We recently caught up with Eric Csolak, Supervisor of Special Education/Age 3 to Grade 5, to discuss some of the highlights of the Autism Program at Riverside School and how Riverside is celebrating Autism Awareness Month. Here are some highlights from the conversation.

Tell us about the autism program at Riverside.

When students first come into the Riverside Autism program there is a lot of targeted support where it is needed.  This is primarily implemented through Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA involves a system of teaching and reinforcing targeted behaviors that focus on developing skills for students with autism spectrum disorders to maximize their independence and inclusion.  Our program is positioned to deliver on those programs that help learners with Autism. Riverside has a team of teachers, therapists, child study teams, instructional assistants, and a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) that regularly collaborate to ensure best practices and consistency for all students.  Once the students can integrate into a general education class, which can happen quickly, then they are part of the morning meeting, academic subject areas, and special area subjects and participate in the classroom with their general education peers.

What makes the Riverside autism program so successful?

We have an extremely experienced and dedicated staff. Our staff work very hard on shaping student behavior, including individual academic plans, and working on social skills and emotional skills goals.

In addition, we work with the families of students to put programs in place so that students can be more independent learners. Pairing each student with a general education classroom so that they can participate with neurotypical peers has been a tremendous success for our students.  We integrate students very early. We provide the behavior support, the academic support, the communications support, all in one environment. 

We’ve had students who start out full time in the autism program and eventually become full-time supported students in the general education program. 

Everything we do is very individualized because we want to support students where they need the most support and build their skills to allow them to fully succeed and be independent.

Are there any things related to special education at Riverside that you would like to highlight?

The sensory room has been a big success. We had a small instructional classroom available, and we were able to get a grant for the installation. It’s a fun yet calm room, used by students with autism as well as their general education peers. It can be used by anybody who needs activities to help them focus better and to calm the mind and/or body. It has a variety of sensory activities including hammocks, swings, and many different manipulatives. We are very grateful of community support for our sensory awareness room.

I would like to thank the great team at Riverside, including Viktoria Wargo, Kirstin Meehan, Devon Warren (Teachers), Jill Walsh (Speech Language Specialist), Jenna Cirri (Speech Language Specialist), Mary Habib (Occupational Therapist), Emily Keefe (LDTC), Nicole Loprete (School Social Worker), Kristin Michaelson (School Psychologist), Diane Van Driesen (Behavior Specialist) and all the support staff working in the program.  

What is Riverside doing for Autism Awareness month?

For Riverside Autism Awareness Month, the staff are doing some fun things. We have terrific new T-shirts with a custom design, created and designed by the students and staff. We are following the Autism New Jersey theme this year which is “Make it Personal.” Each grade level has a writing prompt, and students will write about a personal experience they have had in school or at home relating to people with developmental disabilities. Later this month we will have a presentation/assembly where we will have responses displayed. And there was also a design contest sponsored by the PTO which resulted in production of Autism Awareness pins for everyone to wear.

Can you tell us about after school clubs? Are there options for special education students?

The expanded options for special education students to participate in the after-school clubs has been wonderful for our students. All the elementary schools, including Riverside, Community Park, Johnson Park and Littlebrook, have after-school clubs run by the PTOs. Students pay for these clubs, but we have scholarships for families who may need the help to pay. There are a wide variety of clubs. Many are run by parent volunteers, but we also have people from Princeton University as well as the greater community who run clubs.

The trick to making the clubs accessible to all students is the support from our staff, particularly from our instructional assistants. At Riverside, we provide an individual such as a member of the child study team or an instructional assistant who accompanies the student to the club. This system has worked well, and we have made many gains in the past years. Previously, students might have had access but not necessarily the right kind of access or support needed. Now that we provide support, just about every one of our students in the autism program attends a club! There are usually five to six clubs that run after school, every day, in each school. We are so proud to be a part of that.