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Fostering Expression through Art & Music
The Pacific Autism Center for Education (“PACE”) provides a continuum of care programs for individuals with autism from preschool through adulthood. Their school program for ages 6-22 currently has about 55 students. “Our approach is to connect, support and educate,” says Karen Kennan, executive staff member. “It’s important to first build a bridge of understanding. Then we can start the education process and encourage individual potential. ” PACE has a reputation for success with students most challenged by autism, some 70% of whom are non-verbal. “Our focus is on affect and building emotional relationships.” she explains, “So we start with the first relationship that they have here, with their aide.”
One such aide is Tea Beradze, PACE program specialist. “Big picture success is ‘graduating’ into the community,” she notes. However, this involves many small steps that are identified and practiced towards this goal every day. The PACE team includes on-staff occupational and speech therapists, who help support a dynamic approach to each student’s challenges. “You need to change activities and see what works. If you can tap into talent and interests, it can be so good!”
PACE provides weekly enrichment activities, such as picnics and museum outings, that allow skills learned at the Center to be practiced in different kinds of environments. Last year, PACE sent eight students to CSMA’s Artistic Intelligence program – four in marimba and four in art classes. “It was so good for their self-esteem to be selected,” Tea reports. “CSMA has a great facility, and the teachers were fantastic. Very flexible in working together with our team to create a curriculum that will work.” Students knew what to expect, how long they needed to stay focused, and what would happen at the end of every lesson. “It was wonderful to see them manage so well in a completely new environment, with a new teacher and class guidelines.”
Because student reimbursements from school districts do not cover enrichment programs, PACE’s participation in these special CSMA classes is made possible only through the support of a foundation grant. This generous grant expands the program from last year, so PACE is now able to include eight lower-functioning as well as eight high-functioning students in the Artistic Intelligence program. “This is really special,” Tea indicates, “because most programs will only accept high-functioning individuals.”
“We believe that children with autism are entitled to all of the same opportunities for learning and personal development as their typical peers,” concludes Kurt Ohlfs, PACE’s Executive Director. “CSMA allows our students to explore creative and artful ways of engaging with the world that promote their development while fostering joyful expression. This improves their functioning and quality of life.”