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Inclusion Is Not Enough: Autism, Trauma, and Designing for Access

By Rute Mendes / Coordinator of Student Services SJASD

Tracey Eagle / Coordinator of Student Services SJASD

The Plan for Today

1

Inclusion = programming (not placement)

2

Autism in schools: complexity & co-occurrence

3

Trauma & state: why regulation changes learning evidence

4

Manitoba programming pathways (AEP)

5

Inclusive assessment: keep goal, change path

6

Scenarios


Let's "exchange ideas"

What is Inclusion?

Is Inclusion working in Canada?

Who is responsible for Inclusion?

CBC

Translating, restraining kids, teaching multiple grades at once: teachers describe complex classrooms | CBC News

Data rarely tells the full story. So when CBC News emailed a questionnaire to tens of thousands of Alberta teachers this January, we invited them to share stories to illustrate what classroom complexity actually looks like for them. More than 4,000 teachers participated.

Inclusion ≠ Access

Included

= physically present

Accessing

= able to engage, communicate, learn, and show learning

Think of a student who is 'included' but not really 'accessing.'

What does that look like: engagement, communication, assessment, relationships?

Inclusion is not placement. It's programming.

Programming answers:

What will we design so the student can participate and learn?

Understanding Autism

Let’s begin with some introductory information about autism:

Autism is not new. In the past, it was known by different diagnoses, such as infantile psychosis, schizophrenia, or even attributed to maternal Deprivation.

01:59

PSA – Dear Brother: A Letter From One Sibling to Another With Profound Autism

Over time, we have learned much more about autism, and as our understanding has grown, so has the way we approach it. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological condition that affects how individuals experience the world, communicate, and process information. Its characteristics vary widely from person to person, but in general, it is characterized by:

Communication Difficulties

Struggles with communication

Repetitive Behavior

Repeating actions or routines for comfort

Sensitivity to Change and Stimulation

Overwhelmed by unexpected changes or stimuli

Motor Difficulties

Challenges with coordination and physical tasks

Social Impediments

Difficulty understanding and building social relationships

Co-occuring conditions

A child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often has a co-occurring condition, with estimates ranging from 70% to 95%

More resources for educators? Click on the link:

rutemendes.ca

Resources for Educators

10 Strategies for Success The content provided here is sourced from various reliable resources and is freely available to share as needed. Teachers and parents are encouraged to use this page with students and are responsible for appropriately delivering the content in a way that aligns with their

Student-Specific Plans: Which One Is the Right Plan?

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) vs. Intellectual Developmental Disorder (IDD): Understanding our learners begins with knowing the difference between autism and intellectual disability. Although these conditions can overlap, they are not the same.

Comorbidities broken down:

Let's break it down

A large percentage of folks with ASD also have difficulty with speech and language beyond diagnostic criteria, meaning it can be hard to understand language, use it, or speak it.

Kangarani-Farahani, M., Malik, M.A. & Zwicker, J.G., 2024; Hours C, Recasens C, Baleyte JM., 2022; Al-Dakroy, 2018.

Motor Challenges: Approximately 50–88% of children with ASD have been found to have significant motor difficulties

  • Difficulty with the brain telling the muscles how to coordinate in order to do a functional task.
  • E.g. Motor speech challenges can make it difficult for a person to coordinate all the movements they need to make the sounds in order and say a word.


What this means: Using spoken language can be extremely taxing, can take a long time to learn, or be completely impossible

Intellectual Developmental Disorder: Approximately 40-50% of people with ASD also have an intellectual disability

What this means:

  • Most of your students will be in this category
  • Having an intellectual disability = having disordered/ delayed language abilities
  • We have to adapt our language for their level of understanding (slow it down, simplify language, pre-teach, modelling)
  • Extra repetitions are needed for learning language (10-20% more than a typically developing student)
  • Assume competence, NOT understanding

ADHD: Approximately 50-70% of people with ASD also have ADHD


What this means:

  • Higher likelihood of language disorders (20-80%)
  • Executive functioning skills for learning language and understanding language can be disrupted.
  • Challenges with language-based working memory.

Manitoba Framework

Manitoba Programming Pathways

The Addressing Student Diversity visual framework helps educators understand how programming and supports are organized for all students in Manitoba schools. It illustrates how inclusive education operates along a continuum of supports: from universally designed learning environments that meet the needs of all students, to more intensive and individualized programming for a smaller number of students with complex learning needs.


Appropriate Educational Programming (AEP): choose the right pathway

Curriculum with supports

(most students)

Adaptations

(changes to access, not the learning goal)

Modified outcomes (CMP)

when outcomes differ for students who meet eligibility and suitability criteria

Individualized programming (IP)

for students who meet eligibility and suitability criteria

"What's the risk if we confuse 'placement' with 'programming'? What's the risk if we confuse 'support' with 'adaptation'?"

