Taking the IDEA for granted

We take some of our information about autism and expectations for programming for granted. But in reality, we have come a very long way in the last 35 or so years. When I first started teaching, the idea of an IEP was brand new. The IDEA had yet to be written. Before the IDEA in 1975, there was no financial support for students and the burden for education was on the family. And even once the IDEA was established, parents still struggled to get school districts to understand the unique quirks of their children. Frequently they had to fight with their school districts just to get that to which their child is lawfully entitled. And sometimes, they still have to fight.

Over the years, we have had requests for time to be spent learning about our program from many quarters -  school districts, parents, educators. We are always glad to share information with others. But there are some places where our information can have a tremendous impact. We have had contingents of people from China, Uganda, Ireland, Japan, Korea who are struggling to develop effective programming for their students with autism. And most are doing it without much support from their governments, with the parents often being the driving force in their child's program development - much like parents in the United States prior to the IDEA.

We are very pleased this next year to be welcoming two interns from Viet Nam: one a school director had visited us once before and this time, will be with us for two months. The other is a teacher and will be with us for 5 months. They just got their visas approved and are elated to be coming. And also they are very excited to be able to come to the Morgan Autism Center Annual Conference on September 22, 2012, and attend some of our lecture series.

No one should have to re-invent the wheel in these days of the internet and Youtube. But there still is nothing like the real time training of being in the classroom and working directly with the students. So, we welcome our newest interns and are thrilled to be able to spread the word on how to create a successful program.