The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

PS176X, recognized by NYS Department of Education as one of five schools statewide, with an effective program for students with autism, is the largest NYC school serving this population. We have a rich curriculum, along with professional development, including literacy, the arts, vocational education, work study and technology, while emphasizing the acquisition of behavior, social and communication skills. State of the art practices and methodologies include: TEACCH, ABA, PECS. Our extensive parent involvement program insures that parents are our partners. Curriculum – we will present a description of our rich, educational program for our 450 students ages 2.9-21, housed in 73 classes. We will incorporate a broad spectrum of age appropriate methodologies, materials and best practices, and demonstrate how to infuse these practices into daily educational programming to address the individual needs of students across a wide spectrum of abilities. We will discuss how we utilize TEACCH (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) or ABA as the framework for the instruction of Literacy, Communication, Social Skills, Technology, the Arts, Inclusion, and Work Study. We will discuss the Performance Outcomes Portfolio (POP) which we use to assess and track student performance. We will show the connection between assessment, instruction and reporting progress.

Professional Development – we will describe how we design and conduct professional development for a staff of 110 teachers and 141 paraprofessionals utilizing in-house, district and community based organizations for support. Various strategies are used to address the needs of diverse cohorts of staff from new teachers to seasoned veterans and paraprofessionals whose role it is to assist in the classroom. Push in, Buddy teachers, mentors, sharing best practices. School based workshops, conferences.

Parent Involvement – we will describe several of our parent involvement programs including: Monthly parent workshops on a variety of topics of interest to parents raising a child with autism spectrum disorder: medical, dental, social services, legal issues, guardianship, school curriculum, speech therapy, crisis management, social skills behavior support, ABA, TEACCH, PECS. We also conduct monthly in-classroom activities to enable parents to understand classroom practices through participation. The school guidance counselor and parent coordinator conduct monthly parent support group sessions. We find the arts to be a wonderful way of involving parents in the school through their participation in arts activities, coming to school assemblies, hearing/seeing our school band, chorus, dance troupe, drum line, salsa band, and flute-a-phone ensemble. We hold an annual school prom and family picnic as well as a family camping activity. Written communication on the classroom and administrative levels occur continuously.

Content Area: Education