Teachers need offices.  Just tell the architect to build them into the library.

Definitely not like the evil PE many of us remember too well, but I'd hate to see somebody pass up on burning calories and getting endorphines going.  When you're not being harassed and humiliated all through your workout, it can be a positive experience that gets you relaxed and ready for your other studies.

It's just that many of us have such a strong tendency to associate PE with pure evil, that we might not be willing to give physical activity another chance even after being moved into a safer environment.  That's something that would need to be overcome.

If somebody's really worried about getting kicked in the martial arts training, let that student work on forms and katas for a while and later try addressing that fear of pain.  (I won't kid you.  There's definitely some pain involved in karate.)

Shouldn't be too hard to find among retiring engineers and scientists.  

One thing I forgot to mention earlier.  In my own imaginings of stuff like this, I always imagine having some bean-bag style chairs available in addition to the usual classroom and lecture-hall seating.  That way, if someone is unusually fidgety on a particular day, they can ask the teacher to let them sit in one of the beanbags, which might help them relax and concentrate.  (Of course, it would also help to include meditation through such things as Tai Chi or in connection with the martial arts.)

When I was in 8th or 9th grade, I was dreadful at Algebra. I was  confused and of course that got worse each day as the class left me behind. I think I squeaked by with a D. This convinced me that I was unable to do math.

Got to college and had to take Technical Algebra as part of my computer science degree.  Surpisingly, there was no teacher. You went to a library type room at a time of your choice and asked the attendant for the group of slides for the next lesson. You picked an empty booth with headphones and pnrivately viewed the algebra lessons at your own pace.  When you felt ready, you went  to the live attendant to take the written test for that module. It made an amazing difference for me. I got all high marks (A's). After that, I loved math again.

So, I would want to see options like that in a school. Alternative ways to learn.

Surpisingly= surprisingly  pnrivately = privately

Are you grading on typing here?

I have always wanted a place like that, the only problem is that the fact that I would be going to a different place then those who lived near me would weird

If it's done right, those other kids would wish they had AS just so they could go.  If it works, other schools would borrow ideas and concepts from it.  Then you could say you're on the leading edge of education.

Another thought: schedule the classes in a similar manner to how universities schedule classes.  That would give students more control over what times of day they're in class.  Encourage independence at every possible opportunity, such as with choosing your class times.

It would definitely have to be a private school, because if it's a public school it would get watered-down to a second-rate "special school", stigma and all.  It won't be cheap.  That said, how do you convince everybody's parents (besides upper-middle class) to pay the tuition?  The only things I can think of immediately are loans (debt, yuck), or grants from the types of business that would benefit from hiring graduates of such a school (after they've been through university, that is).  Software companies come to mind.  

It would need to create a sense of pride so that its alumni will be inclined to support it through small annual donations.  Same thing for support from the aspie community in general.  Then of course, where to get the funding to buy land, build it, and hire staff?

No doubt, all kinds of groups and individuals would want to "buy in", "on the ground floor" so as to influence it.  That's where you'd want to hold on tight to the "by us, for us" concept.

Hmm, definitely have different options for PE... offer a nice range of sports, probably fewer team-based sports than you have in conventional PE lessons, and students sign up for whichever one interests them. They let 6th formers do that at my current school, and it works really well... I've done climbing, fencing, ice skating and trampoling as 6th form sports... which is a hugely welcome change from lacrosse and netball. And there's the opportunity to go to the gym for the fitness freak types, or do martial arts (although I think that metamorphosed into a self-defence class... come to think of it, self-defence would be a good use of a PE lesson).

Don't think internet-based would work too brilliantly, if you're stuck then going and talking to a teacher can be immensely useful, and that's harder with online. Plus you need to have a hell of a lot of self-motivation if you're doing the entire thing at home. My bf is aspie, and after he left mainstream school he joined an internet-based one... it really didn't work for him, so that turned out to be a wasted year, meaning he's now at a specialist school a year behind everyone else.

I'm not certain about the requirement that all the staff be on the spectrum. Although I can see the reasoning behind it, there's also the fact that some students may want support from the staff in other areas besides academic ones - if understanding NT behaviour is one of these areas, then it might help to have sensitive NT staff who can explain NT behaviour. Obviously you'd need to be careful and they'd need a lot of training in AS beforehand, but it could work - and would you really want to exclude someone who could be a brilliant teacher just because they don't have a diagnosis? (especially considering the fact that there are probably many undiagnosed aspies out there)

I think it is good if at least some adults who have experienced many of the things with autism themselves should be available at least somehow.

I think it is funny that I have the idea of maybe becoming a teacher in my mind, I have often thought that wouldn't be too great for aspies but apparently it is a classic job for aspies. Natalia the banned member was teacher I think.

I forgot Max the Bear, aint he a teacher!

I think an Aspie could make it quite well in the public schools if they were taught some survival skills. Unfortunately those skills are far from "politically correct" so they can't be taught by "responsible" teachers.  I think there needs to be an underground school taught by adult or even older Aspies who have survived and learned in the public schools.

