By Darla Martin Tucker

Autistic children, who often demand to be first in line, can learn to let others lead. And allowing autistic students to help decorate a classroom can help mitigate tantrums from too much visual stimuli.

These were among lessons elementary school teachers Ardis Baker and Arthur Bernal respectively learned July 15 from Pat Grayson-DeJong, former autism programs administrator for the Los Angeles Unified School District and parent of an autistic child. Grayson-DeJong delivered a keynote address during a day-long educators’ conference at La Sierra University. The conference, titled “Helping Struggling Learners: Autism and Learning Disabilities,” is part of the School of Education’s annual Summer Institute: Brain & Learning series.

Grayson-DeJong co-developed the Intensive Comprehensive Autism Programs, a service program for children adopted by the Los Angeles school district. She also developed a program for high-functioning students with Asperger syndrome. She is currently an autism education consultant for schools throughout Southern California and is also involved in the restructuring of the California Special Education Credentials.

During the La Sierra University conference, Grayson-DeJong gave the audience of educators strategies for dealing with autistic students’ poor social skills, tantrums from too much visual or auditory stimuli and other behaviors.

Autism is more common than AIDS, childhood diabetes and cancer combined, Grayson-DeJong said. And while there is no cure for autism, “kids get better with lots of intervention,” she said. Early intervention is important and pediatricians need to be aware of early autism indicators, she said.

Autism’s primary characterizations are social interaction difficulties such as no eye contact, inappropriate laughing and no emotional attachments; inability to speak or hyper speech; and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. Its hallmark feature is impaired social interaction.

According to the National Institutes of Health, experts estimate three to six children out of every 1,000 will develop autism, with males four times more likely than females to have it.  In February 2007, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report following a study of eight-year-olds in 2000 and 2002 that placed the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders at the much higher rate of one in 150 American children.

Grayson-DeJong talked about her own experiences, frustrations and victories while raising an autistic son, Christopher, now 39 and living in his own apartment. He shops and navigates the bus system, and 2 ½ years ago made friends for the first time. “He’s happy,” Grayson-DeJong said. Christopher’s success is the result of years and years of work on Grayson-DeJong’s part during an era when few resources existed for autistic children. “I’m never going to give up because they keep on learning,” she said.

Christopher was not diagnosed with autism until age five, but Grayson-DeJong knew something was wrong with her son not long after his birth. Doctors would not take her concerns seriously, she said. By age 3 ½ Christopher had not begun to speak and a speech therapist refused to work with him because he couldn’t talk. So Grayson-DeJong taught her son by withholding his much-loved juice for three days until he could ask for it himself by uttering “joo.” He made the connection, she said.

When Christopher was older, Grayson-DeJong’s husband threatened to leave as a result of Christopher’s window-breaking tantrums. Grayson-DeJong prayed to God for help and the next day a group home called and offered assistance.

While scientists are uncertain about the causes of autism, they believe both genetics and environment most likely play a role. Grayson-DeJong believes chemicals on her husband’s clothes brought home from his job testing space rocket engines may have been a factor in the development of Christopher’s autism. While Christopher’s older brother was born healthy, bright and gifted, a second brother died two weeks after birth from heart defects.

In some cases, autistic children develop normally until about 18 months and then seem to withdraw inside themselves, Grayson-DeJong said. Early red flags for autism include a lack of big smiles or expressions by six months of age and no babbling or back and forth gestures by 12 months.

Autistic children often fixate on objects, animals or other things and learn many facts about them. Grayson-DeJong advises parents and teachers to pique such children’s interests in many things. Autistic children are often brilliant in math and history because they love facts, she said.

Grayson-DeJong’s programs incorporate speech and language therapies into the classroom. “When you teach in isolation, that skill remains in isolation,” because autistic kids don’t generalize, she said.

She suggested teachers encourage other children with nurturing personalities to serve as social facilitators for autistic students, making them aware of inappropriate behavior. She advised the use of visual schedules with pictures of classroom activities “so they can look at the chart and see where they need to go,” she said. Allow autistic students to help decorate classrooms so they won’t be overwhelmed with visual stimuli and have meltdowns. And warn them ahead of time about loud events like band concerts, she said. Since autistic children have trouble handling changes in routine, she advised teachers to inform them beforehand of fire drills and other class disruptions.

Bernal, a sixth grade teacher at La Sierra Academy, attended the conference in part because he wanted to better understand the struggles and experiences of friends with autistic children. Bernal has not dealt with autistic students in his classroom, he said. But he liked Grayson-DeJong’s suggestion of letting autistic children help set up a room so they won’t be overwhelmed by an onslaught of stimuli.

Baker teaches grades one through three at Semi Valley Adventist School and will add kindergarten to her teaching slate this fall. She once taught a boy diagnosed with autism who demanded to be first in class lines and other circumstances. “I used to make a row for him to be first,” Baker said. She learned from Grayson-DeJong that such a strategy should be temporary and that autistic children can learn to work with others.

The conference included afternoon presentations by special education teachers and learning consultants Kathleen Jefferson and Lori Aguilera. The duo offered teaching advice for learners struggling with Asperger syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, dyslexia and other disorders. They suggested the use of the Saxon Phonics program for dyslexic students, Baker said. “I learned things in the afternoon I wish I’d known a couple years ago,” she commented.

Baker attends the university’s summer brain and learning conferences to fulfill continuing education requirements for her teaching credential. Should the university offer another similar event on learning disabilities, Baker plans to bring along a friend whose child has Asperger syndrome. “I enjoyed the whole day. It was very, very good,” Baker said.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)