Teachers, parents and Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) have been asking for an “all in one” autism education curriculum for years. Language Builder: ARIS (Academic Readiness Intervention System) is now available to support teachers and parents helping children with autism learn the skills they need to be successful. This new curriculum is ideal for students from preschool through elementary school who have moderate to severe Autism Spectrum Disorders or older children with learning disabilities. And, ARIS comes with everything needed to begin teaching right out of the box.
What is ARIS? How Was it Created?
ARIS is an all-inclusive autism curriculum designed by Angela Nelson, a UCLA trained ABA therapist and the creator of the popular research-based Language Builder Picture Cards. Working with what came to be known as the “A Team” at Stages: a team of educators, researchers, Board Certified Behavior Analysts, and graduate students from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, ARIS was designed to meet the following goals:
- Create a curriculum for autism that is truly research based
- Focus on a design that will simplify and support the work of teachers and parents
- Provide easy to use data sheets that can demonstrate clear student progress on learning and behavioral goals
- Design lessons that can be used “straight out of the box,” and embed the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in each lesson so that even educators with little or no experience using ABA can immediately sit down with a child and begin teaching
- Make it fun!
How Does it Work?
ARIS melds a unique combination of structured standards-based lessons that use ABA Therapy to support teachers while providing a fun and engaging experience for both adult and child. The “A Team” at Stages Learning Materials spent three years designing ARIS to ensure that it was built on current research and best practices for teaching while at the same time creating an instructional design that would provide the best possible experience for teacher and child.
- Structure: The colorful and engaging lessons in ARIS provide a structure for supporting and documenting learning in 7 Categories: 1. Approaches to Learning, 2. Language, 3. Social Emotional, 4. Functional Routines, 5. Motor Skills, 6. Reading & Writing Readiness, 7. Math Readiness. The curriculum uses authentic photographic images designed to best support children with autism that are part of the Stages Learning Language Builder Card sets.
- Standards: The ARIS lessons follow a standards-based learning progression created by correlating to the Common Core Standards, Head Start Framework, ABLLS and VB-MAPP. ARIS also lets educators adapt the lessons to individual students and to a variety of learning environments, while ensuring that there are no gaps in the student’s progress toward academic readiness. ARIS provides aStructured Sequence Guide offering suggestions for sequences in which students may best progress through the lessons.
- Engagement: The lessons in ARIS are designed to engage students and reinforce learning using “Whole Child” activities and imaginative games in addition to ABA procedures, to reinforce Social Emotional Learning. Teacher Tips and fun activities are included in ARIS lessons to lighten the mood and insert some humor and support to both teacher and child.
Is it Effective?
ARIS is built on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is the foremost research-based methodology proven to bring about positive change in learning and behavior in individuals with autism and other learning disabilities. ABA is endorsed by the U.S. Surgeon General as well as numerous state and federal agencies.
ARIS is designed with customized data keeping sheets to demonstrate student progress. Data is an essential component of using ABA, but keeping good records can be daunting! ARIS lessons are designed so that tracking data is embedded in the lesson and is an automatic part of the learning process.
Can Anyone Use It?
One of the unique features of ARIS is that it has been carefully designed so that even teachers or parents with no training in ABA therapy can immediately open the box and start teaching. Parents who homeschool their children are also finding ARIS easy to jump into and the curriculum comes with a comprehensive implementation guide as well as a quick start guide so that learning can start immediately.
Stages is committed to the goal of helping young learners with autism develop the behavioral and academic skills needed to be successful in school and in life.
