While most public schools have long-established special education resource rooms for students with learning difficulties, the creation of autistic support classrooms is a relatively recent development. With roughly 1 in 150 children receiving an autism spectrum diagnosis, an increasing number of public school systems have determined that the social, emotional, and communicative issues that autistic children face are best addressed in a self-contained room within a mainstream setting. In the past, it was common for autistic children to be placed in specialized schools, but many public school districts are finding that autism support classrooms can function quite easily when staffed with trained professionals.
Special education teachers who work in an autism resource room have received extensive training in how to implement lesson plans and communication techniques for students on the spectrum. Usually one or more teacher aides are also present in the room, depending on the number of students who need individual autistic support. These classrooms are usually equipped with simple visual aids such as pictures describing the daily schedule and signs that give basic instructions such as "Don't touch" or "Wash your hands". Because the student/teacher ratio is small, autistic children benefit from individual or small group academic and social activities that can be paced depending on a student's needs. Autism resource rooms are also a safe place for students who are having an emotional or physical meltdown--they can recover without risking their own safety or the safety of others in a large classroom environment.
