Special Education Update

Submitted by Natalie Hasenfuss, Director of Pupil Services

York Suburban School District has provided emotional support programming for students in grades three through twelve since 2012. Beginning in the 2017-18 school year, the district will extend that programming to kindergarten through second graders. Both Valley View Elementary and Yorkshire Elementary will provide programming for students in need of emotional support. Previously our primary students in need of emotional support received services through the Lincoln Intermediate Unit #12(LIU) . Students in need of emotional support services typically have difficulty with social skills and behavior regulation. We are excited about the opportunity to keep these students within district buildings as part of our York Suburban community, providing them with increased opportunities for academic rigor, exposure to typical peers, and inclusion in the general education classroom when ready.

Another change for our primary level is the addition of an Autistic Support program at Valley View Elementary School. Students in the Yorkshire Elementary attendance area in need of Autistic Support will be transported to Valley View. York Suburban has hosted LIU#12 Autistic Support classrooms for numerous years. Autism Spectrum Disorders are a group of complex neurological developmental disabilities that are characterized by impaired social interactions, problems with nonverbal and verbal communication and unusual or severely limited activities, interests, or behaviors. Autism Spectrum Disorders are defined purely by behavioral manifestations such as deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, and deficits in developing and maintaining relationships appropriate to developmental level.