St. Charles & The Rich Center

The Rich Center for Autism in partnership with St. Charles School has developed an inclusion model that not only supports students with autism in a regular educational setting, but also embraces the mission of St. Charles: to teach children to express the values of love, respect and service toward peers who are different. This is very important as many children with autism have experienced bullying. This program has been successful because everyone involved, administrators, teachers, parents and students, have worked together to create an inclusive environment.

Least restrictive placement is an educational term that means providing students with the proper level of support for success without placing them in unnecessarily restrictive environments. For students with autism, providing the level of support is necessary to help them optimize their skills and strengths without removing them from typical school experiences. Some students may need a protective environment if the mainstream educational placement is not healthy for them, while others only need a little support developing their social skills or organizational issues in a regular education setting. Matching the individual need to the level of support is critical to helping a child with autism gain self esteem, confidence and independence.

If you have a child on the autism spectrum and would like to receive services and support, please call the Rich Center at 330.941.1927 for more information, http://richcenter.ysu.edu/