3 PAST TENSE “Can PSU help?” Special Education Leadership in Autism Research hrough the 1960s, Oregon college students majoring in special education were primarily being prepared to teach children with mildly delayed mental development, academic delays, severe developmental delays, and visual/hearing impairments. There were no programs readying them to work with the unique challenges that children with autism bring to the classroom. As late as 1974, Oregon children with autism were unable to find support or services targeted to meet their specials needs. In the early 1970s the PSU Special Education Department implemented an on-campus practicum clinic program that operated two evenings a week, enabling graduate students to work in a supervised setting with children experiencing academic problems in the school. In 1972 David Krug joined the department to Dave Krug in 1978 provide greater emphasis on behavioral disorders, precision teaching, and research. Shortly after Dr. Krug became Director of the Clinic Program, a mother arrived at an evening clinic with her 10year-old autistic son. When told the Portland State program was not yet equipped to work with her child, the mother challenged the department to set up a program that could help her son and others with autism. That parental encounter led Krug to establish a multi-year federally funded research classroom for children with autism. It was housed on campus in the Helen Gordon Day Care Center. Krug recruited colleague Joel Arick to serve as the classroom teacher/researcher, along with a cadre of special education student assistants, and this became the first research-based project in Oregon to successfully teach children with autism in a classroom setting. Over the years, PSU faculty members have led the state and the Northwest in developing services for children with autism. The early leadership provided by Krug and Arick (now emeritus professors) combined with the efforts of other PSU faculty have resulted in millions of dollars in state and Joel Arick in 1987 federal funding directed toward the support of autism research and services. In 2005 the Autism Training and Research Center was established at PSU by Dr. Arick and is currently directed by Special Education Professor Helen Young. Research and development efforts over the last four decades have produced a large cadre of skilled teachers, testing instruments, and specialized curricula. These efforts have been a direct response to that mother’s plea in 1972, “Can PSU help?” The answer: “Yes!” Our university can be proud that such early work in autism by PSU professors formed a legacy that continues to guide special education practices today. --Steve Brannan, Professor Emeritus, Special Education PAST TENSE features glimpses into Portland State’s history. To submit a story (or an idea for one), email the RAPS History Preservation Committee at raps@pdx.edu. T
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