Individualized Programming at Lakewood

Lakewood “Happy Bubble”: predictable routines and clear visuals, paired with meaningful, fun tasks, create regulation and engagement, so our team can support consistently and students can demonstrate learning in differet ways.


For more information on Individualized Programming, click on the link below:

rutemendes.ca

Individualized Programming

Some students require a personalized approach to learning that differs from the regular provincial curriculum. In these cases, educators may implement curriculum modifications or develop individualized programming, which involves modifying or removing specific provincial learning outcomes. These pra

ASD and Access to Curriculum

Most students with ASD access grade-level outcomes.

They may need different pathways to engage and demonstrate learning, especially with dysregulation or co-occurring needs.

Turn & Talk: Name one barrier + one access pathway.

Autism, Trauma & State: Why Regulation Changes Learning Evidence

Threat shifts state. State shifts performance. So regulation is necessary for valid evidence.

State-dependent functioning: what a student can do changes with regulation and stress.

When the brain detects threat, it shifts into protection mode. In that state, access to attention, working memory, language, and flexibility drops, so performance becomes inconsistent.
For many autistic students, sensory load, uncertainty, and repeated stress can make this “on-alert” state more frequent.
If a student can’t show learning, we don’t have valid evidence yet, because state is shaping performance.

Assessment Lens

If a student can't show their learning, we don't have valid evidence yet.

Supports are not an unfair advantage; they are access.

"What is one support you already allow that improves validity (not 'helping')? Why does it make the evidence more accurate?"

Inclusive Assessment Rule

Keep the goal the same. Change the path.

Two questions for every assessment:

1

What am I actually assessing?

2

What else is getting in the way?

"With a partner, pick one common task (math quiz, lab report, social studies project).

  • What's the construct?
  • What barriers sneak in?"

Inclusive Assessment, Engagement, Grading & Reporting

Engagement matters

If a student is engaging with grade-level outcomes, we can collect evidence (even if they need considerable support).

Assessment and Evaluation/ Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning 🔗

Manitoba grade scale anchor

"Limited" ("1" on the ordinal scale; 50% to 59%) is a passing grade; that is, the student is engaging with grade-level outcomes and is progressing, albeit with limitations requiring significant attention and support.

Assessment and Evaluation/ Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning 🔗

Achievement profile lens

Profiles describe achievement across the scale, including language such as:

  • "Requires considerable, ongoing teacher support …"
  • "Requires occasional teacher or peer support …"

And they clarify that references to "support / prompt / teacher support / peer support" do not refer to adaptations.

Achievement Grade Profiles/ Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning 🔗

What this means for inclusive assessment (K–12)

When assessing students (including ASD & co-occurring needs), always ask:

  • Is the student engaging with the outcome (even with significant support)? If yes, you can gather evidence toward a 1 / Limited level.
  • Which supports are universal scaffolding (available to anyone; not automatically "adaptations")?
  • Which supports become documented adaptations (planned changes to access conditions)?
  • What evidence will you accept so the grade reflects learning, not barriers (writing, reading volume, time pressure, sensory load, task completion)?

Scenarios: Programming, Design Access & Collect Evidence of Learning

Roles: Reader (keeps group on the scenario) • Scribe (writes on the board) • Timekeeper (keeps pace)

Your output: One visible group plan on the vertical surface using these headings

Inclusion & Programming

SSP Required (and why)

Teaching & Learning Strategies

Environmental Adaptations

Assessment & Assignments

Reporting

1. Inclusion & Programming

  • What does meaningful inclusion look like for this student in this subject/unit?
  • Where might "behaviour" actually be nervous system overload (e.g., time pressure, ambiguity, sensory load, public performance)?

2. SSP Required (and why)

  • Based on the profile, what would you document (if anything) as: Adaptations / IEP / CMP / IP / BIP/Safety?
  • Clarify: what is universal scaffolding available to many students vs documented adaptations planned for access?

3. Teaching & Learning Strategies

  • List 5 concrete strategies you will use to teach the content/outcomes.
  • What stays the same for everyone (learning goal), and what changes (path/supports)?

4. Environmental Adaptations

  • List 5 changes to time/space/routines that increase regulation and participation.

5. Assessment & Assignments (construct + barriers)

  • What is the construct you're assessing (what the curriculum expects)?
  • What barriers could block evidence?
  • Give 2–3 ways the student can show learning (e.g., say / do / show), without changing the goal.

Grades 7–12 reminder: support (ongoing/occasional teacher or peer support) does not automatically mean adaptations.

6. Reporting

  • Draft one report comment that is: strengths-based, clear about the learning, transparent about supports used (without implying the grade is "helped")
  • List the evidence sources you used (observation, conferencing, product rubric, performance task, etc.).