For the past ten years the Sorsha Williams Foundation has been making great strides towards structuring a more comfortable life for Autistic children in Guyana.
Initially named the Greenheart Autistic School, the institution was founded by Karen Williams and her husband in order to provide a suitable learning environment for their daughter Sorsha. After moving locations, the decision was taken some three years ago to rename the private institution after its inspiration Sorsha.
Being the first institution of its kind in Guyana, the Sorsha Williams Foundation caters the specific needs of autistic children; not only teaching them mainstream ‘school work’ but also focusing on manners and general behavior. To gain entry into the school, students would need a referral letter form a relevant Doctor or Physician stating that they are showing signs of or have Autism.
Teaching methods
It is no secret that autistic children would need a little more care than others, as such, the Foundation aims at making their teaching methods as relatable as possible for their students. All while ensuring that they are taught the same content as others. The foundation also ensures that their methods are flexible for both verbal and non-verbal students.
Upon entering the institution, students are given an evaluation in order to assess their knowledge and pace of learning. At that point, the teachers can then place them in the appropriate grouping or class.
Unlike the school system, where students are placed in a beginning grade and then promoted in accordance with their age; this institution groups students according to their level of learning, the groups are totally oblivious to the age of the students. As such, each student is given enough time to learn all that they can before they are promoted to another class.
The school utilises two basic teaching methods; PECS and TEACCH. The Picture Exchange Communication system (PECS), allows for students to learn visually. This system is used mainly for Autistic students who are not verbal.
“For those who can’t talk, we tell them point to butterfly, you have to call the animal or color or whatever it is and they will identify it once they know it,” Teacher Candy explained. She noted that this method has been extremely effective with the students at the school.
The TEACCH method is also aimed at visual learning and often involves the use of a television, computer or tablet. These devices are used because they also assist in capturing the attention of the students.
Although it may seem like teaching non-verbal students to read would be a challenge, teachers at the school have a special method of identifying whether or not their students can read. “For example I can put the word flower and I draw a picture of that flower. I then take away some of the letters from the word flower and I put it in front of them and say spell the word flower and they can look at the letters I have and insert it correctly. That’s how we know a child can read,” Teacher Mandy explained.
“Even though they are all autistic they are all different,” one teacher noted. Hence, they are most time in the habit of creating specialized programs or way of teaching for individual students.
Curriculum
Despite having the need to teach in a special way, The Sorsha Williams Foundation seeks to redesign the National school Curriculum to suit their students and teaching methods. General subjects such as Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Science are taught to the students.
More specifically, the teachers explained that it is important for their students to be taught areas such as colours of the flag, the President’s, Prime Minister’s, Minister of Education’s name, and community workers.
“Presently I’m working on new idea I got where I’m doing combination Maths, I’m doing multiplication with addition or multiplication with subtraction,” Teacher Mandy stated. This new aspect of their teaching will bring the students so much closer to their counterparts in the National school system.
Teachers disclosed that formulating a curriculum is very tedious as it would need to be captivating in order to suit the short attention span of their students.
Believe it or not, Swimming is a part of the school’s curriculum. Many Autistic students often have sensory issues; the solution for this being water. The school takes a weekly trip to the Colgrain pool where students are allow to express themselves. Titling the exercise ‘Free expression’, Teacher Candace explained that the water is a great calmer for students, it allows the teachers to see their abilities and talents that they might have.
Patience
One fact that each teacher agreed upon was the need for patience when teaching or caring for Autistic children.
The educators highlighted that it is usual for Autistic students to ‘throw tantrums’, most of which you cannot see coming your way. “As a teacher we have to go beyond most educators and we need to be patient” they stated.
Another aspect of their job that all three teachers agreed upon, was the sense of accomplishment that they experience when their students learn something new.
“Just one thing, it could be a word or a color, when they grasp something new it makes you feel very rewarded,” Teacher Vanessa shared.
Importance of
having a School
The Guyana Times Sunday Magazine also took the opportunity to speak with Sorsha Williams’ father who had a little to share on the importance of having a school.
“The school structures them,” he stated “It’s important for us to know the behavior from the school and then we can apply the relevant techniques at home.”
Mr. Williams explained that most importantly whenever the children behave out of the norm at home or whenever they throw a tantrum, suggestions that the received from the school would help in how parents go about dealing with a problem.(Jemima Holmes) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
