If you have a young child, maybe you are familiar with nursery school, daycare or kindergarten. Those spaces are child-centered. There is a pattern to the day, but children have opportunities to play with a variety of toys, to explore and learn at centres, to interact in small groups with adult support at the developmental level that they need.

If you are a parent of a child with autism, you may wonder how your child will fare as they move up the grades into more abstract and structured learning.

All children have a right to an education in Canada, and for many years schools have been working on the best ways to include all children. 

This video presents an interesting explanation of where we are, and how we got here.

Inclusive Education: From Political Correctness Towards Social Justice

Defining UDL

We hope that education will prepare our children for adulthood. We hope our children will enjoy a life with independence, friendships, and valued contributions to their communities.

Schools can use a teaching approach called Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to develop these opportunities for all children.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for creating inclusive classrooms where all children can learn successfully together. UDL strives to ensure children are:

• deep, creative, critical thinkers
• self-motivated, self-disciplined learners
• self-aware, confident students
• compassionate, cooperative leaders
• community members with the skills and understandings to work with and relate to diverse others (Dr. Jennifer Katz, 2012)

UDL proposes to accomplish these goals by creating welcoming, emotionally safe classrooms.

If given the opportunity, children can recognize that all people have unique ways of being smart, and that living in community means using our talents to support one another. UDL helps teachers plan instruction so that all learners can participate at their own level, whether their skills are at a beginner level, or they are ready for a challenge. In practice, this means classrooms from grade K-12 will offer learning through: 

• movement
• art
• music
• literature
• nature

Students have the opportunity to use their strengths to show what they know.

UDL comes from architecture. Rather than adding ramps and elevators to a completed building, it’s better to plan the building so that everyone, regardless of their physical abilities, can enter and use it comfortably in the first place. It’s easier to plan ahead than to correct difficulties later. 

In the same way, if teachers plan learning for students with a broad range of abilities and experiences ahead of time, they need to do less individual planning for some children than they otherwise would. 

UDL isn’t new. It’s derived from combining effective, research-based educational practices that have been understood for a long time. In fact, many Canadian provinces include this framework in their curriculum.

UDL Example

Imagine a grade 5 class learning about how traveling to Canada in the 1700’s affected the health of early explorers. 

To connect social studies and science, they find out about the diet of early French settlers and prepare a meal to share in a classroom celebration.  They present information they have learned about early Canada through dramatizations, artwork, music, creative writing, and debates, which they have created both as individuals and in groups.

There is room in this scenario to develop different levels of understanding of the topic according to what children are ready to learn. These experiences also allow children with learning challenges to be exposed to the same ideas as their same-age peers and to learn basic adaptive skills such as food preparation. They have meaningful opportunities build communication skills, by sharing thoughts and ideas through a variety of experiences and activities.

Using UDL to Educate Children with Autism

Universal Design for Learning begins with a priority on safe, enjoyable classroom relationships as the context for learning. UDL also makes room for following individual interests in connection with learning. Both of these are core components of developmental, relationship-based autism therapies.

As parents, we choose developmental, relationship-based learning because we know children learn when they feel safe and happy, when tasks are challenging and interesting but achievable, and when they can develop their strengths as well as their weaknesses. 

When supporting children with autism and other differences to learn as part of a community, we prepare them to continue as valued members of their families and communities in their adult lives.

UDL extends these ideas into the classroom, all the way from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Children with disabilities including autism may still need one-on-one support for safety or educational reasons, but in a UDL classroom, they have more opportunity to participate socially and academically and to be a valued member of their community just like any other child, while still celebrating their unique personalities and learning styles.

Not every teacher is familiar with UDL, although many believe in and work with its principles. Ask your child’s teacher what inclusion means in your school.  It might be the beginning of a beneficial discussion for everyone.

For More Information

The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World that Values Sameness by Todd Rose

UDL For Parents – Jennifer Katz, Ph.D.

You’re Going to Love This Kid by Paula Kluth

One Without the Other by Shelley Moore