What would an education system for autistics be like?

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LOL at the fact that you're going to be accused of picking a fight with MoralAnimal now.

lol. not worth it **walking away**

i don't post here often, but its hard to get involved when a small group of individuals are defensive and argumentative about the smallest thing and show up in many of the most popular active threads. It stagnates conversation. Is this forum supposed to be open to anyone or is it closed to a group of established people already? I like this forum because of the diversity of topics, particularly since I am struggling to deal with being diagnosed with Aspergers. But it doesn't feel open and welcoming and the conversation available to anyone that posts. I just want whoever needs to be aware of that to know.

I think there's always going to be a "pecking order," whether real or imagined, in both off- and online groups. Just move on and don't sweat the small stuff too much. It just isn't worth it.

MoralAnimal, I want you to know that I, personally, would like to hear what you have to say and see no reason to exclude you from the forum. It's true that MrXxx is immature sometimes, but in this particular instance, it's a little rude of you to point it out in public, especially given that the person he was arguing with this time (me) did not perceive it that way.

The conversation is most definitely open for you to join, though! Speak up, you'll be part of the regular crowd in no time!

Why? I think it would work, at least for some students. I can't understand your objection... anyway, ignore the food issue for the time being.

What have we agreed so far? - that most/all classes shouldn't be compulsory? That students should be able to go to a teacher if they want?

I don't suppose we can get a wiki and begin compiling some design work...?

What I have in mind is:
- teach students what a balanced diet is;
- open the canteen only at set times, to discourage the unhealthy habit of nibbling throughout the day;
- make sure that the students with food intolerances know what their intolerances are;
- label canteen foods clearly for the above students;
- teach these students to recognize, in shops, the foods they can have from the ones they can't have.

I think that a boarding school would work well for many children with an ASD.

Summerhill School ( http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/ ) is a boarding school. It is not specifically for children with an ASD, but there are some who attend. It has many of the features that have ben wished for in this discussion, including the fredom to choose whether to attend lessons. The Good Schools Guide 2007 states that there are some children with an ASD there, who would be miserable elsewhere.

Last edited by daniel3103 on 10 Sep 2010, 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Here is the link to Summerhill School, as the link given by daniel3103 doesn't work: http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk .

The fees for Summerhill school are as follows:

Annual full boarding fees: £7,770-£13,521.
Annual day fees: £3,387-£8,100.
See http://www.isbi.com/viewschool.asp?scho ... ill_School .

A similar school mentioned on the Summerhill School website is Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Massachusetts: http://www.sudval.org .

If you're willing to read it, I'll be sending you a PM in a moment or two about this. I'd rather address your comment that way than derail this thread. You are free to read it, or not. It's up to you. You might be surprised though, if you choose to. Trust me, it's not an attack. I identify with a lot of what you said here. Take care.

I concur. A college-level Nutra-Sci course should be available. It's not that hard a subject and would be immensely beneficial.



This I disagree with. It doesn't discourage eating throughout the day, it merely makes it impossible. When they grow up they'll have to plan when to eat for themselves, as well as on the weekends. Besides, opening the canteen at set times might not work because it might be open at the wrong time, or too rarely for those with chronic illnesses requiring frequent meals. I have awful memories of eating as much as my stomach would hold, mostly protein, until I was queasy, and still lying awake at night with hunger pains.



Concur, though I question how best to go about figuring it out.



I concur, but for all students because everyone benefits from knowing what they're eating.



Concur. All students should be taught how to go shopping; this could easily be made part of the curriculum.

@Magneto, because DORMS! The expense of single rooms, or the disaster waiting to happen of doubles or worse! Conflicting requirements for living space! Roomates whose stims give you meltdowns! Either allowing students free reign to decorate how they want (including painting and furniture) or to some degree standardizing furniture and risking an awful environment for some people. Isolation from the rest of the community, leading to an even greater tendency to seem raised by wolves. No escape. Stuck in school, stuck with the people you hate, stuck. Trapped. Everyone around you getting increasingly sick of you, wishing you'd go away. Transitioning from living at home to living at school, then back again come summer. Isolation from your family.

