Bridges

Bridges is a school within a school, the Newmeadow Saratoga School in Malta, New York State.  Bridges is for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).  Fifty percent of the 120 special needs population, about 60 children, have ASD. Another 30 attend as nursery school children to populate truly integrated classrooms.

At the Bridges Center in the school specially trained teachers provide the behavior therapy portion of the child’s program.  Additional services are also provided in the home by Newmeadow staff as determined to be necessary.

Bridges services are coordinated with all that happens in classrooms and other therapies.  All staff use Bridges techniques. Bridges team meetings are scheduled every week, and data on every child are reviewed no less than monthly.

Individual goals are developed and written in a Child Achievement Plan (CAP).  The CAP includes parent’s thoughts on issues and needs of their child.  As goals are identified and included in the CAP, teachers in the classroom and staff in the Bridges Center coordinate work on these goals . The child’s goals are incorporated in all of the therapies, speech, physical, occupational, counseling,  and music. 

Discrete trial training occurs in a one on one setting delivered in 30 minute sessions.  A child may receive one to two 30 minute sessions per day in the Bridges Center in the course of Newmeadow’s  4 hour school day. Additional sessions are scheduled as needed in the home.   Early learning skills including eye contact, appropriate sitting, and attending to task are addressed as well as early concept skills including colors, shapes, matching and counting. DTT also includes independent play skills and early social skills. 

Speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, music therapy, social and psychological counseling are provided. These therapies are vital to the child’s development, and  therapists use Bridges techniques for consistency.  Bridges Center staff work closely with related service personnel, creating and addressing goals together and co-treating when appropriate.  Often, individual speech therapy services are delivered in a discrete trial format including data collection for ongoing review and analysis and inclusion in Bridges team meetings.

In general, behaviors that interfere with learning are addressed through positive interventions including Bridges’ Three-step compliance training, Bridges’ Compliance 1, 2, 3, ignoring and redirecting, social praise, and reinforcement. 

On occasion, more direct intervention is necessary for behaviors deemed unsafe, including aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior or severe stimulatory behavior that interferes significantly with the student’s learning and/or the learning environment.  When this occurs, data are collected for two weeks and a Bridges team meeting takes place to create a child-specific intervention.  If parents agree, they sign the behavior plan and also implement it within the home setting.

Bridges team meetings occur weekly where any child may be brought to the table at any meeting though every Bridges student’s program is reviewed monthly.  It is here that all staff who work with a Bridges child come together to discuss data, goals, and behaviors.  These interdisciplinary teams measure success or need to alter goals or need to address continuing or new behaviors. New goals are also chosen for children who are demonstrating progress.

Children diagnosed with ASD demonstrate significant difficulty with social skills. They do not establish or maintain eye contact. They do not appear to have an awareness of or care about how others are reacting to them. They have limited play ability either independently or with another child or with a group. Bridges addresses social skills early and actively.

Early social goals require eye contact, interest in others, appropriate use of simple toys, and play imitation. These are addressed in the DTT format with the teacher alone to begin. A second child is added to establish a child to child social situation.

Higher level social skills require initiating social interaction, inviting another to play, game playing, and conversational turn-taking. These are addressed in a social group of 2 to 6 children in Bridges Social Skills for Learning and Living program. As with other aspects of Bridges, data are collected on each child.

With Bridges and for children with ASD, acquisition of goals is a process.   Once a goal has reached a pre-determined level of success in the discrete trial training, it is practiced in other, more natural settings including classrooms, hallways, school offices, and other areas of the school building. All school personnel are trained in Bridges techniques which are included in the generalization phase of the learning process.  

A goal must be addressed in a different manner, in different settings, and by different people. A number of correct responses and the goal is considered to be generalized in school.  A secretary in the front office, for example, may be asked by the Bridges teacher accompanying the child to ask the child, “What color are your sneakers?” or “Can you tell me an animal that lives on a farm? Responses are recorded.

Most importantly, a child must consistently and correctly demonstrate a learned goal at home and in the community.  While a goal may be reached successfully within the school, it can be difficult for a child to demonstrate consistent success outside of the school.  Goals that have reached the home and community phase are presented, tested and practiced by parents and siblings and supported by teachers trained in Bridges techniques.

Go to www.bridgesabatapes.com for more information.