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.
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 not just the student
but also the student’s 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
Improved time on tasks: Students de-escalate and return to class, learning more effectively.
Reduction in stress for teachers, caretakers and classmates
Reduction in “acting out” through disruptive behavior such as hitting, biting and outbursts
Fewer trips to the principal, early dismissals, bullying, and name-calling.
Greater parent confidence their child can successfully assimilate into school.
Classmates better understand that “episodes” are temporary and 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.