My
name is Ginny (Brennan) Bass. I started my career
in Special Education in the early 70's after completing
both my B.A. and M.A. in the field of Communication
Disorders. I am a licensed and certified Speech and
Language Pathologist. My formal education included
a specialization in Language Disorders. It always
amazed me that children mastered the basics of their
language system by the time they were three years
old.
How do they
accomplish this?
My interest was in those children
who were still struggling with language /communication
systems when they were 3-4-5 and 6 years old. The
first 16 years of my teaching career I spent teaching
a language development classroom. In this classroom
I taught a full curriculum of language skills, reading,
math and writing, using strategies to help a child
who is struggling with language problems succeed
in academic learning. The sad part was that these
children had to fail miserably in school before
they qualified for placement in a Language Classroom.
As Federal and State laws were passed
and implemented in the late 70's, we started identifying
these children earlier, and getting Special Education
services to them in Early Childhood Special Education
Programs. By the late 70's I was able to start
serving these children before they experienced school
failure.
I always felt that my job was to
figure out how each child was able to learn. The
excitement of teaching was to watch that "lightbulb"
go off in a child's eyes when I was able to put
a communication system in place for that child. That
is when the "learning" began. Now the
child would be able to make sense of reading, the
language related math concepts made sense to them
and they could move forward learning more complex
math operations in a meaningful way. All progress
is related to success. It has to be meaningful
before a child can learn it. My firm belief is that
parents must be informed every step of the way on
this road to success. Their enthusiasm is what brings
pride in learning into a child's life. I always
found that parents want to be a part of their child's
education and progress. They are always the key
to unlock the mystery of their child.
When
I was introduced to Autism Spectrum disorders in
the mid 80's I was introduced to the most individually
diverse learning styles I had ever encountered.
And thus my passion for working with these students
was born.
My first years
in this program were spent "team teaching"
and learning everything I could about these children
and Autism.
I was given
the opportunity to attend conferences where the
"masters" were presenting. I heard Instructors
from Chapel Hill North Carolina. I had the chance
to hear Barry Prizzant, who is now in Providence
Rhode Island, present several times. Dr. Prizzant taught
the value of using visual schedules and routines
with these students. Temple Grandin, an adult with
Autism and a PhD, who has written several books
on Autism, came to our school to present. She presents
all over the world sharing her experiences
as a child and an adult on the Autism Spectrum.
Dr. Margaret
Bauman, a Pediatric Neurologist from Harvard Medical
School has been in town several times to share her
expertise with us. Her work is with the neurological
differences in the brain. I have learned from Carol
Gray - who discovered from her students the effectiveness
of using a Social Story format to teach new skills.
My
passion led me to become a Consultant for Project
ACCESS in the State of Missouri - to consult with
School Districts state wide to help teachers and
other educators learn about Autism, and how to help
their students.
My final 5 years
in Special Education allowed me to work in the home
with the families of young children in Early Childhood
Special Education, who presented very unique needs.
Some of these children had a diagnosis on the Autism
Spectrum; some had no diagnosis, yet their behavior
suggested they were experiencing language difficulties
and sensory problems. With the help of their teachers
and families, we set about the task of giving these
children a communication system. When we figured
out how these children could communicate in a more
conventional manner - they no longer had to use
their "behavior" to communicate their
needs and wants.
During that
time I wrote hundreds of stories for families, made
visual schedules for children in the home to teach
them routines that lead to independence.
I developed
and presented both teacher training and parent training
on various subjects related to understanding the
Autism Spectrum, and strategies for helping these
children. In the future I hope to video tape these
training modules for distribution.
So many times,
parents and teachers asked me why I did not publish
my materials. They kept telling me that I needed
to share this information. I finally took early
retirement and have decided that a web site was
the best way for me to get my materials to more
people. Thus Bass Autism Spectrum Steps: Social
skills to Independence became a reality.
