Whether we like it or not, in the world of autism, the educational program may depends upon the needs of the kids or child and the expectations of the parents. The best choice will depend on the child’s need. A child may do better on the classroom settings, resource classrooms, special needs classroom or autism-only settings.
Options for special needs kids are mainstreaming or regular school, inclusion, special needs classes, public school, private school. If you ask which is best for your child, the answer will be it all depends.
Here are some factors to consider when choosing educational programs for a child with autism or special needs:
- Is your child is verbal or non verbal?
- Is your child handle the large group?
- Is he is academically good?
- Is he has several sensory issues?
- Is he has difficulty with focus?
- Is he has hard time on typical classroom?
Mainstreaming
Mainstreaming is describes a setting in which your child is part of a typical classroom with minimal extra support. A child is expected to be able to behave appropriately in a large group, participate in a classroom, attend to a teacher and do a task.
Mainstreaming is work best for children with high functioning and moderately social. It is tough for children who are non-verbal, very uneasy, act out when under stress.
Inclusion
Inclusion means the same thing as “mainstreaming with support.”. The autistic children are included in classrooms with typical children but they have support in order to be successful. These support include an aide, adapted curriculum, special social groups and more.
Special Needs Classroom
Children with severe autism are generally place in a special needs classroom. The teacher would highly trained and experience in teaching autistic children. Usually, the group is smaller to have opportunity to work on social skills and they are generally included in all school activities and events.
Homeschooling
Some parents preferred homeschooling. Homeschooling required fulltime involvement of one or both parents. The advantage of homeschooling is it is flexible like for instance your child loves planets, you can read topics about planets for reading skills. The disadvantage is a child may not learn social skills and make it hard to keep up confidence and energy.