By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer

At the start of the school year, Cooperstown Central School created its own autism program. According to Superintendent Mary Jo McPhail, it would be more cost effective if CCS implemented its own in-house autism program as compared to paying out of district tuition for students to attend elsewhere.

McPhail said last year a CCS student was being transported to Utica to the Kelberman Center, which is for children with autism, autism spectrum disorders, severe language delays and behavior problems. She said another would have had to do the same this schoolyear if the Cooperstown program was not created.

McPhail also said the student getting schooling in Utica had aged out of the Kelberman Center’s program, meaning the district would have had to look at other programs to send that student to which would have been even farther away than Utica.

``In addition to cost effectiveness, we are able to meet each student’s needs while being able to keep them in their own home school,’’ said McPhail.

Andrea Wissick, a special education teacher who works in the Primary Autism Support Classroom located at the elementary school, said the goal is to always have students in their home school whenever possible. She said there was not a similar program offered in the area, so both the district and parents thought it would be a good idea to create one.

Wissick said CCS staff worked with the personnel at the Kelberman Center to develop a school-aged program that could meet the needs of students within the district.

``Ultimately, it became clear the best way to implement the program was through a partnership between CCS and the Kelberman Center,’’ she said.

``Our goal is to provide a quality and appropriate educational program for children with autism in our community.’’

added Wissick, who was hired specifically for the program.

Wissick said CCS has been able to develop a curriculum around each child.

She said she and her colleagues use discrete trial training, a behaviorallybased technique, method of teaching.

``The program is a unique educational environment beyond a typical classroom setting to meet the individual academic and social needs of each child,’’ said Wissick. ``Most of the students receive primary instruction and goal work in our classroom.’’

Wissick said one student is working toward inclusion and visits a regular education classroom part-time with support.

The autism program has five and a half kids, because one child is supported by the program part-time. There are two students that attend the program who attend neighboring districts — Milford and Laurens.

McPhail said these districts sought out Cooperstown because its program offers a more cost effective solution to busing students greater distances.

According to Wissick, students from outside the district are referred through the Committee on Special Education (CSE) of their home school districts. Once referred, an evaluation/intake process takes place to see if the students are appropriate for placement, said Wissick.

The program is staffed with one special education teacher, Wissick, and three behavior special assistants from the Kelberman Center.

According to Wissick, the program also offers related services such as occupational, physical and speech therapies and adaptive physical education. She said these services are provided as needed on an individual basis.

Students have been participating in the program for less than a year and McPhail said she believes things are going very well.

``We are very pleased to be able to offer this program to our students and their parents,’’ she said. Wissick said the children are advancing toward their annual goals.

``We have a very positive learning environment for the students,’’ she said. ``We learn new things each day, and like to call it a work in progress.’’

Wissick said each staff member has a different strength that is brought to the program.

``I feel that our team works very well together,’’ she said. ``This helps the day flow smoothly for the children.’’

The students follow a picture schedule and do something new every half hour. Some activities that can be found on their schedules include, but are not limited to, circle time, singing songs, individual work sessions, lunch, snack time, and recess.

``We try to make it (the schedule) easy to follow so the students know what to expect,’ said Wissick. ``We try to make the day run like any other classroom, besides we focus on making things more visual because that is how most students with autism learn best.’’ The children are amazing, said Wissick.

``They make us smile, laugh and cry,’’ she said. ``What may be a small developmental milestone marker for a typical child is a huge accomplishment for our children.’’

Wissick, who grew up in the Cooperstown area, said she feels lucky to be able to work with students with special needs. She said she has substituted in a few schools in the area and her favorite teaching experiences were always in special education classrooms.

``I did a functional behavior assessment on a student with autism, and just knew I wanted to become a part of the research, treatment, support and intervention for children on the spectrum,’’ said Wissick. Wissick has a master’s degree from the College of Saint Rose and is certified to teach elementary education, pre-kindergarten though sixth grade, students with disabilities, birth through second grade and first grade through sixth grade in New York State. Wissick said she did a lot of her graduate work with students at the Cooperstown elementary school, where she also substituted.

Wissick said each day, transitions become smoother and leaning is enhanced. ``I think things are going very well,’’ she said.