2008 Woodie Awards
Program preps teachers for autistic children
Kendra Jones
Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: News
Jenny Wells, an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, has secured $800,000 in hopes of better preparing special education teachers.
Vying for a coveted position only six other universities in the nation occupy, Wells has brought UH into an elite realm of educational providers.
The university now provides for the Manawa Kūpono program, a master's program that focuses directly on teacher preparation in special needs education for autistic children.
Wells specializes in special education in the area of autism. Wells explained that every year the U.S. Department of Education has a competition for funding of programs. The specific category for the 2006 competition was autism spectrum disorders. Wells developed and submitted a proposal for Project Manawa Kūpono.
She said that the proposal received "extremely high ratings." In the U.S. Department of Education's panel review form, they said of the proposal, "a rigorous program of study. ... Project staff have excellent credentials with the target population. ... A formative evaluation plan will permit the project to be responsive to community needs."
Autism is a developmental disorder that affects the normal function of the brain.
Autism affects approximately 1 in 150 8-year-old children in the U.S., according to a 2007 report from the Centers for Disease Control. There were 528 Hawai‘i residents with autism in 2002, jumping from 64 in 1993 according to the Web site of Fighting Autism, an organization dedicated to researching autism.
The Autism Society of America Web site says, "Autism is a spectrum disorder and it affects each individual differently and at varying degrees - this is why early diagnosis is so crucial." Children are usually diagnosed by the age of 3, but doctors recently started screening as early as 18 months.
"There are specialized methods and teacher competencies that have been identified as critical for teaching students with autism," Wells said. "These evidence-based practices are incorporated throughout the coursework and the integrated field experiences."
Vying for a coveted position only six other universities in the nation occupy, Wells has brought UH into an elite realm of educational providers.
The university now provides for the Manawa Kūpono program, a master's program that focuses directly on teacher preparation in special needs education for autistic children.
Wells specializes in special education in the area of autism. Wells explained that every year the U.S. Department of Education has a competition for funding of programs. The specific category for the 2006 competition was autism spectrum disorders. Wells developed and submitted a proposal for Project Manawa Kūpono.
She said that the proposal received "extremely high ratings." In the U.S. Department of Education's panel review form, they said of the proposal, "a rigorous program of study. ... Project staff have excellent credentials with the target population. ... A formative evaluation plan will permit the project to be responsive to community needs."
Autism is a developmental disorder that affects the normal function of the brain.
Autism affects approximately 1 in 150 8-year-old children in the U.S., according to a 2007 report from the Centers for Disease Control. There were 528 Hawai‘i residents with autism in 2002, jumping from 64 in 1993 according to the Web site of Fighting Autism, an organization dedicated to researching autism.
The Autism Society of America Web site says, "Autism is a spectrum disorder and it affects each individual differently and at varying degrees - this is why early diagnosis is so crucial." Children are usually diagnosed by the age of 3, but doctors recently started screening as early as 18 months.
"There are specialized methods and teacher competencies that have been identified as critical for teaching students with autism," Wells said. "These evidence-based practices are incorporated throughout the coursework and the integrated field experiences."
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