Let me say up front, that I don’t think Common Core State Standards are shoes that fit any child, but the standards are especially insidious for students with disabilities, who were promised something different with the original Public Law 94-142.
Recently I read an article in Teaching Exceptional Children from a year ago. It was entitled, “Meeting the Common Core State Standards for Students with Autism: The Challenge for Educators.” It struck me that the title and the article emphasized standards—not students with autism.
It should be the other way around. Children with autism are unique. The challenge should be to tailor education to what helps them, not making them do preset standards that are not applicable to their needs.
In this article, there are vignettes about autistic students who are offered a different approach to achieve the standard. Other than the standards as the focus, the behaviors and the teacher guidance is really nothing new. The compartmentalization of what the teacher says to the student, who is off track, and how it is orchestrated, to supposedly help the child achieve the standard, that is new.
Common Core is so measured it doesn’t take into account students who don’t follow the script. Many of these stories could have turned out differently.
I’m reminded of when I first started teaching. It was an institution and I was assigned to a young teen with full-blown autistic tendencies. I determined that I would decrease his rocking in class since it kept him from performing the educational tasks I put before him. So through a “rigorous” behavior mod program, I extinguished his rocking. All smug with my success, I sat next to him one day and suddenly found myself sailing through the air! My little student packed a great wallop on the side of my head! I was fine except for my bruised ego.
Students don’t follow any mold. They are individuals with distinct behaviors and difficulties all their own. Try as the CCSS enthusiasts might, students don’t fall into nice little categories where they all work the same towards the same end. Not that case studies don’t serve a purpose. They do. But it is the notion that CCSS standards are meant for everyone that is off. It is this belief that these standards are somehow the perfect goals for everyone.
I was eventually able to get my student to diminish his rocking less but not entirely—so he could communicate a little more with others and accomplish some of his assignments. I changed my behavior and I readjusted the goals. It wasn’t perfect but it was better. I also sat across from him at the table.
Everything is geared around getting the child, any child, to a point where they are comfortable with what they are learning and how they are achieving. I’ve seen and heard enough horror stories about children crying over assignments and suddenly hating school to tell me CCSS for many children are not working well. Yet, the program continues to be sold with no reconsideration—not even any tweaking.
It is the word must that scares me the most. Why have standards, these particular standards, become what America forces on all children—even those with autism to achieve—when we know they aren’t working?
Consider the opening statement of the previously mentioned article.“The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will require students across the nation, including students with disabilities, to meet the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a set of grade-level expectations. These rigorous standards define what students should know and be able to do to be ready for college and careers (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010).”
We must challenge this assertion! Rigor is not what any child needs let alone any student with autism. Guidance, positive reinforcement, even serious structure—yes. But there is no place for rigor in the way it is used here. Nor do all children have to reach the same goal to be successful.
It is a ludicrous message, a serious insult, for children with autism and those of us who struggled for years to understand this mystery group of behaviors—and who worked to assist students to be independent in the things that mattered and to also help their parents. In my case, it was to try to get the children out of the institutions.
Speaking of institutions…CCSS also worries me here. With public schools emphasizing the all or nothing approach with CCSS, where will students with autism, who can’t master the standards, go? Already we see a mass exodus to homeschooling. Parents need something more. They require support and school programs that reflect up-to-date research.
They will not find this in CCSS. Yet, CCSS cheerleaders still argue this new group of standards will revolutionize education.
To the proponents of CCSS, including the well-regarded Council for Exceptional Children (what are they thinking?) who support CCSS and promote it, I say “Show us proof!”
By now everyone knows that CCSS was never field tested for students in general, let alone for students with atypical needs. Claiming that CCSS will assist autistic students is not only unworthy but insidious—far from proven. Reading over various reports about CCSS and autism, I see nothing as innovative or unique.
What I do see are the same standards for everyone, randomly devised miniscule objectives, obsessively numbered accordingly, and paragraphs interjected here in there from textbooks having to do with Theory of Mind (ToM) and Universal Design jargon. Were the standards even devised by anyone with experience with students experiencing autism?
Autism has gone through changes over the years in some positive ways, and yet it hasn’t changed in many ways either. We still don’t know what causes Autism, though there are a lot of speculations. There is also a lot of controversy—vaccines for example.
But with all the uncertainty that autism unwantedly brings to parents, and with the statistic that 1 in 88 children will have some form of autism, don’t parents and students deserve something better from their public schools?
