HealthNews

We’ll continue to work toward discovering why more and more kids are being diagnosed, but in the meantime we need to provide help for the ones who are already on the spectrum. One frustrated mom proposes 10 easy-to-implement solutions.

Legislative mandates such as No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act require that students with disabilities not only be exposed to the general education curriculum, but demonstrate progress in it as well. This includes students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with ASD. As a result, more students with ASD are being included in the general education setting, and teachers are faced with the task of determining strategies that will help students with ASD succeed in the classroom. Although the task may seem daunting to teachers, students with ASD can and do learn. The first critical step in this process is to understand the unique characteristics of ASD.