Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) provides educational services for children from birth to kindergarten who meet the criteria for an educational label of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or whose primary learning needs can best be addressed through strategies known to benefit children with ASD.  Autism Spectrum Disorder is a disability category characterized by an uneven pattern of development with qualititative impairment in the following specific combination of developmental areas: a) Social Interaction, b) Communication, and c) Restricted, repetitive or stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, with onset in early childhood.  

Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder have been identified as having a common cluster of atypical characteristics in the areas of social interaction, communication and play activities or use of objects. The degree of intensity, frequency, and presentation of these characteristics varies significantly from child to child, therefore the rate of learning and learning needs also vary among individual children. The term Spectrum Disorder has recently been applied to Autism, as increasingly, evidence has shown that there is a significant range of abilities within children who have the defining characteristics of Autism.

 The  Minneapolis Schools ECSE program for young children with  Autism Spectrum Disorders is  individualized for each child. Special Education teachers and related service staff are trained in current teaching strategies known to be effective for children with the specific learning characteristics of ASD.  Children in the Minneapolis ECSE Autism program are served in the setting determined by the special education team, including the parents, to be most appropriate for achieving the childs educational goals.  ECSE service settings include special education support in the childs home, day care, or community preschool setting or more intensive services in non-categorical Early Childhood Special Education classrooms, Toddler Autism Classrooms (students under 3 years of age) or Pre-school Autism Classrooms (students 3-5 years of age).  Opportunities for inclusion with typical peers in natural environments is facilitated by the ECSE team whenever possible. Parent education and support is a strong component of the ECSE Autism program.

ECSE Autism Program components address the unique developmental needs of students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and use intervention and teaching methods supported by current validated research and practices that are shown to be effective for students with Autism.  The system of two-way communication with back and forth problem-solving is the system most compromised by Autism. (Stanley Greenspan, 2003)  Teaching strategies provide a comprehensive approach incorporating a high level of engaged, reciprocal social interaction and communication development in all aspects of the childs instructional time.

 Instructional Strategies for children with the learning characteristics of Autism emphasize and promote: a) visual supports and physical structure in the environment to focus the childs attention to the significant learning elements, b) breaking down learning tasks into sequential and manageable components, c) the use of naturally occurring reinforcers, d) the childs ability to demonstrate learned skills across multiple settings, e)  high rates of successful performance at each childs level, f) teaching functional communication, social interaction, and play skills, g) the childs ability to regulate his or her own sensory system within environments and h)  the use of systematic positive behavioral strategies in order for the child to be available to learn.

Engagement and learning exist  when a child is actively participating in an activity with at least one other person.  It must include increasingly frequent communicative interaction, either nonverbal or verbal.  The critical component is that the child is practicing reciprocal social interaction skills.

(Minnesota Autism Network)  The ECSE Autism Spectrum Disorders program looks at each child individually and incorporates the critical components of ASD teaching strategies into each childs individual education plan.