Mary Platner and TEACCH:
A Winning Combination
by Carolyn Cosmos Bridging The Gap ...
Her commitment to her students and her program are boundless," says Joanne Phillips, speaking of Mary Platner, an Arizona
dynamo who teaches children with autistism. Platner has twice been the Arizona Federation Teacher of the Year, in 1994 and
1997, and Phillips is the Director of Pupil Services for the state's Scottsdale Unified School District. She is Platner's supervisor.
"Her creativity and willingness to share information" are astonishing, Phillips observes, joking that Platner's ability to locate
resources is so finely honed "she could get a job with the FBI."
A Special Program for Children With Autism
"I love developing strategies and materials, reading the research, thinking it through, then making it happen. I love doing
hands-on things with the kids. I tend to be persistent, stubborn," she laughs, noting the trait serves her well in her chosen
profession.
Platner and her team have structured their K through 2nd grade classroom environment using a number of models, but they
primarily rely on the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH)
program developed at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (www.teacch.com/).
What is their TEACCH-ing space like? When you walk in, Platner explains, you enter a "visually structured classroom that
appeals to the vast majority of persons with autism."
"Each student has his or her own personal schedule," one conveyed in whatever way works best for that child: It may be words;
it may be photographs, or icons; it may be in black and white or in color, depending on "how much the child can handle visually."
For example, the child may be given a vertical series of pictures that read top to bottom to mean "Go to your desk."
If a child can't handle words, "We'll give the kid a real object, for example a ball that means, 'go to the playground.'" For another
child, "we found a little plastic toilet to hand to him and a miniature backpack to indicate 'time to go home.'"
Mary Platner and one of her students, Kyle Baker, share a special moment.
When a child is to go to Platner for instruction ù "I'm the barn," she explains ù the child needs to go to an area adorned with a
large poster depicting a barn. A child might be handed a picture of a barn or a card with the word "barn" on it. The child then
matches the card to the poster and gets there on his or her own steam classroom locations and objects are color-coded for
each student, so that one little boy, for example, has everything in green: His school cards, his work area, his clipboard are
either green or have something green mounted on them in Velcro, and his name is written on green duct tape. (Platner thinks
this system could be adapted for adults with Alzheimer's disease.)
As autistic children become more comfortable in this highly visual and structured classroom "their world begins to make
sense," she explains, and because the program stresses their in dependence, they become more confident. And they start
communicating, she observes. While some come to Platner speaking, many do not, but "they all leave speaking" she says.
Platner was the first Arizona instructor to use TEACCH, and initially teams of teachers went to the University of North Carolina for
TEACCH training. However, the University program now "comes here to train," she explains.
Developed in the early '70s by Eric Schopler, the TEACCH program for children with autistism and their families focuses on a
highly individualized curriculum where "the person is the priority," according to its current director Gary Mesibov. It stresses the
strengths of autistic children, such as visual skill, and uses "structured teaching" in a highly organized environment.
Lessons for All
That individualized approach to learning is a valuable model for all teaching Platner says. Platner, who has taught children with
widely varying needs, notes the key is "figuring out how kids learn: Are they tactile? Auditory? How do they best express what
they know?"
Most instructors have a distinctive style, she observes, and many "strongly favor talking," particularly in general education.
However, it's important with inclusion, she notes, to have both special ed and general education teachers alike analyzing their
teaching styles, taking a critical look at what they do in a classroom, and trying to broaden their approaches.
Very simple adaptations can work, she notes, such as drawing pictures on the board, providing outlines for older students, or
being flexible and creative in deciding what materials a student should hand in.
Resource: Platner has compiled a resource directory for TEACCH classrooms. To request a copy, send her an e-mail at
MSPlatner@aol.com.
