A Constellation of Care
Conceived to help those with autism, we’ve found that The Star Room also benefits students with a range of behavioral conditions and physical disabilities.
The Star Room has proven to be “an incredible, incredible success,” says Mark Parent, special education director for Plain Local Schools (Canton, Ohio) 6,000-student district.
Mark said The Star Room’s success is not based just in terms of its impact on the students who use it, but by the program’s effect on teachers, caretakers and other students. He said these outcomes have been achieved:
- Improved time on task. Students de-escalate and return to classrooms able to access learning to a much higher degree
- Reduction in stress for teachers, caretakers and classmates
- Reduction in students’ “acting out” through disruptive behavior such as hitting, biting and outbursts
- Reduction in trips to the principal, early dismissal from school, bullying and name-calling by classmates
- Increase in parents’ comfort level and confidence that their child has a better chance to be successfully assimilated into school
- Increase of classmates’ understanding that “episodes” are only temporary and behaviors don’t define people
Such outcomes show that students with autism and other sensory disorders can successfully assimilate into general education classrooms, and therefore achieve higher academic success than might otherwise have been unexpected.