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2010-11 AAC Meetings

October 11
December 6
February 7
April 4

4-6 p.m.
SJUSD District Office
Room 332
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Morgan Autism Center

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Autism Advisory Committee

The Work of the Autism Advisory Committee

The San Jose Unified School District Autism Task Force was formed in the fall of 2002 at the request of the Superintendent. The formation of the task force was timely, as a recent audit of special education programs emphasized that SJUSD lacked autism expertise and programs within Special Education, and recommended that the district remedy the situation in order to actively guide the appropriate educational programming for its students with autism.

The task force was composed of parents, administrators, members of the San Jose Teachers Association (teachers, SLP, nurse), an occupational therapist, a school psychologist, outside autism service providers, and a representative from the UCSF Autism Clinic.

The purpose of the task force was “to develop recommendations to the Superintendent regarding the development of a Pre-K through Grade 12 continuum of quality services to support school success for students with autism.” One of the expected outcomes of the Task Force’s work was the “ development of ongoing role of parents in the development of the program”. To that end, the Task Force recommended the formation of the Autism Advisory Committee (AAC).

The purpose of the committee is as follows:
• Continue development of SJUSD Autism Program toward goal of reaching world class status
• Continue forum for district/parent communication
• Maintain cutting edge knowledge of current research and disseminate same
• Create opportunities for guest speakers to address staff and parents
• Monitor implementation of the Autism Program

The AAC accomplishes the above through yearly goals and study priorities that result in action and recommendations to the Director of Special Education, the Superintendent and the Board of Education.

The AAC began its work in the 2004-05 school year. During its four year history, the committee has accomplished the following:
• contributed to and monitored the implementation and expansion of the SJUSD/Morgan Center program from one preschool class in February 2005 to its current level of six classes, preschool through 5th grade
•targeted the secondary program as a study priority, made program visitations, classroom observations, and recommendations for implementation and growth of the SJUSD secondary program
• continues to monitor progress and implementation of elementary and secondary autism programs
• encourages and promotes access to autism specific training to all staff in SJUSD
• wrote the Autism Master Plan that sets the standard for program, support services, facilities, training and program evaluation
• implemented yearly parent and staff surveys. The committee reviews and analyzes the results to inform its work and make further recommendations regarding program and services
• created a Special Education Referral Packet for parents that has been distributed to principals and is available on ed tek and the committee’s sjusd website link
• created an IEP Update/Report Card flow chart to help teachers and DIS service providers meet legal timelines
• posted articles about autism in the PTA newsletter and school newsletters
• created a parent brochure that has been posted to the website link and will be given to the Preschool Diagnostic Center, SLP’s and school psychologists