Autism Education Center's strong network key to supporting students and professionals during pandemic

The Autism Education Center at Grand Valley has developed a deep and sophisticated network of colleagues and resources for educators and other professionals across Michigan who work with students who have autism spectrum disorder.

The strength and necessity of those connections took on new significance during the learning disruption caused by COVID-19, both for immediate needs and long-term planning as educators have eyed the fall, Matthews said.

"We're the connectors," said Amy Matthews, center director and director of the Statewide Autism Resources and Training (START) Project, funded by the Michigan Department of Education. Matthews and her team provide a wide range of resources to support professionals working with individuals from ages 3 to 21 who are in various educational settings. The center also has resources for families.

Some of the hurdles are familiar for all of those in education, such as the difficulties surrounding remote learning and parents trying to juggle jobs and helping to educate at home. 

But when the pandemic first shut down schools, Matthews and her team also immediately heard from professionals working with students who have ASD and concerned about the additional challenges facing their students. For one, evidence shows a number of individuals with ASD rely on routine for their learning environment, Matthews said, lending urgency to figuring out a plan of action.

"We heard pretty quickly, 'We can’t wait. We’ve got students who are going to be struggling.' We had a number of folks who rallied and tried and to put things together the best they could," Matthews said.

They worked to establish a schedule and some stability, then moved on to finding ways to support students' families, she said.

Another imperative was ensuring the support that students receive through the peer-to-peer program was still on course virtually, Matthews said. The program promotes independence and socialization for students with ASD by connecting them with other students in the school setting, helping foster an environment of acceptance for all.

Experts quickly came up with ideas that took into account the range of students' learning and communication characteristics, Matthews said. The ideas were collected into a padlet, where professionals can find ways to encourage interaction between their students and peers through everything from games to virtual lunches.

That type of collaboration is at the core of the network of educators, social workers, speech therapists, psychologists, administrators and other professionals who work on a team to support students with ASD, and who are supported by the center.

The interaction has been crucial in planning for multiple learning scenarios as school started, Matthews said. For instance, as her team rolled out tools over the summer to enhance remote learning, professionals who were educating during the summer were able to test the programs and help refine them.

The center maintains those contacts through training, meetings and conferences, which team members have been dedicated to continuing virtually as necessary. That included a virtual town hall shortly after restrictions from the pandemic started to understand everyone's needs.

Collaboration plans for more than a year out remain but now are layered with new pieces gleaned from the disruption. The center's mission is staying true, Matthews said.

"We can’t stop educating students. We’re just doing it in a different way," she said.