Parents of children with special needs and learning disabilities are no strangers to the difficulties their children face in education. Thankfully, today there are plenty of different learning environments where children with learning disabilities and special needs can flourish, assisting them in achieving the highest level of success and independence possible at all ages. Schools specializing in autistic children and learning disabilities education are on the rise, and these programs will give your children the skills they need for a lifetime.
Students with autism are not alone. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 2%, or one in 50, school-age children are diagnosed with some form of autism today. Although the cause of autism is unknown, it has a strong genetic basis, so it can be passed down in families or even appear in the same generation. It is also unknown whether autism spectrum disorders are explained by rare mutations or simply by rare combinations of genetic variants. Although children with autism and schools can be at odds, many programs today help to start early in using good learning strategies to help those students succeed.
Some characteristics of children with autism include different ways of communicating. Younger autistic children, between the ages of three and five, are less likely to exhibit social understanding and may not handle social situations well. Autistic children are also less likely to imitate or respond to emotions or take turns with others during games. In early childhood, they may also struggle with communicating non-verbally and with verbal communication as well.
Special education programs that concentrate in the areas of autistic children and learning disabilities can best handle these challenges, so it’s important if you are a parent of an autistic child to enroll your child in one of these programs as soon as possible. Instilling good learning and social skills in autistic students early on has longer-term benefits as well. Within two years of leaving high school, fewer than half of students on the autism spectrum have paying jobs–the lowest percentage of any disabled group. By starting your children in specialized learning programs early in their education, you can increase their potential for longer-term successes rather than seeing them left behind after graduation.
Programs for autistic children and learning disabilities have a lot to offer. In addition to teachers who are trained in working with special needs children, they can also offer students more individualized attention than they might receive in a traditional classroom setting. Other education services include teachers who use alternative methods of teaching that will maximize learning, use of technology, and resource rooms. Many classrooms are also specifically adapted to help students concentrate on instruction.
While working with children who have learning disabilities can be a challenge, parents should be aware of the programs that are available to help their children succeed. Not only will these programs provide academic growth, but your children will also learn the necessary social and emotional skills they need for a lifetime. See this link for more.
