The Ministry of Education could soon be receiving a proposal to train a local consultant on methods of teaching developmentally challenged children.

Last week, the Bermuda Autism Society conducted a three-day workshop giving teachers and paraprofessionals hands-on training in ABLLS ? a method of teaching developmentally challenged children while in a typical classroom setting.

In the US, Society president Tricia Crow explained, autistic children and others with developmental disabilities can attend classes in a specialised classroom within a mainstream school where they can have more intensive teaching.

However they can also attend mainstream classes in the subjects they are strongest in ? usually math, languages or music ? and spend recesses/lunchtimes at the mainstream school, a plus allowing them to enjoy greater social interaction with other children.

The method used to teach in this structure is called ABLLS (Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills). By answering a series of questions, parents and teachers can graph a snapshot of a child?s verbal behaviour or ability to communicate.

Using this snapshot, educators can see where the child is strongest and where there are gaps in their development. The teachers start in the gaps (using ABLLS as a guide) and help the children to master those skills before moving on to the next skill.

The method is ?extremely effective? in the US, said Ms Crow, the mother of three autistic children, and the Autism Society is hoping it will catch on in Bermuda.

?If we can do it in the pre-schools or earlier there will come a point where the bulk of the kids ? not all of them, but the bulk ? will end up being ?typical? because they?ve been taught all the little steps that typical children would develop naturally,? she explained.

Twenty one people attended the three-day workshop last week, she said, including one speech/language pathologist, one occupational therapist and one parent, while the remainder were all paraprofessionals or teachers from within the public school system.

Hosted by American autism professionals Gina Zecchin, who runs a private autism clinic in New York, and Kelle Wood, who runs a private autism clinic in Texas, the workshop left the teachers excited to start implementing what they had learned, Ms Crow said.

?Everybody felt it really changed the way they looked at teaching these kids. They felt equipped to head off and start it.?

After special schools were closed in 1996, Ms Crow explained, many children with developmental challenges such as autism were absorbed into the public school system.

While the most severely developmentally challenged now attend the Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy, those in the public schools still need attention, she said.

Ms Zecchin?s New York autism clinic trains professionals from different school districts to become consultants on ABLLS, she said.

?The Autism Society is trying to work out a proposal to take to the Ministry of Education regarding training someone here for that position.?

The Autism Society will be holding another workshop on Teaching Verbal Behaviour from April 4 to April 6.

While last week?s workshop focused on the classroom setting, however, this one will target tutors, therapists and parents who can use ABLLS in an one-on-one setting.

April is also Autism Awareness Month, and the Society will be concentrating on fundraising and autism awareness with, among other things, a Denim Day on April 15 and a Tag Day on April 27.