Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on March 20, 2008 - 09:56.
As an public elementary school administrator, I have had a great deal of experience with autism programs at my schools. I strongly agree that early intervention is the key; however, the greatest obstacle for administrators is finding qualified, trained autism teachers. Not only is my school district lacking licensed autism teachers, but we're also lacking general education licensed teachers! When you're lucky to find and hire an autism teacher, he/she will usually not stick around very long because autism teachers aren't compensated enough for the daily stress that they encounter. Also, there is also a high turnover of instructional aides in autism programs. Aides in my district are provided hands-on autism training all year long, but they usually don't want to stay in the program because it's too hard and they can make the same amount of money in an easier program. Every year, we have to train new aides and new teachers. Having autism programs taught by untrained substitute teachers is not a solution, but it's happening in many of the schools in my district.
I am tired of un-funded federal mandates. I am tired of my state requiring my district to cut millions of dollars out of its budget. I am tired of my district providing miniscule raises to our teachers. I am tired of the looming program cuts that my district will impose. I am just plain tired!
Autism programs in public schools
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on March 20, 2008 - 09:56.
As an public elementary school administrator, I have had a great deal of experience with autism programs at my schools. I strongly agree that early intervention is the key; however, the greatest obstacle for administrators is finding qualified, trained autism teachers. Not only is my school district lacking licensed autism teachers, but we're also lacking general education licensed teachers! When you're lucky to find and hire an autism teacher, he/she will usually not stick around very long because autism teachers aren't compensated enough for the daily stress that they encounter. Also, there is also a high turnover of instructional aides in autism programs. Aides in my district are provided hands-on autism training all year long, but they usually don't want to stay in the program because it's too hard and they can make the same amount of money in an easier program. Every year, we have to train new aides and new teachers. Having autism programs taught by untrained substitute teachers is not a solution, but it's happening in many of the schools in my district.
I am tired of un-funded federal mandates. I am tired of my state requiring my district to cut millions of dollars out of its budget. I am tired of my district providing miniscule raises to our teachers. I am tired of the looming program cuts that my district will impose. I am just plain tired!