FROM THE TISDALE RECORDER WED. AUGUST 11/2004
BY PEGGY TODD
It was an early bell for students participating in the Saskatchewan Families for Effective Autism Treatment (SASKFEAT) summer school at the Tisdale Elementary School July 20th through August 6th.
The 2004 version of the annual summer school marks the third year the program has been available in the northeast. Nipawin played host to the first summer school in 2002 and last year it moved to TES.
Under the direction of TES teacher Carnie Williams, the three week long summer school targets special needs and developmentally delayed students, several of whom have been diagnosed with autism. In addition to teacher assistants, the summer school program also involves children that attend school with the special needs students throughout the year in the role of peer helpers.
This year's program saw the active involvement of seven special needs children from Tisdale, White Fox and Nipawin as well as seven peer helpers. Teacher assistants that lent their time to the students came from Tisdale, Nipawin and Zenon Park.
"Some have worked with the children during the year," Williams explained. "At some point, most have worked with special needs children."
The summer school program featured a shorter four day week, operating from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. According to Williams, the special needs children involved would benefit from year-round programming that followed a similar format.
"Autistic kids do best if they have structured activities. Summer holidays can undermine that. These kids would be great candidates for year-round school year. Long breaks aren't good for them."
Designed to keep the students skills strong in preparation for the advent of the upcoming school year, the summer school accomplishes those objectives through a combination of school-related activities and recreation activities. A typical day at summer school includes morning workbook activities with reading, math and writing, sensory integration, and centre exploration activities. Following lunch, the students hit the road for regular afternoon field trips that took them bowling at Tisdale Lanes and mini-golfing at the Tourist Booth once each week as well as two trips to the Tisdale Aquatic centre each week. Each day concluded with a craft.
SASKFEAT received support from the John Barron Community Trust, Kelsey Trail Health Region, the Tisdale Kinsmen, the Nipawin RCMP, the Tisdale Legion, the Tisdale Lions, Beta Sigma Phi, and Tisdale Elementary school for the summer school.
