Preschool Partner Fills the Play Gap
By COURTENAY NEARBURG

Photos by Courtenay Nearburg Mrs. Clemence's preschool students embrace as part of an exercise in their Laguna Presbyterian classroom, now a partner with the school district in providing more services for local children diagnosed with autism.

Bright-eyed youngsters scamper into the Laguna Presbyterian preschool, eager for the day to begin. Rather than the routine recitation of the ABCs and numbers, here children jump in unison to music, imitate animal movements, and pair up with partners for games. To the untrained eye, it looks like recreation time for the prekindergarten set.

But play is a serious matter for children under the age of 5 who are diagnosed with autism. Recent research shows playing with normal peers speeds the autistic child's speech development and improves the odds of success later in a regular class environment.

Last fall, fiveautistic youngsters became the first students to participate in an unusual partnership initiated by the Laguna Beach school district with Laguna Presbyterian's preschool, reflecting cuttingedge research and a shift in approach to educating "higher functioning" children diagnosed with autism. Public schools are mandated to provide a "free appropriate public education" for disabled students by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Photos by Courtenay Nearburg One of the students in the Laguna Presbyterian preschool plays on the floor as part of an exercise imitating animals, one of many playlike activities in the school's curriculum that is geared to students' developmental levels. Developmental education is beneficialto autistic children 3 to 5.

"We provide a cocooning atmosphere for these children," said Marilyn O'Keefe, director of Laguna Presbyterian's wellregarded preschool. Autistic children need help with social interaction, like playing appropriately with their fellow students without getting angry or aggressive, said O'Keefe, so adult "shadow aides" are permitted at the preschool to help them adjust.

Research shows that "appropriate peer-modeling" is an effective treatment for the social development of autistic children, who struggle with speaking and cognitive understanding. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can encompass a litany of behaviors deemed developmentally delayed or inappropriate.

Laguna Presbyterian's preschool emphasizes developmental education, peer interaction and play over academically-oriented learning of numbers and alphabet. O'Keefe welcomes the opportunity to explore what remains an unanswered question. "How can we adapt for these children so that they can integrate with the regular students eventually? It isn't a blanket answer, but it's working."

Of four key social behaviors paramount to autism treatment, play has the most direct impact on the development of speech skills in autistic children, according to professor Marjorie H. Charlop-Christy and Sarah Kuriakose of The Claremont Autism Center, a treatment and research center at Claremont McKenna College. Their findings were published in the fall 2007 issue of Autism News of Orange County, a countywide newsletter distributed in school districts.

"Our preliminary findings from following 10 children with ASD across 20 years suggest, that children with ASD may benefit from learning how to play before they develop meaningful speech," the Claremont report reads. "The data may also suggest that play may serve as a precursor for speech, as it does with typically developing children."

Play with younger siblings may also be of significantbenefit to autistic children under the age of 5, helping kids to socially interact with their own peers more comfortably, according to professor Adriana Schuler of San Francisco State University, whose case studies were also presented in the newsletter.

The LBUSD-Laguna Presbyterian preschool partnership addresses these cutting-edge theories by placing some of the children with a diagnosis of ASD in the Presbyterian classrooms fivedays a week.

For some students, enrolling in the Presbyterian program would be overwhelming, said Launa Kirkey, teacher at the special needs preschool at Top of the World Elementary, which was established six years ago. School officials assess students who have specialized educational needs and devise an Individual Education Plan.

The assessment team includes teachers, parents, counselors, administrators and therapists. Their conclusions guide placement recommendations. Some of Kirkey's students spend part of the school day at TOW and part at Laguna Presbyterian.

"The typical peer-interaction was the missing component for the preschool," Kirkey said. "It needed to be addressed. Especially with autism, all the research shows early intervention is key. It's always their (parents') goal to get their child into typical kindergarten. They want their kid to be normal."

The partnership was a direct result of identifying the need for a better solution for the "higher functioning" children diagnosed with ASD, said the district's special education director, Irene White. The TOW special needs preschool has been serving children with disabilities in the district for the past 6 years, but limiting autistic children to interaction solely with other autistic children and kids with disabilities like Down's Syndrome may actually be inhibiting their progress, administrators now agree.

Students with more severe disabilities, such as kids who cannot speak or move independently, are referred to what is known as the Special Education Local Plan Area, which guides placement in Laguna Beach's partner district, Saddleback Valley.

Even so, the lack of local options within the home school district for children diagnosed with autism is a source of frustration to some parents. Many have determined that a private or charter school may offer the best educational and peer-modeling opportunities. The district shoulders its IDEA obligations willingly, by covering the costs of private education tuition and additional therapy necessary for each child to progress to the fullest extent possible.

Assistant Superintendent Nancy Hubbell, and a former director of SELPA, said that the district's goals and objectives have always been "to serve our kids in our community."

For that reason, Hubbell said, any disputes between parents and the district about an appropriate IEP for their child have been resolved without litigation, a claim reflected in a check of court filings. It's a position many public school districts cannot afford, finding themselves embroiled in legal battles over "appropriate education" for autistic children. A recent New York Times article described the legal struggles of school districts to meet the needs of increasing numbers of children diagnosed with autism. "Often school districts acknowledge that they cannot provide an adequate education, and willingly pay for private tuition," the Oct. 27, 2007, story says.

Over 88,000 disabled students nationwide were sent to private schools with tuition paid by taxpayer dollars as of 2005, an increase of 34% over a decade, according to the story, citing statistics from the National School Boards Association.

"We may not always be able to offer the continuum of appropriate education," Hubbell acknowledged. She added that peer-appropriate modeling requirements are being served by the preschool partnership, one of the "creative ways to ensure that a child's needs are met."

Hubbell said that the gap in needs for children with ASD was identified after the autism diagnosis broadened in 1994, resulting in more cases as well as the replacement of previous diagnoses such as 'developmentally disabled'. The broader diagnosis increased public awareness by educators.

Over the last decade, Hubbell said the school district's services for autistic students have evolved based on the district's small size. Part of that evolution was establishing the TOW special needs preschool six years ago. It may include the introduction of a regular district preschool for typical children in the future, according to White. In the meantime, the preschool partnership is filling the gap.

White said the "higher functioning" autistic children "needed typical peers and that merging them with the kindergarten group at TOW was not working." Last year, the district began to reach out to the community to finda preschool that could serve the kids with ASD, according to White.

"The Presbyterian preschool is highly respected philosophically, in terms of what they offer the kids. It was a good match," White said. "What makes this unique is that, in larger districts, they have state preschool on campus. Our numbers are so small, grant opportunities are limited to start our own. But for now, this is working beautifully."