Expert: James Michael Roan - 2/1/2006

Question
I have a 7year old grandson who has just been diagnosed with mild to moderate autism. He attends our village school and has a one to one helper in class shared with another child who has different problems. Should he be receiving specialist teaching?

Answer
Dear M. Evans;

Generally the conventional wisdom is to educate children on the spectrum with typically developing peers and to use a classroom aide for developing social skills and interpreting the requirements of assignments. The caveat is, however, the child must be benefiting from the situation. That is, learning social skills and making progress academically. If not, then you would want to consider more time in a special environment.

Kind Regards,
James