What is Autism?

This workshop opens with a description of the key characteristics of autism and proceeds to describe how the Pyramid Approach to Education can help professionals and family members design effective educational environments for such learners. This approach allows educators to create successful lessons in various settings including school, home and the community using a broad array of teaching strategies. The model helps educators organize and prioritize their responsibilities in teaching critical functional skills, including functional communication skills, to learners. The Pyramid Approach places an emphasis on creating rapidly effective lessons that promote communicative initiation by learners to help minimize their dependence upon teachers/caregivers. Pyramid’s orientation is aimed at promoting collaborative teams in which all members are competent teachers. The overall model places an ongoing emphasis upon the communication and social difficulties learners with autism may display throughout their lives. How to set up this model within school settings (both public and private), homes, and in the general community is also discussed.