considered unseemly to actually evaluate teachers when it comes to children with autism. Parents in all countries need to demand it!
The Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT) has done a wonderful job cataloging the problem with education of children with autism across the United States, so there is no need to add to their analysis here. The key point is that we already know what to do. Now, we need to do it! We need to:
1) train the current and future teachers in best practices, and
2) not accept any treatment or technique with no science backing it up.
I look forward to more studies that grade teachers who work with children with autism, since that is the only way to raise the academic and treatment bar. One hopes that these studies find their way to other countries (such as Canada) where it is still considered unseemly to actually evaluate teachers when it comes to children with autism. Parents in all countries need to demand it!