Researchers at Missouri University are developing a curriculum to help educators teach effectively children with autism.

The curriculum developed by Janine Stichter, a professor of special education at the MU College of Education, and her team, focuses on specific needs and behavioral traits of autistic children. It also has a virtual classroom component. It focuses on recognizing facial expressions, sharing ideas, taking turns, exploring feelings and problem solving.

“Children with autism have three core deficit areas: difficulty with communication, issues with repetitive behaviors, and social competence,” Stichter said. “Social competency has a big impact on communication and is essential for post-school outcomes. While there are several social curricula available, they haven’t adequately discriminated between and targeted certain parts of the population. At MU, we’ve worked to develop intervention to meet specific needs, similar to a medical model for treating cancer: doctors don’t use one treatment model for all forms of cancer, for example.”

“For parents, this means a reduction in the need to be shopping constantly for a program that fits their child. There’s a tendency for programs to promote social skill development, but parents have a hard time determining if it fits their children; this program is structured so that parents know they have a good fit,” Stichter said.

“Also, this creates a model for schools so these lessons can be added to the student’s overall educational experience, rather than an add-on to the student’s schedule. To date, the special education teachers involved have been very pleased to have a comprehensive curriculum and with the outcomes for their students. Even general education teachers are saying ‘show us more – we can use this with all of our kids.”