Elim Christian School

• Elim Christian School
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• Autism Educational Program
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Autism Comprehensive Educational (ACE) Program

The Autism Comprehensive Educational (ACE) Program at Elim Christian School served its first students in 2004 and has grown to approximately fifty students in 2009. The ACE Program was designed to meet the needs of students ages three to twenty-one who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and have needs that demand resources beyond Elim’s Cross-Categorical Program. ACE is committed to providing students with learning experiences that equip them with the tools they need to reach their highest God-given potential. ACE staff recognize that the most effective way to educate our students is by taking the time to form relationships. Once staff can understand each child’s world, staff can focus on teaching each student more appropriate ways to express himself or herself.

The ACE Program teaches a full curriculum that has been adapted from the Illinois State Learning Standards. ACE places an emphasis on the following areas: communication, socialization, functional academics, vocational skills, play/leisure, structure, fine and gross motor, daily living, community, and behavior. Teachers and therapists teach lessons following a yearly theme schedule. Multiple therapies are “built in” to every student’s daily schedule.
The ACE Program utilizes an eclectic approach of effective methods to provide educational services to all students. Structured teaching, developed from Division TEACCH at the University of North Carolina, allows ACE students to feel comfortable in a predictable environment that fosters functional independence. Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), including Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports and functional analysis, are used to teach specific skills and reduce problematic behavior.

ACE requires an extremely high staff to student ratio. ACE staffs a full-time, interdisciplinary team of professionals with continuous training in effective strategies to use when educating students who have ASD. The team includes specialists in speech and language pathology, occupational therapy, behavior analysis, recreational therapy, social work, and vocational training. Each classroom has a certified special education teacher and three to four paraeducators working with six students. To promote maximum independence and generalization skills, one-on-one paraeducators are not assigned to students in ACE.

The ACE Program believes in and supports the Communication Bill of Rights developed by the National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities in 1992. An intensive speech therapy model is delivered to each student. Students attend the Therapeutic Language Center (TLC) three times a week. In addition, the speech therapy department dedicates time weekly to focus on augmentative and alternative communication in each classroom. ACE strives to provide each student with as many communication forms as possible, including speech, pictures, printed words, typing, sign language, and voice output devices. The speech therapists teach every student reading and word structure skills so that literacy may be a viable form of communication.

Components of occupational therapy, including sensory integration, gross motor, and fine motor, are weaved into each student’s everyday school activities. The occupational therapists work with the students in a one-on-one setting and in the classroom. ACE staff understand that our students will be better able to focus and perform when they are receiving the sensory input they need.

Students attend social work as a class twice a week. Because deficits in social interaction can be so prevalent in individuals with autism, social skills are not only addressed by classroom staff, but also by the social worker in a group setting. Sessions focus on identifying emotions, coping strategies, and friendship skills such as taking turns and sharing. Music and games are co-taught in social work and recreational therapy. These activities are geared to focus on group interaction and expose students to a variety of leisure activities and skills that they may utilize both in and out of school.
In addition, recreational therapists teach leisure skills through swimming, physical education, and art. They also plan weekly community integration outings for all ACE students to enhance social communication skills, increase appropriate behaviors, and use resources in their community safely and comfortably.

Students who are thirteen-and-a-half and older receive vocational instruction twice a week from our vocational coordinator. Students learn various skills during themed units such as indoor and outdoor maintenance, office/clerical, laundry, retail, etc. They also travel into the community with their class on a trip every other week centering on a specific vocational skill. Students first learn these skills in a controlled work setting, but then generalize them into their homes and community. The main goal of the vocational program is to promote independence in each student to the best of his or her ability. This is achieved by focusing on improving work behaviors. Some of these behaviors include staying on task for prolonged periods of time, working independently, controlling impulses, and tolerating various work environments.

Although the ACE Program has a specific structure, ACE acknowledges the importance of designing programs exclusive to the individual needs of each student. ACE is a welcoming and supportive environment that revolves around teamwork. It is through humor, and more importantly through love, that staff in ACE accept and serve God’s precious children.