I welcome suggestions as to what parents are looking for to help with their autistic children. To be continued….
Please check out Special Ed. Advocates to Stop Common Core on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/249171258560458/permalink/382735818537334/
Citation:
Constable, Susan, Barrie Grossi, Alexis Monig, & Lynne Ryan. “Meeting the Common Core State Standards for Students with Autism: The Challenge for Educators.” Teaching Exceptional Children. Jan/Feb 2013: 7-13.
I wonder this everyday. I ask these questions everyday. What about my kids? What about my son and his special needs? What about my 4 1/2 year old who is so painfully shy to speak up? What about my son who is afraid to say what he feels or to tell his teacher about the story they just read in class because he knows that if he tells her what the story was about, that afterwords, he will have to then draw a stupid picture to explain to her what the story was about? But he doesn’t want to, because it literally HURTS his hand to do so because he is behind in his fine motor skills. So writing and drawing by the end of the day is physically painful for him, and then he has to do homework after he gets home also. And it includes reading a story, drawing a picture, and then writing a sentence about the picture he just drew. How is this exactly supposed to help our kids in kindergarten?
Excellent points, Heather, even though they are painful to read. I hope things turn around. Thank you for posting. I know it was difficult.
I graduated from public school in 2004. Public school standards were not sufficient for me and didn’t interest or challenge me.
So, I took it upon myself to study and read and learn the things that I thought more interesting.
If we’re advocating for altering standards for students with special needs than we should also be doing the opposite- and providing the higher-level students more rigorous options (“higher-level” is a bad of putting it, but I can’t think of anything more politically correct at the moment).
More importantly, why do you think you’re entitled to special treatment? We place so much responsibility on school systems and teachers that I just want to make sure that we’re not forgetting about the parent’s responsibility to ensure their children are getting what they need.
Hi Brittany. Thanks for responding. I think we are on the same page. If you check my Jan. 2 post, I wrote about gifted learners. I think many students have different needs in regard to Common Core Standards or standards in general. It’s great you went ahead and taught yourself what you missed, but I believe a good public school would have paid better attention to you. And I agree that parents are important. I just believe parents with autistic children need some extra support. Very best!
I am the mother of three boys. My middle son is autistic and mainstreamed into 3rd grade. He has an aid and therapists that work with him both in the classroom and outside the classroom in special ed for speech and an intensive reading program. He is verbal and able to communicate, but has an extremely low frustration tolerance level and therefore gets aggravated easily. He has a difficult time staying on task, remembering assignments and the supplies to bring home or for in class, etc. That’s our background so you know where I am coming from.
What am I looking for in the schools to help my child? FLEXIBILITY. Flexibility is what we try desperately to teach to our son because of his rigidity, and yet it does not work the other way around. Teachers at his school are wonderful, but not everyone is so lucky. There was a particular week where the CCSS curriculum for math required that students be taught a different way to solve the same math problem – EVERY DAY. Every day they were given a brand new way to do the same problem they did the day before. That obviously does not take into account how an autistic child would respond, considering their rigidity. My son would only solve the problem one way, and one way only: the first way they taught on the first day. He could not process all of that information and succeed. The teachers only required that he at least TRY to use the new method, but they would accept any method he chose to solve the problem. Other classrooms around the country may not be so gracious.
He has a difficult time focusing without scripting or focusing on something else in the room. He needs breaks during test taking, which most standardized tests don’t allow for because they are timed. This will be the first year he takes standardized testing in a couple of months, but his IEP states he MUST have breaks during testing, without being penalized for taking longer than the test time allowed.
I expect schools to teach the way kids – all kids – learn. According to what works best for them because they are not cookie cutters. If they lecture in order to teach without using any kind of visuals at all, my son will fail. Help him SEE what you are talking about, and he can understand.
There is confusion over the difference between lack of cognitive understanding due to the individual’s actual ability and the ability to understand IF they are taught appropriately – according to their needs. Standardized testing and CCSS does not recognize the difference. That is seriously detrimental to our kids’ futures if bad grades are a result of how they are being taught and not laziness or the inability to understand.
I expect an acknowledgement of the differences in learning and therefore, the need for a variety of teaching methods. I expect flexibility in allowing autistic children ability to reach their full potential apart from timers.
