Background
I teach primary autistic support for the Pittsburgh Public School District. PPS is the second largest district in Pennsylvania, comprising 54 schools serving approximately 25,000 students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 and is located in an urban setting.
My classroom is located at Pittsburgh Arlington, a Pre K to 8 school in the southern part of Pittsburgh. The school serves over 500 students: 63% of the student population identify as African American, 23% identify as Caucasian, 11% as multiracial, 1% Hispanic and 1% Asian. The school is a Title 1 school, 83% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Pittsburgh Arlington Pre K-8 is currently designated as a Focus school. Focus Schools are the lowest 10 percent of Title I schools across the state. This is based partly on how students perform on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and/or the Keystone Exam scores.
Students and their families are facing poverty related barriers. Many students reside in single-head-of household families, have inadequate housing, face homelessness, have a parent who is incarcerated, a caretaker facing mental health concerns or substance abuse issues and are exposed to chronic trauma and stress associated with urban poverty. These traumas include but are not limited to community violence, sudden or violent loss of a loved one, domestic violence and abuse. Despite these barriers, most days the children come into school with smiles on their faces, eager to learn.
Absenteeism is a concern with 36% of the students attending Pittsburgh Arlington classified as being chronically absent, indicating they missed 10% or more days of school during the past school year. These absences occur for a variety of reasons. Among my students, a third of my class was classified as homeless and missed over 25% of the school days last year due to housing issues as well as related transportation needs. Because of the high likelihood of students missing days of instruction, it is important for my lessons to be flexible and responsive to individual student progress.
My classroom is a regional support program and I provide support to students needing intensive autistic support services. I work with a team of professionals to meet the broad ranging needs of my students. Our team includes: two paraprofessional support staff, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist and myself. Students attend from beyond the neighborhood feeder, potentially drawing from 34 schools servicing primary students throughout the school district. I teach a multi-grade classroom consisting of 9 students ranging from Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade. All students in my classroom have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is their primary disability; however, many students have one or more coinciding disorders including: Speech and Language Disorders, Epilepsy, Anxiety Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Attention Deficit, Emotional Disturbance, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Intellectual Disability and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Additionally some children qualify for Occupational and Physical Therapy due to delays in fine and gross motor development.
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