Hello,

I agree with many of the previous posters about being close to a big library -- I am within walking distance from Alaska's Largest library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. They have plenty of maps, (I forked over a whopping 50 cents for a withdrawn US atlas written in Russian, (even though I don't know the language)) professional journals of all strife and subjects, et. al.  

My idea for an aspie-centric school:

-->As above
-->Dispense with those punishing florescent lights
-->Include a sensory integration room (a la Snoezelen™ room)
-->Emphasize individual discovery through individual activites while simultaneously de-emphasizing examinations
-->Small class size (n < 10 students)
-->For older kids: a life-skills class or two (ie finances, balancing checkbook, shopping, et. al.)
-->Still for older kids: Vocational training if needed
--> For all: a solid base of caring support including parents, teachers, administrators.

Any further thoughts?

~CGK

If we're coming from an English perspective... don't make the sixth formers (age 16-18) do general studies. It's highly pointless. The life-skills classes that CGKings317 suggested would be a perfect alternative to the traditional general studies, so the school can still say "yes, we're making sure our sixth formers get a wider range of knowledge", but the knowledge is actually useful stuff.

I've not had issued with fluorescent lights.  Is it the sound they make or is it the rapid flickering that most people don't notice?  Keeping that in mind, I've always imagined our hypothetical school as having a highly advanced lighting system, LED- or OLED-based and with the ability to vary color as well as brightness.

NTs on staff are fine as long as they don't take on a condescending attitude.  (Of course, I remember teachers who got like that with all students, not just spec. ed. and gifted.)  I still like the idea of using retirees from other professions who have chosen teaching as a second career.  Flexibility is needed to have enough teachers for small classes, though the university-like scheduling would help by having more classes, more spread-out throughout the day.

Agreed, for the younger students, it should be about individual discovery, in an environment totally free of bullying and other things that foul up school days, where they can focus strongly on the task of learning.  That may sound a bit sheltered, but it would be good to have something like that to look back on, long-term memory and all.  (I've always wondered what it would be like to have the high intelligence and advantages of AS without the burden of PTSD and bitter memories.  I think that would keep more potential free for use later on in adulthood.)  As they get older, however, it would have to move in the direction of preparing them for the real world, taking exams just like in university, finances, dealing with people, etc.

OK!  Here goes!
I want to become a special ed. teacher and at some point open my own school.  I don't know yet how much of what I want to do is possible, because I don'ty fully know the limits of the school system yet, but my "dream school" is something like this:

- Student to teacher ratio would be around 4 to 1
This could be acomplished without having to pay too much money, by having part-time (well trained!) aides who asist the teachers.

- Lighting would be LED, so brightness/color could be adjusted to suit the students' needs perfectly.

- At the begining of the school year, the parents and student have a meeting with a teacher who will be in charge of the child's learning program- their advisor (this is a system used by my highschool and it works very well).  This advisor talks with the student and parents about how the child learns, medical issues, and the child's interests.  They make every possible attempt to put the child in a learning environment that will allow them to learn best, based around their interests.
Let's say a kid is very strongly interested in music.  This kid enjoys making music, listening to it, and memorizing facts about music.  When the kid is in science class, he'll be learning the science of sound waves, working partly on his own, partly with the aide, and partly with the other students.  In history class, he's learning about the history of music in america; when the teacher teaches the other students about WWII, he might talk about the music used in Nazi propaganda, as well as music played in America at that time, to help the kid learn.  Everything is as individualized as possible and based around the students' wants and interests.

- Students would be allowed to focus intently on an area the have particular interest in, like science, so that the majority of their classes are science-related.  One student might have more of their schedule devoted to Math while another is mostly studying the Arts.  This only goes up to a point, however, because of learning requirements set by the school district, which all schools must meet.

- Testing would be based on student portfolios, which consist of a collection of everything the student has been working on- inside and outside of school- and homework would be based purely on how well a student understands the material, so that students who are ahead in class don't have to do homework when they don't need to do it to understand.  Even when homework is assigned, it would be minimal in scope and not affect the students' grades.

- Social skills would be taught as a class.

- All learning, or at least as much as possible, would be based around different learning styles in order to teach most effectively.  Thus, all five senses would be engaged in each lesson, to ensure that the lesson is fully absorbed by all students, no matter how they learn.

- Students would be encouraged to involve themselves in decision making and guiding the school.

- Students would have full accesability to rooms where they can be alone, in darkness if they prefer, listening to music or reading if they like, or just lying there, when they need to, even if they leave class to do so.

- Each student would have time to spend, each day, doing whatever he or she wants.



There's a lot more, but that's what comes to mind right now.  If I think of something else big, I'll post it.

Many interesting ideas in Lashire's post.

I think each student should have their own space (like art students have at university). A three sided booth about 2 metres square with a desk, which the kid can use for working in. The child could use the space to study/create whatever they like, put their own things in the space and put pictures on the walls.

That way they wouldn't be distracted as much by other children and could feel comfortable in an environment they have created.

A teacher can easily monitor what the child is doing (as each booth is only three sided) and the children can still interact if they want.

It seems to work at art colleges anyway!