Education

Resources in this section are to help parents navigate their child’s needs with the school system as well as apps that help kids with ASD.

Organization of Autism Research’s Navigating the Special Education System

Navigating the special education system. (2019). Retrieved from https://researchautism.org/resources/navigating-the-special-education-system

This downloadable guide from Organization of Autism Research is from 2012, and walks parents through the basics of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), and a timeline of services for children with ASD. The document also has robust appendices, a glossary of terms related to special education disability accommodation, and is easily divided into manageable sections with hyperlinks to other sections in the download. Organization of Autism Research has about twenty other similarly styled guides– all available to download for free, with about half downloadable in Spanish. The only downside is that many of the hyperlinks in the document to outside sources are broken.  To address this, including a clearly visible warning to parents before opening the link to NOT click on links to outside sources would be a solution. 

Indiana Resource Center for Autism’s Practical Steps to Writing Individualized Education Programs

Pratt, C. & Dubie, M. (2003). Practical steps to writing Individualized education plan (IEP) goals and writing them well. The Reporter, 9(2), 1-3, 24.

This guide assists parents writing individualized education programs for their child, including examples of good and less-good goals. This can be an overwhelming task for parents who are not teachers, and can help parents make the most of their children’s time in school to advance their intellectual, social, and behavioral goals. While the resource is from 2003, not much has changed on a federal level for requirements for teaching since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) added autism as a service it accommodates in 1997, and most states have specific requirements for IEPs anyway. This document gives a strong overview of high level things to consider when writing an IED– like choosing specific over general goals, prioritizing life skills, and scoping goals to a school year. It is briefer and less overwhelming than the Organization of Autism Research’s Guide we’ve included, though they both serve different purposes. The brevity of this piece is useful for parents who already have enrolled their child in Special Education and are looking for assistance with this specific task. The website this resource is part of, the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, also has a lot of other useful articles for parents to explore. This site also has an option for Spanish.

Common Sense – Best Apps for Kids with Autism

Best apps for kids with autism. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/best-apps-for-kids-with-autism.

A page that lists apps that children with autism may enjoy. These apps help with language delay, emotions and other aspects of society that are often difficult for children on the autism spectrum. This page allows for a parent to explore the app suggestions with their child, the apps are a simple click away, or searchable in the Apple or Google app stores. This a very simple website without a lot of clutter which can be distracting. The site also provides ratings, discusses data concerns and what privacy will look like. Everything is well explained, and had links to the games so a parent can look at apps directly. Unlike other sites, the majority of the links on this page still lead to the correct destination, were a parent can read even more reviews by users, and the child gets to look at the game directly. This is a nice opportunity for parent and child to choose games. (only in English)