I could go on about how the curriculum moves far too fast for even typical students to follow, much less autistic children in the same class. That not even the TEACHERS are keeping up. That my 3rd grader does not need the pressure the CCSS is putting on him at his age when I didn’t learn the same things until I was a couple years older and yet I am a fully functioning successful adult. That spending longer than 30+ minutes on homework is a ridiculous expectation for a child with autism who comes home to spend two hours in therapy. That he has meltdowns that ensue because he does not understand the content of the homework which he JUST learned that very day. Sometimes the homework covers material from the week before to keep up with newly learned material, but it confuses the heck out of him because that’s not what they did that day.
And so on and so forth. It makes ME want to bang my head repeatedly. Something’s gotta give.
Hi I know this is YEARS later reply. I am going through the EXACT thing after reading your post. If you are reading this, how have things turned out???
Hi Kerri,
I think children still struggle with Common Core. Maybe I can update this post with another. Thank you. Hang in there and stay positive.
Sarah, Thoughtful post. Thank you. You describe everything that is important and frustrating about autism and public schooling with the CCSS. I agree with everything you have to say. You might want to check out the United Opt Out website here http://unitedoptout.com/ and consider opting your son/s out of the testing. I appreciated hearing about your son’s experience. Take care.
I have a child on each end of the problem of CCSS. I have an autistic son 9yo/3rd grade, that the school won’t even recognize the dx because he did their little test just fine. So he’s not getting any extra help in class, during testing, relaxed homework rules, NOTHING! Going from 2nd to 3rd is hard enough, but our school went to full on CCSS too. Which for our school district means the work is more than a full grade above where they would normally be! So technically he’s going from 2nd to 4th! He’s completely lost! Hell, I’m completely lost! Doing these math problems the way they’re teaching them is absurd.
But then I also have my daughter, 8yo/2nd grade, who’s reading at an 8th grade level and doing math at a 4th grade level. But due to CCSS the teachers aren’t allowed to challenge her. Her one teacher ‘sneaks’ her higher level books and tests her on them just to keep her happy. This is my child that LOVED school last year (before CCSS went into affect), now doesn’t really care about school. She’s officially tested from the teacher at this high reading level but due to the core she’s only leveling at a 2nd grader… She hates that!!
The CCSS is not working for either of my children at this point. I’m giving it to the end of this year, but over the summer my husband and I are going to have a hard decision to make!
Thank you, Melanie. What a great example you provide showing us the differences demonstrated in both your children. And a teacher has to sneak your older daughter a book!? Where are we living? But there is a certain frenzy tied to the CCSS by the believers. I don’t think they read anything that questions its appropriateness. It is always heartbreaking to read about children who liked school one day but hated it the next. I hope things turn around for your family. Stay positive (somehow).
Let me add to the conversation, both as a parent and as an educator. My son had — up until this school year when CC was enforced, thrived in gifted classroom. My son has Asperger’s, but is extremely high-functioning on that spectrum. Because of this, he doesn’t qualify for classroom aides or special accommodations. In third grade he shared an aide with the other kids, but he no longer needs help. And that was swell until CC. My previous straight-A Math Whiz has nightly panic attacks because his score is 1 above where it needs to be for 6th grade; or worse, it’s at standard. This is a kid who tested 97% in math for our state, was doing equations, and now second guesses multiplying mixed fractions! Plus, it’s trickled down to his other subjects. CC is a joke! And it’s terrible for autistic kids — regardless of where they fall on the spectrum.
Thanks for sharing your situation, Marsha. Do you have a support group? I know it is hard to organize, but parents need to get together and approach the school about CCSS. There have been so many negative stories about math changes. At least with a group of parents you can share and help one another. And you can put pressure on the school to improve the situation.
I have two kids that both have separate Autistic Spectrum disorders. one is 12 and the other is 10. They are both in “special” classes that assist them in the daily routines. Each goes out to regular CORE classes but return to their rooms to refocus, catch up, or as change of mind due to acting out. We have been very lucky to have this program and it appears we will lose it next year. My oldest id doing 7th grade work and the core math has him doing algebra and calculus. These are problems I even struggle with and I have had these classes in high school. He is pushed to integrate with core requirements that are not fair to someone who gets upset when he can’t keep up or understand and shuts down. My youngest is doing 5th grade work and excels at reading and science. She names dinosaurs that most people have never heard of. She even taught her class on two different lessons without prompt because the teacher knew she could. Her major problem is that she has a large temper and control issues. My worry now is that both of these children will lose the extra help and guidance that has kept them on pace with the other kids and fall so far behind that our only option will be to take them out and join the ranks of home school. Thank you for your article.
