( Everyday Life with Autism )

What a marvelous event! The Morgan Autism Center http://morgancenter.org has organized and held an amazingly powerful, educational, informative, and heartening conference on September 22 at Santa Clara University, California. The Morgan Autism Center is located in San Jose, in the heart of the Silicon Valley, and caters to approximately 100 students with special needs. It is a private, nonprofit special education school. Services are available for the lifespan of individuals on the autism spectrum and other severe neurological disorders.

The mission of the center is to help children and adults with autism or other developmental disabilities maximize their potential in a dignified, positive and loving environment. The vision of the center is for its students and clients to remain in the community and lead a productive and happy life. The staff members work collaborately to increase awareness about autism and to promote sharing of the latest research and information. (Morgan Autism Center Mission and Vision Statement)

The Morgan Autism Center accepts students by referals either from schools or hospitals. The center provides individualized programs adapted for children starting at the primary level through High School when their needs are not met in regular schools. The Center offers a seperate program that serves nearly 40 adult students. There are about 100 staff members dedicated to working with a total of approximately 100 students.

The Morgan Autism Center‘s teaching approach is based on a close to one-on-one instruction. However, rotation between students and instructors is part of the protocol. What a great opportunity for teachers and instructors to work with all of the students! Doesn’t that in itself fight rigidity and love for sameness? Besides, the idea of rotation distributes the workload evenly among teachers, to keep them continuously upbeat and positive.

There are about eight students in each class. Teachers and instructors work with the deep belief and conviction that progress is possible when the appropriate plans, structure, and means are provided. Considering the fact that no two individuals are alike on the autism spectrum, the center allows all students to develop at their own pace. To encourage students to grow and prosper in a healthy environment, teachers get to know every student’s strengths and weeknesses first, prior to customizing the most suitable learning strategies. Flexibility, understanding, and team spirit are important aspects of the Morgan Autism Center.

The secret to the success of the Morgan Autism Center is the dynamics within the team members in the way they run this place. Everybody in the team has a say in what would be the most beneficial thing to do to contribute to the students’ success. The dedication and motivation to better the students’ life is their utmost goal and reward. The small-sized classes are a reflection of the center’s focus on the quality of the services it provides.

The Morgan Autism Center offers a multitude of other services to the community. Workshops and consultations are available for teachers, parents and speech language therapists as well as occupational therapists.

To learn more about the Morgan Autism Center, please visit http://morgancenter.org.

Morgan Autism Center inspires professionalism, hope and caring.

I was enchanted and privileged to attend such a wonderful event. Thank you to the staff for all your hard work!

In my next entry I will write about the 11^th Morgan Autism Center Conference.

Cheers!

Nadia Shanab

Tags: communication, discipline, flexibility, organization, parenting, schools