Just like any other kids

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- Each weekday, 22 first-grade students file into Room 13 at

Paularino Elementary School and begin their day.

The children see nothing out of the ordinary about their class or each

other.

That, however, is not the case -- five of the students are autistic.

They are five of the 14 autistic children who are being mainstreamed --

moved from special education into regular classrooms -- as part of a

pilot program at Paularino this year.

“The regular kids don’t even know autistic -- they don’t know that

there’s anything wrong with [the autistic children],” said Kristen

Croteau, the first-grade teacher.

Autism is a neurobiological disorder that can range frommild to severe

cases. Children with autism display deficiencies in social and

communication skills and have difficulty with transitions or changes.

Croteau collaborates with Annette Cooper, the special day teacher. Cooper

oversees the children mainstreamed into other classrooms as well, but

spends a large portion of her day in the first-grade class.

Autistic students are fully included and work at the same pace as other

students, only leaving for special help in certain areas, such as speech.

The program began three years ago with a self-contained class where

students were taught communication and social skills, with the emphasis

on teaching them how to follow teachers’ instructions and how to behave

in an educational setting, Cooper said.

After a year of being partially mainstreamed, the program took the bold

step of complete inclusion and has enjoyed great successes.

One of the keys to the program’s success is that it is always changing to

fit students’ needs, creating a seamless transition for them. Next year,

several of the mainstreamed students who came to Paularino for the

program will return to their neighborhood schools.

Carol Cherney, whose son Derek was mainstreamed this year, has been

pleasantly surprised by the results.

“At first, we didn’t think he’d be able to handle it. But he has

blossomed tremendously,” Cherney said.

Derek was diagnosed as autistic several years ago, but as Cooper worked

with him, she concluded that he might be dealing with something a little

different.

Derek, they discovered, has selective mutism, an extreme anxiety disorder

that causes him to speak in select situations -- only when he is

comfortable with his surroundings.

Derek has become increasingly comfortable with his classroom.

“He has been accepted,” Cherney said. “They know he doesn’t talk, but

that’s OK with them.”

He is just one of the program’s success stories. Another one, Curtis

Sansone, is described by Cooper as “very, very bright, but neurologically

involved -- he can’t stand still.”

Curtis was diagnosed as autistic when he was 3 years old. Now at age 6,

his parents said they have seen his abilities improve by leaps and

bounds.

“We’re thrilled, quite frankly -- I’m the poster parent for the program.”

said Curtis’ mother, Emily Schilling. “He has come a long way. They

really have prepared him well for doing the work in the class, as well as

the work at home.”