Treating Autism at Summit Educational Resources

By Wendy Ponte
Web Exclusive - September 4, 2006

Related Articles:
Sidebar: What is Applied Behavioral Analysis?
Sidebar: Autism: A Sample Task Analysis in ABA
Sidebar: The Vocabulary of Autism

Kathy Doody was working at her home computer when she heard a small voice behind her: "—ug." She quickly turned around to find her three-year-old autistic son, Kevin, standing and reaching his arms out to her. To hear Kevin's first ever spoken word was amazing enough. That the word he chose was hug made this moment even more poignant—this was also the first time Kevin had ever expressed affection. Just six weeks into Kevin's home-based program of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), provided to him by Summit Educational Resources in Buffalo, New York, the Doody family had already received the first of many miracles to come.

Five years later I sat across from Kathy Doody, our knees tucked under the kid-sized table in Kevin's classroom at Maple East Elementary School, where Summit conducts a pilot program for autistic children. I observed Kevin, now an engaged, eight-year-old second-grader who spends at least half of each school day in a mainstream classroom. As it would be for most kids his age, having Mom in the classroom was a bit of a distraction, but I was glad for that. It gave me a chance to see Kevin's sparkling eyes up close—eyes that clearly focused on those of his mother.

I'd had my first look at one of Summit's facilities earlier that morning, just as the school day began. From the outside, it looked like any medium-sized elementary school. In fact, this building and another Summit facility nearby are old public-school castoffs, leased temporarily to Summit by the state. By the time of this writing, a brand-new, $7.5 million building will have finally brought together most of the school's services under one shiny new roof, providing students with a bright, functional atmosphere designed specifically for children with developmental disorders.

In the meantime, the dreary brick facade of Summit's present building is completely eclipsed by the longest line of yellow school buses I have ever seen, stretching down the road for what seems like miles, far past the boundaries of the school property. Children come to Summit from far and near, the distance limited only by a state mandate that restricts a child's bus time to one hour each way. There is a good reason for all those yellow buses. Summit is a unique institution that each year serves hundreds of children, most of them autistic.

Of course, there are many other good schools out there that teach autistic children, and plenty of good programs that provide occupational and speech therapy, specialized preschools, after-school programs, and camps. It isn't even that there aren't other good support groups for parents, or good diagnostic centers. One of the things that make Summit so different is that the school provides all of those services and more, all coordinated and individually tailored to each child and each family's particular needs. A family that receives services from Summit has hit the jackpot—they can count on this kind of care and attention until their child turns 21, if necessary. The support and continuity of care are priceless.

The results can be quantifiably demonstrated. "If there is one thing we pride ourselves in, it is that we use diagnostic tools and treatment that have a strong basis in science," I was told by Dr. Stephen Anderson, who has been Summit's executive director since 1995. Statistics back up Summit's huge levels of success with autistic children. For example, only about 10 percent of the preschool-age children Summit treats stay at the school for kindergarten. For most schools, such a rate of attrition might speak poorly; at Summit, it means that 90 percent are ready to move on. Many of those kids have progressed to a point where they can attend kindergarten at a mainstream school, and up to 20 percent of them will be indistinguishable from their typical peers. (In the world of autism treatment, typical is used rather than normal to describe a child who does not have the types of serious developmental delays that are Summit's focus. This use of this term acknowledges the possibility that there is more than one way for a child to learn.)

Tall, lanky, and sparking with energy, Steve Anderson is only the second executive director Summit has had since the school's founding in 1973. The first was Nancy Harris, an English teacher, who began the school at her kitchen table. Like many great ideas, hers was born of necessity. In 1973, finding a school that could adequately serve the needs of Harris's hearing-impaired son was not easy. The school was incorporated in 1977, and focused on helping deaf and speech-impaired children.

Over time, as public schools began to better meet the needs of hearing-impaired children, Summit's population slowly shifted to kids with more severe needs. When Anderson took over in 1995, he found that many of the children at Summit had autistic characteristics that were not being directly addressed. Now, the majority of children that Summit serves in its school program fall within the autism spectrum.

For most parents who reach out to Summit, Admissions Coordinator Mary Pat Sperrazza is the first point of contact. "The phone never stops ringing," she said. "I get calls from parents all over the country, and even from Canada." Sperrazza, a former special-education teacher, answers every one of these calls. If Summit cannot directly care for a family, they are given an appropriate referral. Summit also provides consultation services for 42 different school districts, which contact her if they are concerned about a particular child within their jurisdiction.

Once a parent contacts Sperrazza, the first order of business is diagnosis, if that hasn't happened already. This is key—it opens the door for appropriate treatment paid for by the State of New York and local school districts. Diagnosis can be done at Summit's Developmental Disabilities Clinic, a joint venture with the University of Buffalo and housed on the UB campus. If the child is younger than three years, a diagnostic team will go to the child's home. However, at the time of my visit, in late May 2005, there were no openings for diagnosis until November. Summit's resources are limited, and there is a huge demand for services. Parents awaiting Summit's diagnostic testing of their children can attend parent support groups at the school.