“Having high expectations for kids is definitely something that formed at Saint Rose. Dr. Ward validated that and I have great respect for her,” Sawyer recalls, adding that the elementary special ed. teacher he worked for was not pleased by his critique and questioned whether he would be able to manage his own class. To be fair, Professor Ward said it is only recently that educators have begun considering the capabilities of people with autism. The condition was identified in the 1940s when scientists first distinguished between a communication disorder and mental illness. An early theory held that children developed autism because their mothers were emotionally cold. Through the 1950s, experts widely believed, incorrectly, that these children were also intellectually impaired. They were institutionalized with people with mental illness and mental retardation. Ward said the system was shaken up in 1966 with Bernard Blatt’s “Christmas in Purgatory,” a photographic expose of institutions’ inhumane conditions. The public demanded reform. Landmark legislation in the 1970s gave all children access to free public education, shifting the emphasis from special schools to self-contained classrooms in public schools. Revisions in the 1990s called for participation in general education, propelling the drive to mainstream children with disabilities. Now, the Education Improvement Act of 2004 adds an expectation: progress. The quality of the education counts. “We used to say ‘no he can’t do it.’ Now we say ‘how can we make it possible for him to unlock what he knows?’” said Ward, who has taught at Saint Rose
for 13 years. “We are not putting a ceiling on any child’s achievement. To do that is educational malpractice.” The curricular implications are significant. Once, students had to master a skill — regardless of its value — before moving on. “You’d see kids drawing leprechauns for the 10th year in a row,” quipped Ward. “We should teach them, instead, about Ireland. They might be at a second grade reading level, but they are 17 years old. Tenth graders do global studies.” Higher expectations in the classroom reflect more ambitious goals for adulthood. In place of jobs in sheltered workshops, which are isolated from the rest of the community, or no jobs at all, new standards promoted by the federal government seek to place individuals with autism in minimum wage positions at least 20 hours a week. Ward noted that early data shows that the effort is taking route, in settings in which employers provide the support until employees can perform independently. So even by age eight or nine, Sawyer sees that time is short for his students given how much they need to achieve by adulthood. In his classroom, there is no time for leprechauns or “Barney.” His videos concern dental care and how to shop for groceries. His students need to ask, clearly, to be excused from their desks. Rather than sit quietly in the classroom for lunch, they eat in the sometimes not-quiet cafeteria with the rest of the school. When other classes started playing the recorder, which his students could not manipulate, Sawyer worked with the music department to get his students drums. He wanted them to have a shot at reading music.
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