Jeff, I don’t blame you for worrying. Like I mention to Marsha above, I’d find a support group if possible or get together with other parents. I always believe there is power in numbers. And you can commiserate with others which is helpful as well. It really is outrageous they are getting rid of a program that works. Why? Isn’t it interesting that school districts seem to find money for fads and yet use the “lack of money” rhetoric for what they don’t want? Thanks for sharing, Jeff.
I’ve been a part-time homeschooling mom for years for my nine kids. (My oldest is in grad school and the head TA at age 23, so I think we did a few things right.) My 10yo is high functioning autistic and wanted to try public school two years ago. He had a marvelous teacher and made lots of headway socially. He didn’t want to do third grade, but tried fourth this year, and was way-laid by CC. After a month I brought him home and we went back to Saxon Math and sanity. I realize I’m very lucky to have the option to bring him home again (he’s almost finished with Saxon 54 and it’s only February) whereas he was literally banging his head on the table every evening with CC. I just hope other parents can find alternative, or that somehow all of this nonsense ends.
What a MOM! You sound busy but doing well with success! I’m sorry about the CC. It sounds like your son was doing well up to that point, and you had a nice relationship with his teacher. I agree with you, Trish. I hope they start to realize students have different needs. CC does not do that as you know. Keep up the good work and thank you for posting!
What is even more shocking is that k-12 schooling and success are not mutually exclusive. I was a terrible student in elementary, middle and high school. I got mostly mediocre grades despite being one of the most intelligent students in school. Look at me know, succeeding in a successful career without a stellar high school GPA, without a college degree, and without really even remembering or caring about what was shoved down my throat during those horrible years of public education. My point is that I feel as though we need to stop expecting government funded schools to do alllllll the work in setting our children up for success. It’s the things I learned at home that have meant the most anyway: work ethic, respect for EVERYONE, table manners, social etiquette, reading, loving, caring, personal responsibility, thinking for myself, and the list goes on and on and on. I wasn’t bitching that there weren’t more interesting classes for me, I just got through, and the thing that has made me successful is the person who was developed at home under the teaching of my parents.
Thank you, Brittany. I am glad you are doing well. It sounds like you have a fulfilling life. I hope schools improve though. Very best!
We need to be pushing back on the foundational concept of “college and carreer ready” itself. Before any of this CCSS began a study was run to determine exactly what the college and carreer ready skillsand traits were. The study determined that they could not determine exactly what kids needed to know to be successful in college or carrer and they were unsure that college ready skills and carreer ready skills were even the same thing. This whole program is based on getting kids to a goal that theirown study could not identify. The whole basis of CCSS is flawed.
I am just starting out in my daughter’s education journey. She is in an early childhood class specifically for autistic students. I was actually surprised something like this was still available. I love the program and her teachers but reading the comments here, your blog, and from my own research, I have to admit, I am scared and worried. She is mostly non-verbal w/sensory issues, etc. We finally got a call back after being on waiting lists for a year to get therapies started. Maneuvering healthcare is convoluted and difficult enough so I can’t imagine where bi-partisan (this should be stressed that both dems and Republicans have championed charters, tests, education for profit) privatization will lead the state of our education.
Children learn differently and autistic children require what charter schools, common core, and incessant testing can’t provide.
I want my daughter to be taught in a manner that she responds to and excels in, even if it is the little things. Parents and real and passionate teachers know it is in the small discoveries and the aha! moments when something clicks for a child that matters. FWIW, I don’t think the common core people and big money big-wigs that supported and initiated it care about my kid or any other student. I think common core was instated specifically because it creates this deadened sameness. How many theories (philosophers, psychologists, educators, child specialists) have uncovered and said that play is a form of learning?and that all children can achieve something if they are taught in a way that resonates? Don’t get me wrong, I see the need for structure and teaching her social skills and she requires the patience and redirection. But I also know she has strengths that can be tapped into…she is very visual, spatial, kinesthetic, and almost mathematical in her thinking and actions. She has a lot to work on and although I love to work and play with her, I can’t do it on my own and am always asking teachers, specialists, etc how/what I can also do…It isn’t easy being a mom of a special needs child, especially within our healthcare and apparently, education system. I appreciate you bringing attention to these issues. It is daunting and I would love to be prepared for what may come later.
Thank you, Nancy. Please stay in touch and let us know how you are making out with your daughter. It sounds like you know what you are looking for and that the current program is good. So she will get off to a good start. I wish you both the best and hope you can maneuver through the education maze to give her the best out there.