New Technique Seems Promising for Reaching Students with Autism

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New Technique Seems Promising for Reaching Students with Autism

The Community School, or T.C.S., is a small private school educating teenage boys with autism or related disorders. T.C.S. is one of about two dozen schools in the country using a new teaching method called D.I.R./Floortime. This method creates an environment where students can develop their strengths and interests through working with other members of their school community. T.C.S. believes the D.I.R./Floortime approach allows for more student-centered learning because the model promotes curiosity, intelligence, playfulness and energy through interactions with staff and students to solve problems and express ideas. Researchers suggest students will gain necessary communication and behavioral skills by allowing the students to be active participants in their own education. Dave , founder of T.C.S., acknowledges the many methods for teaching children with autism and realizes no one method meets the needs of every student.

Full story: Fay Greene, Reaching an Autistic Teenager, New York Times, October19, 2008, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/magazine/19Autism-t.html?_r=1 & em & oref=slogin Stay up to date on your PC, the Web, and your mobile phone with Windows Live Click here