By Sara Ballenger

All students learn differently. And rather than have those differences separate students — teachers, parents and the students themselves in the Los Altos School District work to turn those differences into assets.

The district has a range of programs in place to help students with a variety of abilities, from minor learning disabilities to behavioral challenges. By law, a district is responsible for the special education of a student from age 3 until 22, or until the student graduates from high school. Since the Los Altos School District has elementary schools only, it is responsible for students from age 3 through eighth grade.

Currently the district offers a preschool day class for students with special needs; a preschool speech therapy program; one special day class for grades 1-3 at Almond School taught by Debra Schwartzman, and two special day classes for grades 4-6 at Loyola School taught by Ann Baum and Jenny Buzard, where students who have physical or learning challenges receive extra help in certain subjects while they are mainstreamed into a class at their grade level at Almond or Loyola for the remainder of their studies; and resource specialists and aides available in the classrooms to help with academics. The district places more severely challenged students in a program run by the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

Education law has established the following categories to determine a child’s eligibility for special education services: speech language impaired; learning disability; orthopedically impaired; deaf; visually impaired; other health impaired; emotionally disturbed; traumatic brain injury; autism; mental retardation; hard of hearing; deaf/blind and multiple disabilities.

“Between 6 percent and 7 percent of the district’s total budget is spent on special education,” said Charlene Luks, director of pupil services. “The district currently serves approximately 400 students. The total number of special needs students has grown in the district, especially the number of autistic students.”

According to the Autism Society of America, autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years. Autism is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain and impacts the development of the part of the brain which deals with the areas of social interaction and communication skills.

“For autistic students, early intervention is particularly important,” Luks said. “The district has a preschool for students with language delays, which can include autism.”

District parent Karen Mueller discovered her daughter Kaitlin had Asperger syndrome, while she was in kindergarten. According to the Asperger Syndrome Coalition, it is a developmental disorder falling within the autistic spectrum affecting two-way social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication. There is a range of severity of symptoms within the syndrome.

“She is academically advanced. All of her issues with her disability are with behaviors, like ‘Can I sit at my desk? Can I work well in a group?’” Mueller said of her daughter. “It’s so frustrating for her to understand what she is supposed to be doing.” Kaitlin attended the special day class at Almond for first and second grades and has been mainstreamed into third grade this year at Springer School, with the help of a classroom aide.

Andrea Ziebell works at Oak School as a resource specialist with children who need extra support in reading, written language and math.

“We use a multisensory approach to reading. We have the kids work on visualization skills, and other methods of learning for students who have trouble learning in the traditional way,” Ziebell said.

Ziebell said there is still a certain stigma that comes with a student’s needing special assistance or the use of an aide or resource specialist.

“A lot of people think a resource student is not intelligent,” Ziebell said. “Students are often very intelligent, they just don’t learn like everyone else.”

Ziebell and her aide help any students who come into their room needing assistance, including those who have not been officially assigned as resource students.

“We see about 16 students unofficially,” Ziebell said. “Language arts seems to be where the biggest need is, since there is so much to reading and, written language is such an involved and complicated process.”

For example, in Schwartzman’s class, topics may need to be broken into smaller steps or subtopics so more individualized work experiences and practice opportunities can be provided.

Almond School Principal Jeff Baier said that the district has done a great job in making sure that all students’ academic needs are met.

“As a child demonstrates a need within the classroom, we work to create the best learning environment with that particular student,” Baier said. “The majority of our kids’ needs can be met in the regular classroom; but if not, the services are there, which is great.”

Often, new parents in the district are unaware of the services available for a student with special needs. Mueller and Luks both recommend parents consult the Community Advisory Committee (CAC), a group of local parents, administrators and staff.

The volunteer committee, formed in 1994, works on a range of issues related to special education in schools and operates within the larger Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA).

“We are in SELPA 1, which includes Los Altos, Palo Alto and Mountain View,” Mueller said.

Since its inception, CAC has produced a handbook of guidelines for parents of special needs children in public schools and a biannual newsletter.

It schedules support group meetings throughout the year, supports a disability awareness committee and staffs a “warmline” hot line for parents with questions and concerns.

One goal of this organization is to mobilize the parents in the special education community to interact with others in order to enhance the quality of their child’s education.

CAC often holds coffees or informational meetings on various disabilities or learning differences.

It hosts “Ability Awareness Week,” where students can participate in various activities that simulate a broad range of learning and physical challenges — from attention deficit disorder and dyslexia to fine motor challenges, hearing problems and mobility impairments.

Ability Awareness Week has been held at Almond and Loyola schools and is scheduled for Benjamin Bubb School in Mountain View at the end of the month and for Santa Rita Elementary School next fall.

“We are also planning to do Ability Awareness Week at Covington,” Mueller said. “We hope to spread our program into other school districts. We just need one parent at a school site to introduce Ability Awareness Week. We provide the materials and we even have a training video. We deliver everything to the school, so parents have everything they need.”

For more information, call Patty Hurley at 949-1926.