Our Curriculum
At our elementary and intermediate levels, students utilize the Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia (ACE). This educational system designed specifically for learners with autism provides staff the ability to assess, teach and evaluate progress using the most evidence based procedures. While using the ACE, students are taught skills spanning across eight domains including but not limited to: discrimination, communication, social, academic, self-help, community, vocational and leisure. This customizable curriculum makes it easy for staff to adapt each lesson to meet their student’s needs, graph their progress, and move them throughout the programs quickly, utilizing the individualized pace of instruction to best fit their needs. The ACE is aligned with the state learning standards, as well as aligned to our universal essential outcomes.
Education for physical development and health provides our students with the knowledge and attitudes to achieve healthful living throughout their lives and to aquire physical fitness and the development of a healthy lifestyle. Physical education is part of the total educational system that will provide experiences for our students through physical activity. This will prepare our students to meet the challenges of daily living and enjoy life to its fullest!
A functional skills curriculum that is criterion referenced meaning a student’s performance is measured against a set criteria rather than being compared to the performance of others. It has a wide variety of skills and initially focuses on the Essential Eight Skills. These skills have been identified as crucial skills students need to acquire before they can acquire more complex skills. The Essential Eight include: Making Requests, Waiting after making requests, Accepting Removals – Transitions, Sharing and Taking Turns, Completing Required Tasks – Completing Previously Acquired Tasks when asked to do so, Accepting “No”, Following Directions related to Health and Safety, Completing Daily Living Skills related to Health and Safety, Tolerating Skills related to Health and Safety.” A Quick Assessment is completed to determine students performance in these skill areas and then learning objectives can be created to improve specific skills. These skills are then assessed once per day and taught throughout the day as they occur naturally during scheduled activities, known as “event based teaching (EBT).” EBT involves creating a classroom schedule that allows students to practice skills in a meaningful, logical and natural way. Rather than focusing on discrete trials of tasks, EBT focuses on functional usage in a manner that is motivating and meaningful to students.