Elim Christian School

• Elim Christian School
• Curriculum
• Autism Education Program
• Related Services
• Extra-Curricular Activities

Autism Comprehensive Education (ACE) Program

Elim’s Autism Comprehensive Education (ACE) Program is highly structured, providing a predictable environment that fosters functional independence. It is designed to meet children’s underlying sensory and motor needs while focusing on academic, social, interaction, behavioral, and communication goals. Multi-system learning, with music, relaxation, swimming, and movement, is utilized to stimulate various areas of the brain and central nervous system.

Students’ individual goals are designed around current functional needs, and evolve within a classroom curriculum that includes math, science, social studies, language arts, handwriting, and computers. Students participate in a Therapeutic Language Classroom (TLC) up to four hours per week.

ACE staffs a full-time, interdisciplinary team of professionals with continuous training in best practices. The interdisciplinary team includes:

• Recreational Therapist
• Occupational Therapist
• Speech Language Pathologist
• Social Worker
• Behavioral Therapist
• Teachers
• Classroom Assistants

Functional daily living skills are practiced, as well as community integration/safety and peer interaction. Classroom aides are an important part of the work system method, as well as facilitators of students’ interactions.

Although the ACE program has a specific structure, each student is assessed and the team develops individual modifications on a regular basis. The students are assigned daily jobs and peer interaction helpers upon assessment.

Regular communication with parents is employed to assist with goal development and generalization into the home and community. The ACE program social worker offers in-home support to each student’s family.

ACE techniques are drawn from a variety of best practices used around the country, most notably from the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped CHildren (TEACCH) method, developed at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Project TEACCH is a work system format used to display clear beginnings, ends, and expectations for each student. The TEACCH method also provides a structure that can enable increased compliance and independence. There is time for structured experiential, hands-on learning with group activities, including cooking, science, arts/crafts, etc.

Additional ACE programs include:

• ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) / Positive Behavior Support
• Augmentative Communication (PECS, Voice Output Devices)
• Sensory Integration
• Recreational Therapy
• Visual Support System
• Home Support Program
• Community Integration
• Peer Integration
• Adult Transition Support/Pre-vocational
• Therapeutic Language Center

Students are placed in the ACE program if their needs demand resources beyond Elim’s main school program. These students are considered to be somewhere on the autism spectrum, between 3 and 21 years old. The ACE program serves students with a primary diagnosis of Autism. Students ages 3 to 7 with a primary diagnosis of Developmental Disabilities may be approved for the ACE program if they have significant autistic tendencies.

Elim proudly partners with the Organization for Autism Research. OAR seeks to focus on applied research, reflecting Elim’s commitment to developing best practices in serving people with autism as they are. While we fervently hope and pray for a cure, we realize that our best efforts should be focused on serving people with autism and equipping them to function at their highest God-given potential. We applaud OAR’s commitment to similar goals and are pleased to partner with them.