Schools

South Brunswick Lights It Up Blue for Autism Awareness

Brunswick Acres Elementary School hosts Autism Awareness Month event.

Inside a dimmed gymnasium at Brunswick Acres Elementary School Tuesday, hundreds of little wrists extended to the sky illuminating a blue light as a symbol of support for world Autism Awareness Month.

The event was part of a year-round effort throughout the school to raise awareness and provide support to students suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder. Brunswick Acres Elementary School is home to the South Brunswick elementary level autism program. The school not only educates kids on the autism spectrum, but also works to develop awareness among their peers to develop understanding.

"The students in this school are so accepting of kids in the autism program and they try so hard to be friends with them," said Special Education teacher Amanda Sheehan. "We had a student with autism give a book report in a mainstream class and all of the kids were praising him. It just warmed your heart."

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During the assembly as hundreds of students wore glowing blue wristbands provided by the school's PTO, staff members ran down some facts about autism to provide some perspective about the disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for complex disorders that affect the development of the brain. The disorders typically manifest between the ages of 2-years-old and 3-years-old, according to Autism Speaks.org.

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The disorders can be characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulty with social interaction, difficulty with both verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors. Those with autism may suffer from intellectual disability and difficulty with motor coordination, in addition to attention and physical health issues, according to Autism Speaks.

"We try to teach the kids to be part of the community and we work on a lot of social skills, even for simple tasks like grocery shopping," Sheehan said. "We try to teach the kids to be a good friend to somebody with autism by doing inclusion work to develop their social skills."

The district's special education curriculum begins in the Preschool Disabled program and runs all the way through job training skills that last beyond the end of high school.

When an individual evaluation process is written with goals and objectives they need to improve on or learn. The teacher then assesses where they are in the program and starts teaching from that point.

"This is something that will be with them their whole lives," said Special Education teacher Jill Beck. "So we work on tasks such as brushing your teeth, which is not developed quickly and needs to be taught in steps. Even things like making eye contact when you speak to someone. The earlier you start on this the more successful they will be over time."

Early intervention and the constant repetition of skills are crucial to the effectiveness of the program, which stresses the importance of improving social abilities through interaction with typical peers. This includes inclusion in mainstream classrooms for a period of time and various job-training skills. 

"Every student has an individualized education plan so there are different goals for every student," Beck said. "They make progress on their own individual goals and grow at their own rate."

Even with the efforts at educating the population to the realities of autism, both teachers said there are numerous misconceptions among the general public about people with the disorder.

"Some people think that kids with autism are aggressive or they can't play with others, which isn't true," Sheehan said. "Some people think children with autism don't even have their own thoughts. They have plenty of thoughts and they let us know them in their own way."

In addition to the assembly, Brunswick Acres has a bulletin board where kids can ask questions about autism and get answers to their queries. All in all, both teachers said the entire district has opened their arms to help solve the puzzle for students battling the disorder all year.

"The staff we work with are very accepting, not just this month but every month in every aspect of the community," Beck said. "This event was just a continuation of how awesome Brunswick Acres is on a day to day basis."


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