LINKS – A Peer to Peer Approach Turner Howson Elementary School Community Night - May 1, 2013

1.Autism is a neurological disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate and socialize. 2.There are 10 students with ASD that attend school in Rudyard. 3.Only certain students interact with students who have ASD. 4.Your child’s involvement with the Rudyard LINKS program is being recognized at the State level. 5.LINKS benefits all of the kids involved. TRUE FALSE

Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District A look at the data trends in the incident of Autism Spectrum Disorder Prepared by Carrie Carr ~ ASD Specialist EUPISD Year Number of students found eligible for services with an ASD Total # of Students Eligible for Special Ed. Programs and Services Number of School Aged Students Percentage of students identified as ASD eligible within Sp. Ed. Population (2013) 1,0287, % ,1477,468 8% ,2367, % ,2697, % ,2487, % ,1827, % ,2088, % ,2998, % ,2158, % ,2038, % ,1748, % ,0968, %

About 1 in 88 children have an ASD Exact cause is unknown – strong genetic basis Males are four times as likely to have it Characteristics are evident by the age of 3 Historically 70-75% were thought to have some degree of intellectual impairment; recent estimates closer to 40-50% - testing of cognitive abilities continues to be a challenge.

A WALK IN THEIR SHOES …

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES FOR STUDENTS WITH ASD 24 identified evidence-based practices: Antecedent-Based Interventions Computer-Aided Instruction Differential Reinforcement Discrete Trial Training Extinction Functional Behavior Assessment Functional Communication Training Naturalistic Intervention Parent-Implemented Intervention Social Narratives Self-Management Peer-Mediated Instruction and Intervention Social Skills Groups Prompting Reinforcement Response Interruption/Redirection Pivotal Response Training Speech Generating Devices Structured Work Systems Task Analysis Time Delay Video Modeling Visual Supports PECS

LINK mentors help the students with ASD just like they would help any peer. The difference is they understand the unique needs of the student with ASD so they know why the student may react different in different situations. The LINKS program lets the adults talk with the peers so we can take away the fear of not understanding. What are LINKS?

Why is a Peer to Peer Model Beneficial?

Who can best model age appropriate social and communication skills? It’s not that kids with ASD don’t want to be social…just sometimes lagging the skills on how to be. Kids with ASD have qualities that make for excellent friends! Adults just aren’t cool! LINK Benefits, too!

Training & Information Staff StudentsParents Case Conferences ASD Information Positives/Areas of Concern/Ideas Medium of Exchange Connecting Students Celebrations Celebrating Successes Motivation to Continue! Components of LINK Programs

Music * Lunch Assemblies RecessP.E. General Education Classes Special Education Classes Library When Are LINKS Utilized? Bus

WHAT OUR LINKS HAD TO SAY… I think Links is a good program because it teachers others people what Autism is and when they learn about it they will make friends. ~AlaniGermain The best experience being a link is seeing Loren getting better at pronouncing peoples names, he's saying hello to us and he's getting better at reading and writing. He's using upper and lower case letters now instead of just capitals. ~Kaitlyn Folkersma Loren finally started to raise his hand for help instead of yelling "help, help, help" I like playing with Loren at recess. ~Nina Alpers My Links greatest success is he has a whole bunch of friends that he made! He's super good at Reptiles and he is improving in Math! ~Isabella Hickman The best experience with my Link is just being friends with him. ~Hunter Peterman. I think it is fun, it's feels like being your being helped out, but with your friends. ~Jimmy M. If we didn't have Links we would not know about Autism or understand Loren. It would not be doing as good. ~Amyla H

LINKS – A PEER TO PEER APPROACH OUR VIDEO DEBUT!!!

Rachel Byma Special Education Coordinator Ann Carey Speech and Language Provider Carrie Carr Autism Spectrum Disorder Specialist Jessica Clark Special Education Teacher Angela Craven School Social Worker