Autism Program

The Special Education Autism Program serves students (K-5) with communication, sensory, social/emotional/behavioral, functional,  academic, and motor needs. Students in our program show a variety of needs along the autism spectrum. The program staff continue to expand their knowledge and expertise in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in order to provide quality programming and to implement current best practices.

Our program receives support from speech/language, adapted physical education, music therapy, occupational therapy, and social work. These services are provided based on individual student needs. To meet our students' needs, we use a variety of strategies. We utilize visual strategies to assist in communication and learning as needed. We teach self-regulation techniques and use social stories and comic strip conversations to help improve communication and interaction skills.

For our students who are primarily non-verbal, we use basic sign language, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and other assistive technology as needed. Proactive strategies are used throughout the program. An inclusion model is available to all students based on their individual needs.

Teachers in the Autism Program team with general education teachers at Battle Creek to provide environmental lessons to our students.  We attend field trips to Belwin Nature Conservatory to expose students to a variety of environmental experiences in a small group setting.