Inclusion in secondary schools

Robert Crosnoe, author of Fitting In, Standing Out: Navigating the Social Challenges of High School to Get an Education (2011), researched social problems at high school. He found that bullying and social isolation has a long-term impact.

Hear Robert Crosnoe discuss the social turbulence of adolescence and the long-term effects.

Autism at School: A Video Resource for Teachers and Parents in New Zealand (Smith, 2009) features a student called Jordan who is at the high-functioning end of the spectrum. The DVD describes his integration into secondary schooling. Strategies such as building teacher understanding, having a teacher aide, and using a laptop for note-taking have helped his academic learning. The social side of secondary school has been more of a challenge.

I once described it to one of the deans as being a mouse trying to be a cat in a house full of cats. And all the time hoping they don’t recognise me as a mouse. I’m going to be a cat. I’m trying to be cat. And the stress of keeping that façade up is very difficult.

Debbie Williams (Jordan’s mother)

Implementation of the blame-free bullying approach has gone some way to reducing the bullying and teasing Jordan has experienced.

Robert Crosnoe shares Ava’s story, one teenager’s experiences of bullying.

Change the way the bullies think of us, maybe. And change the fighting and teasing.

Cayla

Being able to walk around the school during lunchtime and morning tea, and be a safe place.

Richard

On the whole, though, these students clearly appreciate the specialised support they get from their teachers and the camaraderie and sense of safety they experience in their class:

I just want to say that I really love this class, this satellite, because we’re one big family and we stick together every day. And we just don’t matter what people think of us. We’re just one big whole family, and if you get the chance to meet us or come to this school, just check our class out, because you’d be amazed at what you see and how strong we are together.

Sinead

Adolescents with ASD go through the same physical changes as their peers, but they can find it more difficult to cope due to delays in their social and emotional development.

Prepare young people for the changes they will go through so that they are not frightened. This will also reduce the likelihood of inappropriate behaviour and keep them safe from bullies and sexual predators.

Schools’ health education programmes, including their sexuality education programmes, can support families and whānau to keep their children safe and confident and comfortable with the changes they are going through.

Students with ASD can have difficulty developing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. This often compounds at secondary school, when students are expected to be increasingly independent. The following suggestions are adapted from page 126 of the New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline.

Educators can help by teaching students to:

• recognise and discard irrelevant information
• memorise and retrieve information
• collect ideas
• examine pros and cons
• highlight key concepts.

It is also helpful to:

• provide checklists and personalised plans of the school
• help students devise personal routines
• use written and visual information in addition to verbal information
• off-set anxiety by increasing structure around exam time
• take advantage of ICT and assistive technology.

In the Autism at School DVD, Debbie describes how her son Jordan, who is very bright, struggles with comprehension – his difficulties with motor skills mean that he cannot write, think, and absorb information at the same time. Being able to take a laptop to class has done much to improve his output and enable him to keep up with his peers. He also has a teacher aide for a few hours each week.

Peggy Waite, RTLB, emphasises that, for students with ASD, the physical effort of writing by hand is often a major issue. Being able to type instead enables them to think and record information at the same time. For Jordan, it means that he can keep up with his classmates and be part of the group.

Students with ASD often find it difficult to manage transitions. This can escalate at secondary school, where there are frequent transitions between different teaching areas, teachers, class groups, and activities.

Use visual supports, such as timetables and maps, to help students with ASD understand where they should be and when. Teaching strategies such as chunking lessons, explicit teaching, and providing visual and written information will also help.

Students with ASD need a safe place to go if they feel overwhelmed.

All students need to be prepared for their transition to life after school.

This transition can be stressful for people with ASD, and for their families and whānau. As well as disruption to familiar routines and support systems, there is a real ‘prospect of unemployment, under-employment and lack of meaningful daytime activity’ ( New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline, page 166).

Begin planning early to reduce stress and anxiety. Focus on the individual strengths and aspirations of each student.

The Autism at School DVD describes how students in the satellite class at Pukekohe High School use Individual Transition Plans to help them achieve their dreams. Work experience and education in life skills such as cooking are integrated into their curriculum to build the key competencies.

The National Transition Guidelines has a list of principles to support the transition from school.

1. The transition-from-school process starts when the student turns 14 at the latest. It is part of a specific planning process that aims to maximise academic achievement as well as functional life skills.
2. The student and their family and whānau drive the process.
3. Partnerships are developed between the school and community supports.
4. The transition plan is embedded in 'mainstream' education and community settings.
5. The process identifies and overcomes barriers to the student’s learning and support.
6. The student and family and whānau are offered information and support that opens the door to a wide range of inclusive community-based options.
7. There is a clear distinction between the needs of the family and whānau and the needs of the student during transition.
8. Develop and practise functional life skills at home and in other natural settings.
9. From the age of 18, students with special needs should receive services in natural community settings.
10. Regularly evaluate the outcomes of the transition planning process.

Most parents feel a certain wrench when their child begins secondary school, but also a sense of excitement and hope. For the parents of children with ASD, this can be a profoundly worrying time:

The hardest thing I found was my son moving to high school/college. There were more issues there than at any other time. More kids, more different people, more staff, those sorts of things.

Tony, in Ministry of Education, July 2010a, page 12

The Ministry of Education booklet  Going to Secondary School: Information for Parents and Caregivers of Young People with Special Education Needs provides information about choosing a secondary school, planning for the transition, and the support available. Autism NZ also provides support to families at a local level.

Leaving school can be even more traumatic for families and whānau as their young adult steps out into the unknown, but it can also be a time when dreams are realised:

Here I am today and I’ve done what I thought I couldn’t do. If I could go back in time and talk to myself when I first started high school, I’d probably say to myself, "If you think you can’t do something, just think the complete opposite".

Zane, in Ministry of Education, July 2010b, page 11

New Zealand researcher Jude MacArthur (2009) considers that students with disabilities are best served when included in regular education schools and classes. The ERO report Including Students with High Needs (2010) agrees, but points out that this issue becomes more complex at the secondary level.

Some secondary schools have special education units where students with disabilities can spend part or all of the day. Including Students with High Needs notes that this decision is often made because it is judged best for the students in terms of their  ‘core’ learning. For the student with ASD, however, it may also feel safer to be in one place with fewer transitions. But is this best for the students in the long-term? How well will they be prepared for life beyond school if they have not learned to live, work, and play alongside their peers in school?

The ERO report observes that the decision to place students in special education classes ‘has often been made because the teachers in mainstream classes were not well prepared to meet the diverse needs of a classroom that includes a student operating at level 1 or 2 of the curriculum’ (page 10). Is this reasonable, or does it suggest that the needs of teachers are being placed before those of students?

This website cannot answer these questions for you. They are for you to discuss as a community (that includes your students and their parents and whānau). The answers may well be different for different schools and different students.

What is clear is that the decision of where students are to be educated belongs to their families and whānau. Wherever their learning takes place, students with ASD have a fundamental right to the same quality of education as their peers.

This video, in which autism expert Paula Kluth talks about inclusion in high school, is a useful prompt for discussion.

• Are we sure that we understand the hopes and aspirations of our students with ASD?
• Do we support students with ASD to be self-managing and to build healthy relationships with others?
• Do the choices we’ve made in our provision for students with ASD support them to be active and connected members of the community when they leave school? Have we considered all the outcomes they need for their future well-being?
• How does our careers programme cater for these students? How could we improve it?