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Colleges offer autism classes |
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| WINSTED -- Area colleges are responding to a nationwide rise autism cases by offering new classes on autism education. |
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Northwestern Connecticut Community College, UConn-Torrington and the
UConn Health Center in Farmington will be offering two courses each
aimed at training health care providers and educators to help children
with autism. The programs were created in response to community outcry over the lack of specialized education for children with autism in northwestern Connecticut, said UConn-Torrington director Adriane Lyon. According to Lyon, a group of concerned parents, educators and legislators met to discuss how critical specialized training was. "After that conversation, [NCCC Dean of Academic Affairs] Melinda Rising and I decided it was crucial that we start offering this type of coursework," she said. Recent studies show autism, a brain disorder that impedes a person’s ability to interact socially, to be growing rapidly. The federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that nearly 425,000 children suffer from autism nationwide. Regionally, the incidence of autism has grown as well, according to Clint Montgomery, director of Shared Services for Regional School District 7. He said there are currently 11 students in elementary and pre-schools in Winchester, Norfolk, Colebrook, Barkhamsted and Hartland who suffer from autism. "Finding educators specialized in dealing with the complex needs of children with autism has proved very difficult," he said. NCCC will offer Child With Special Needs and Introduction to Childhood Autism, both night classes, next semester. UConn-Torrington will offer Experts on Current Issues in Early Childhood Autism, which will bring experts from all over the country to speak on the disorder. UConn Medical Center will offer graduate workshops. Lyon said she hoped students would eventually be able to earn up to a Master of Science degree with a specialization in autism education. In the "two-plus-two-plus-two" program, students would spend two years at each NCCC, UConn-Torrington and the Medical Center, earning Associate, Bachelor and Master degrees respectively. The classes, she said, would also be helpful to parents and grandparents whose children have been diagnosed with autism. Anyone age 62 or older can audit the classes at UConn-Torrington for $15. "It is extremely important for parents to understand the disorder," Montgomery said. "The needs of autistic children very complex and change from year to year." |
| ©The Register Citizen 2003 |
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