@DandelionFireworks,

Unfortunately, doing what you're suggesting would limit it to a 50 mile radius at most. Besides, I boarded during the week at school - it wasn't that bad. Some people won't be able to cope with it, but denying most people the opportunity to come because some people have problems with it isn't right. You seem to be extending your own experiences to everyone else.

I suppose we have to work out what the age range would be... 14+? 12+?

Anyway, are not Aspies and Auties usually isolated from the community anyway? Dorms would be single person, so there'd be no issue with room-mates. On balance, I'd have to say that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Magneto makes a good point, dorms would be better than the alternative.

...IF the dorms can be set up just right, IF every effort is made to keep them comfortable and PRIVATE, and IF the school is actually set up to handle autistics who come from far away... then I suppose it COULD work.

There has to be some choice of color, and some way to choose whether or not to have a window (wooden shutters that open inward and latch?), no fluorescent lights, control over turning said lights on and off (even after "lights-out"). Choice, if necessary, of fabric for the bed, amount of blankets. Doors that lock so they can be opened easily from inside but need a key from outside (these keys being in the hands of the students).

12+ is getting to them after serious damage has already been done. How about 8-18? Eight is the age at which I could no longer be fully mainstreamed; it's the age at which the "kick me" sign appeared, for me, and probably for others. It's not babies, it's old enough not to worry about a lot of things you might worry about otherwise. It's old enough to have some life behind you, old enough for symptoms to be more definitely not just a phase. It's also young enough to prevent a lot of years of loneliness and suffering. I would have benefited most from something like this from 11-13, but others aren't me, and that has as much to do with the number of schools around and my parents' patience as anything else.

Then again, mainstreaming before college might be a very good idea. A class about mainstream schools taught at desks with normal rules would be not only ironic but good practice.

How many students and teachers are we talking about?

(I wish we were really going to do this... so many people could benefit.)

I went to a school called Unlimited in Christchurch for two years after I left an ordinary school, and it was perfect. I didn't know that I had Aspergers then, but I don't think that makes any difference.
I am in my second year at uni, but those two years were probably my favourite years of school.
Here is the website. there was a major earthquake here a week ago, which has caused a lot of disruption, so the web page is a bot dofferent to what it usually is.

basically how it works is that there are 5 week blocks, where at the start of each block, each person chooses the subjects they want to do. the subjects can be any (within reason), so a year 9 can do year 13 maths, and a year 12 can do year 9 philosophy, if one wanted to. I didn't really do any unusual subjects, ahead or behind my year, but the subjects I did do (physics, chemistry, maths) had small classes of around 15 to 20 students, so it was much better than a 30 student class. also you had free spaces where everyone could pursue their own interests.

Perhaps an aprintice program? At least something where they tell you extactaly how said course will help you in said career. Such as math for a vet (aparently that is a very difficult thing to explain). Defining what studdying actualy is (aparently that is dificult to explain as well). Perhaps unschooling?

A way to make use of "dead time".

By "dead time" I mean time spent commuting on the bus or train.

This time could be spent listening to music on an mp3 player.
This music could be songs about topics in the course.

Rhythm and rhyme in the songs could be used to mnemonics to teach mathematical or science concepts.

Audiobooks would be useful for more fluid or analytical topics such as history and philosophy.

iPod apps could be used to compose music in the confined space of the seats on public transport.

I believe that I lost a lot of marks in advanced level mathematics because I wasn't making proper use of "dead time" when travelling. The commute took about 2 hours each way, so that was four hours of my day spent feeling nervous and panicky not learning anything.

I think that if I could've listened to advanced mathematical/science songs/concepts/raps during this dead time, I could've been more motivated, less tired and would've done better in my studies.

A lot of my exhaustion and inefficiency seemed to be generated by noisy and crowded environments.

Also, mathematics/science Internet videos that I could watch at home if I missed class because of being ill would've been a boon. This would've meant that when I got to school, I could ask the teacher about complex problems I was having instead of wasting time asking him about basic concepts he'd written on the board. This would've saved me so much time and I would've been far less anxious if I could review concepts at home in my own time at my own pace. The great thing about video is that you can pause the material and go back over concepts as many times as you like.

Definitely a more multi-media and individual learning based approach.