• Hats Off To Columbus Area Support Group and Bartholomew Community School Corporation: Partnership
• Hats Off To Hamilton-Boone-Madison Special Services Cooperative: Movie Day
• Hats Off To South LaPorte County Special Education Cooperative and Autism Society of Central Indiana: Start a Walk in Your Community
• Hats Off To M.S.D. of Wayne Township: Creating Building Level Autism Teams
• Hats Off To Johnson County Special Services
• Hats Off To Switzerland County Middle School Autism Team
• Hats Off To MSD of Lawrence Township: Training via District Website
• Hats Off To MSD of Warren Township: S.A.F.E. Supporting Autism for Everyone
• Hats Off To MSD of Martinsville: Camp Discovery: A Place for Kids to Have Fun!
• Hats Off To An Autism Team Working in Indiana: First Responder Training
• Autism Teams: Building Capacity Across Indiana
• Hats Off to Noblesville Schools for Creating Training Classrooms: Using Evidence-Based Practices of Visual Supports and Work Systems
• Hats Off To Asperger Autism Group of Goshen
• Hats Off to East Centeral Indiana Autism Society of America Chapter: Interlock
• Hats Off To Greater Lafayette Area Special Services Autism Team

Hats Off To MSD of Warren Township: S.A.F.E. Supporting Autism for Everyone

Contributed by Melissa Dubie

Transitioning from elementary to middle school can be difficult for our students on the autism spectrum. One autism team in Indianapolis, MSD of Warren Township, decided to give support to their students at Raymond Park, Stonybrook, and Creston Middle School by creating autism teams in each of their buildings that would Support Autism For Everyone (S.A.F.E.). They involved administrators in the three middle schools to help support them in creating a plan.

First, middle school staff were trained by the district’s middle school autism team on the characteristics of individuals on the autism spectrum. Then staff members were hand picked by the middle school autism team and by administrators at each school with the goal of having one or two people in each area of the building. The S.A.F.E. team then consisted of 10-12 staff members who were counselors, secretaries, nurses, general education teachers, special education teachers, and administrators. The team members agreed to spend time after school learning more specifics about strategies that work with students on the autism spectrum and about the individual students within their buildings. The student’s parents were notified about the creation of the S.A.F.E. team and the training that was going to occur. Each were encouraged to participate when student’s interests and profiles were presented to staff.

The goal was to empower the staff by teaching strategies that can be used with students with ASD specific to secondary school settings. Student specific training included confidentiality issues related to specific student information, student’s birth date, grade level, teacher of record, likes and dislikes, and information about what does and does not work in their programming. Some of the parents came to their child’s school to assist with the training. In addition, an autism simulation was presented, scenarios were given to the group to problem solve, and a binder of strategies to refer to later were given to each member.

Each staff member of the S.A.F.E. team were given a bright orange lanyard with puzzle pieces on it to wear so that the students know who the S.A.F.E. people are to help them in a difficult situation. These lanyards were funded by the director of special education, Lucy Witte. A puzzle piece was hung on each person’s door to alert students which rooms could be used as S.A.F.E. rooms to go to when needed. In addition, each staff member is given a list of names, pictures of the students in the building that are on the autism spectrum, and the teacher of record to contact if a student needs assistance. Staff have shown extensive enthusiasm by taking time to build a rapport to help the students be successful in their school. Some have even decided to meet with students monthly for lunch in order to make connections with individual students.

The students are given a S.A.F.E. card that they can show to staff if they need assistance. Students are taught who the safe people are in the school and are given pictures of S.A.F.E. staff members they can go to within the building. If a person with ASD needs to go to a S.A.F.E. room to calm down, there is a sheet that provides a visual guide to help the student work through the situation by having them write the problem, draw a picture, or circle what happened, including where, who and why from their perspective.

M.S.D. of Warren Township has found this program to be very successful and hope to develop a S.A.F.E. team at Warren Central High School in the near future.

For further information on how to set up Supporting Autism for Everyone Team in your school district, contact Anna Findley (Autism Team Coordinator) at MSD Warren Township in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her phone number is (317) 869-4417 and her email is afindley@warren.k12.in.us.

Dubie, M. (2006). Hats off to . . . MSD of Warren Township: (S.A.F.E. supporting autism for everyone). The Reporter, 11(2), 5.