 |
Developed by special education
professor David Gast, the Collaborative Personnel
Preparation in Autism graduate program has prepared
dozens of elementary school teachers to work better
with children with autism. (Photo by Peter Frey) |
For the past 17 years, special education
professor David Gast has dedicated his life to preparing
UGA students for the challenges of teaching children with
a wide assortment of mental disabilities.
But with retirement on the horizon, the highly respected
scholar has shifted his attention to working with not only
his young undergraduate students but also teachers already
in the classroom, creating an intensively trained cohort
of educators who are better able to contend with the unique
difficulties of teaching children with autism—developmental
disorders which impair a child’s communication skills
and ability to interact.
When Gast entered graduate school in 1971, he intended
to work primarily with children with autism. However, the
special education field of the ’70s was exploding
with reams of new information, leading the then-doctoral
student down many different paths. But in the last few
years, Gast has returned to his academic roots.
“As I approach the end of my career, I want to get
back to what I really wanted to do when I got into the
field back in the early ’70s,” said Gast. “These
last 10 years of my career, I want to go back to where
I started and really focus on these kids with autism.”
To help deal with the soaring increase in the number of
children diagnosed with autism, Gast developed a partnership
with Gwinnett County Public Schools in 2003.
Since its inception, the Collaborative
Personnel Preparation in Autism graduate program has prepared dozens of elementary
school teachers to better work with children with autism.
COPPA was originally funded by an $894,000 grant from the
U.S. Department of Education and has recently received
a second federal grant of $793,000 to expand its work through
2011. The partnership is led by Gast and Deanna Luscre,
who coordinated the ASD program for Gwinnett schools from
1996–2003.
The project could not have come at a better time. Diagnoses
of children with autism spectrum disorders are growing
as much as 17 percent per year, according to U.S. Department
of Education statistics. It is estimated that the prevalence
of autism could reach 4 million Americans in the next decade.
Children with autism have different social, language and
communication skills than neurotypical children, requiring
teachers to try innovative approaches in their classrooms, according
to Gast.
“There’s a need for specialized training on
how to structure the classroom, how to respond to these
kids when they behave inappropriately and how to design
instruction that will facilitate the learning of new skills,” he
said.
It was not until the middle of the 20th century that there
was even a name for the disorder that disrupts families
and presents lifelong challenges for thousands of children.
But today, autism affects an estimated 3.4 of every 1,000
children ages 3 to 10 across America, according to the
National Institute of Mental Health.
Despite the alarming rise in autism spectrum disorders,
the COPPA Project is one of only a few university programs
in the Southeast designed to prepare teachers for such
a classroom challenge. Many COPPA students are certified
teachers who have returned to the university for graduate
studies to undertake a specialization in ASDs.
College of Education students won’t be the only ones
filling seats in COPPA classes this time around. Families
of children with autism, students at other universities,
teachers working in other school systems and noneducation
majors at UGA are all encouraged to take advantage of the
courses. Graduate and undergraduate classes are offered,
and many will be held in the Gwinnett area.
In addition, COPPA organizers plan to use the teachers
who have completed the program as an important resource
for training future groups.
“The hope is that those teachers have gone out, restructured
their classrooms and are making a difference in the lives
of those kids as well as their parents,” said Gast. “Our
new students are going to get to see classrooms that really
approach model classrooms in these various school systems.”
All graduate students funded by the COPPA project must
complete intensive research projects. The finished projects
are already being applied to real-life situations and some
will be published in academic journals.
“By the time COPPA students have completed the didactic
program and are interns, their confidence is soaring and
they have learned a wealth of information, which assures
them that they have a lot to offer their students with
autism,” said Luscre.
The COPPA program leads to a master’s degree in special
education with certification in either the special education
adapted curriculum or special education general curriculum
with an emphasis in ASD. Students also may pursue a specialist
degree with an emphasis in ASD through a 31-hour program.
“I would like to see our graduates assume leadership
roles in their schools, so they can share their training
with others who have not had the opportunity for autism
education,” Luscre said.
Over the next few years, Gast hopes to expand COPPA training
to include middle and high school teachers, eventually
providing a continuum of support for students with autism
throughout their time in school. “That’s certainly
a goal of mine before retirement, to see this in place,” he
said. |
