Partnership between TPSD, Autism Center helps students, teachers cope in the classroom

Sep. 23--TUPELO -- The Autism Center of North Mississippi has partnered with the Tupelo Public School District to provide training for teachers to help students, and themselves, cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and make Registered Behavioral Technicians (RBTs) available at each school.

The partnership runs for the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 school year, according to Dr. Sheila Williamson, Clinical Director for the Autism Center of Northeast Mississippi.

Williamson said she grew concerned over the summer that as COVID-19 public safety orders continued, schools might see problems with children struggling to transition back into the classroom after having been home for months.

Williamson, who has been with the Autism Center for around a year-and-a-half, contacted TPSD Director of School Improvement Paige Tidwell to share her thoughts about the upcoming school year and the potential for a partnership. Together they decided the Autism Center would provide several hours of teacher-focused and student-focused training to TPSD's teachers prior to school resuming, with school counselors and special education teachers taking part in an extended training session.

Training sessions were conducted by the center's clinical therapists -- Williamson, Matt Williams and Dr. Kristi White.

Tidwell said there was no way to anticipate what the semester would look like or what TPSD's needs would be, but partnering with the Autism Center has served a wonderful purpose for the district.

Although some might assume that the Autism Center only works with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, the methods its clinicians and behavioral therapists use can apply to all children.

During Williamson's training sessions with teachers, she encouraged them to keep in mind why they became teachers: to make a difference. She advised teachers to focus on that mission rather than the many distractions and stresses added to their job this year.

"You can get mad about COVID and how it's disrupted your life, you can join in and try to make things better by being obsessive-compulsive about everything and always wearing your mask, or you can realize that COVID is just doing what viruses do and you wanting it to go away will never be the thing that makes it want to go away, and it won't last forever," Williamson said. "When you do that, you can focus on your mission."

Williamson said teachers should tolerate the discomfort that comes with the pandemic. Pushing it away, she said, never works.

"When there's a situation you can't control, you can choose to go forward," Williamson said. "And that's really all we can do in this situation, otherwise we're going to be really unhappy."

As kids returned to school, knowing all the variables caused by the pandemic allowed teachers to understand where they're coming from and give them grace in that transition.

"Teachers' missions are to teach and to have structure, and this thing messed up everything they do that's routine," Williamson said. "I said, 'You want grace from your administrators. Your kids are going to need grace, too.'"

The center went beyond offering training sessions. They extended direct support to the schools in real time so that rather than asking "How should I do this?" teachers can say "Show me how to do that."

For the first few days of school, RBTs primarily helped with children struggling to adjust to the classroom or were dealing with separation anxiety. In the following days, technicians visited schools as needed to help with specific needs.

Williamson gave an example of a child who was having trouble getting out of the car on the day of a certain activity, so a support therapist went to the school and spoke with the teacher to offer a plan if the situation happens again.

"Instead of pulling the kids out (of the classroom), they're modeling in the moment what will help staff be able to do it," Williamson said.

Parkway Elementary School Principal Carmen Gary said the back-to-school partnership with the center has truly helped her students. For teachers, "just having support to gain the knowledge and grow" in areas like behavioral therapy has been encouraging and very beneficial, Gary said.

Joyner Elementary School Principal Kim Foster said the district's schools have appreciated the partnership with the Autism Center.

She said the school's goal is to have students become stronger and the transition easier as the school year progresses. So far, the partnership with the Autism Center has done both.

"It's a beautiful thing when our community partnerships can extend into our schools," Foster said. "We have seen great progress with our families that have been open and our classrooms that have been open to allow the center in, to use their structure and to use their resources to best set us up for a great year."

blake.alsup@journalinc.com

Twitter: @AlsupTheWriter

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