Friday, March 28, 2008

Caring for children with autism

The Blue Ridge Autism Center reaches out to children between ages 2 and 12.
By Cathy Benson
981-3140

Autism. It's a word that is becoming familiar in the daily world as the phenomenon continues to rise each year. Angie Leonard, the director of the Blue Ridge Autism Center, said she wanted the public to know one thing:"One out of 150 children are affected by autism. It is becoming a national crisis, and our schools and communities will be greatly impacted. The earlier the intervention the better." According to statistics provided by Blue Ridge Autism Center at Rainbow Forest Baptist Church in Blue Ridge, the number of children diagnosed with autism grows an estimated 10 percent to 17 percent each year, said Leonard, who also helped found the center. What is autism? It is a developmental disability that typically appears within the first three years of life and is marked by significant problems in communication and social relationships, according to the mission statement for BRAC. Leonard has a background in special education, and her own son, 12-year-old Joshua, has autism. It was the severely limited resources available for students with autism that caused the group to form, Leonard said. The school serves children from ages 2 to 12. From there they go on to be part of middle and high school mainstream education or on to private schools. They have 12 students at the school -- one comes from as far away as Greenbrier County in West Virginia. They have a waiting list of 16. There are varying degrees of autism, and it is not a static syndrome. Children diagnosed with autism have varying abilities. Leonard said she wanted th"We have great kids here," said Leonard. "They are smart and have a lot of potential." She said that in her opinion, that a variety of factors -- environmental and perhaps vaccines and genetics -play a part in triggering autism. Leonard says autism is not a diagnosis for the inability to learn. Quite the contrary -- most children with autism are very bright. They need to be brought out with repetitive reinforcement. BRAC uses applied behavior analysis in instruction. ABA changes behavior with an array of approaches. The staff at BRAC monitors the child's behavior to find the focus of inappropriate responses. An example would be attention-getting mechanisms. The staff members simply do not respond to the child's inappropriate behavior. They gather data on the behaviors, then develop a teaching skill to deal with the behavior. ABA is an applied science used in advertising or in therapies such as smoking cessation. "It is behavior modification based on individual data," Leonard said.

Not only that, but BRAC also acts as an outreach source for local school districts, where the group instructs classroom teachers how to interact with a student who is diagnosed with autism. Jamie Granatino is the outreach program director and travels to school divisions to give in-service and teaching techniques to faculty on how to work with a student with autism. Those school divisions included in the outreach are Botetourt County, Roanoke County, Roanoke, Franklin County, Carroll County, Covington and Floyd County. "It's beyond words -- I am thrilled this is available for my son," said Amy Short of Bonsack. The Botetourt Civitan Club came to the school before Easter for an egg hunt. Hunter Short excitedly asked, "What's your name?" to everyone who entered the room. Lucas Bailey, with the assistance of Civitan member Barbara Krol, decorated a bag. Joshua Leonard, who had a Star Wars novel open, decided that his favorite three Star Wars characters, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Darth Vader, should be the decorations on the bag. At the appointed time, the older kids managed to gather every egg in sight. In the younger classroom, John Shoultz and his assistant Meaghan Lombardozzi filled the bag with Easter grass before dashing onto the playground to find eggs. Phil Snapp, a therapist at the school, patiently followed students around the playground. College interns from Lynchburg College, Radford University and Roanoke College get hands-on learning experience with the students. One-on-one attention seems to be a key to success with the students; everyone seemed very comfortable in the classroom. BRAC also provides educational consultation to families and professionals, home-based ABA programs, training and workshops and on-site supervision and training for public schools. For more information, contact Angie Leonard at 777-1218, e-mail brac@juno.com or visit. Check out the Web site www.blueridgeautismcenter.com.

Copyright 2010