Edmonton’s new autism academy celebrates a year of success

Parents of some children at an Edmonton school for students with autism say the school has helped their kids reach new milestones.

As summer break approaches, one small Edmonton school is celebrating a successful first year.

The Jim Jiwani Autism Academy opened in west Edmonton in September. The school is the first of its kind in Alberta and focuses on the needs of children with autism who need extra classroom support.

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“We provide support for those kids who really struggle in other settings,” explained Terri Duncan, executive director of Children’s Autism Services.

“We really focus on getting them calm, alert, ready to learn and we provide lots of support to be able to do that.”

Class sizes are small, just one adult to every two or three students. While the school follows Alberta curriculum, individual learning plans are made for each child.

Forty students from Kindergarten to Grade 2 were enrolled for the inaugural school year, with preschool programming available as well.

Duncan said next year will be open to students from Grades 1 to 3, with many familiar faces expected.

“We anticipated that we would have a lot of our students who came for a year and then returned into their community settings,” she explained. “But this year, we have so many families who felt such a strong sense of belonging here that they want to return for another year.

“It really speaks to the success of the program.”

Lexi Marshall said her daughter’s doctor told her about the school after she showed signs of being behind in verbalization.

Marshall said her daughter started preschool mostly non-verbal but is finishing the year speaking in full sentences.

“It’s like a night and day difference. I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “Now she talks nonstop, which is amazing. She can tell us her feelings, like, there’s so much difference.”

“I’m just really lucky that we were able to get in (to the school) because it’s not only her days at school, but it’s changed her days at home as well, which is amazing. I don’t think that we would have progressed the way we did without this school.”

Duncan said she’s proud of what the school and staff have accomplished during the first year.

“What really stands out is the change in these kids,” she said. “You know that the kids are going to grow and change, but it’s been so dramatic and it’s just really heartwarming.”

This year, Duncan said there were more than 80 families who wanted to register but couldn’t due to space constraints. She said the school would like to expand and is working to find the needed funding.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson