Building Inclusive High School Communities for Autistic Students

Ms. Peckham is one of the assistant principals at Central High School, and as the former exceptional children (EC) department chair, she oversaw and supported the various EC programs as part of her administrative duties. Her building served a large number of students with autism in various programs and settings across the school, and although she felt good about the classroom services they were receiving, the recent school climate survey results concerned her. The response rate was low for students with disabilities broadly, and even fewer responses from the autistic population were returned. The indicators related to social connectedness and engagement for this subgroup of students were in the developing" range (instead of"effective' or "highly effective," as she would have hoped). She knew a positive climate had effects on achievement and, more importantly from her perspective, that connectedness could protect against the development of mental health conditions, which impact the autistic population at higher rates. Central High School had already partnered with the Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism (CSESA) to build capacity across staff to better serve students with autism on campus, and Ms. Peckham was part of the team. She decided she would like to direct those efforts to build a more inclusive setting at Central so autistic students, and all students, felt more connected and engaged. Across the school year, Ms. Peckham and her colleagues worked to implement and embed strategies to build Central's community.