F E A T U R E
by Loren Pritchett
A Helping Hand at The Faison School for Autism
n Saturday mornings, 14-year-old Carter Ledford wakes up and requests
O
quarterly to discuss long-term planning and goal setting.
something very different from the things most teens ask for. “He asks for the
“I feel like I am as much a part of the team as the teachers. They want my support
bus, he asks for school,” his mother, Barbara Ledford, says. “And if he gets
and they want my ideas and they want my input,” Barbara says. “I shudder to think about
really desperate for me to understand what he wants, he’ll start going down
where Carter would be right now if it wasn’t for Faison.”
the list of his school teachers.”
Barbara, a Henrico County resident, homeschooled Carter before he attended Faison
Carter is a student at The Faison School for Autism and has been since 1999. He
and spent 40 hours a week teaching him while caring for her newborn twins. “The
and three other children, including the school’s namesake, Brittney Faison, were the first
homebound program went well but was incredibly intense and exhausting,” she says.
students in the school’s pilot class. In just ten years, the school, which is a partnership
“Faison was a total godsend.”
with Virginia Commonwealth University, has changed significantly to meet the needs of
Carter has self-injurious behavior as a result of his autism and can sometimes be a
a growing population of children with autism.
danger to himself. Barbara says the teachers at Faison help control his behavior so it
“It has grown every year,” says Adam Warman, director of education and training.
does not affect his ability to learn. “His world started opening up immediately. Six months
“Currently we serve 85 students on site and 20 off site. We staff 118 people for those
seemed like an eternity back then, but I realize now how quickly he began to imitate,
on-site students, providing more than a one-to-one ratio.”
focus, listen and identify different objects,” she says. “Faison has the best practice for
With one in every 91 children diagnosed with autism this year, increased enrollment
autism and every expert in the field has recommended the type of intense training they
at Faison is inevitable. “Having a conversation with a parent who just found out their
provide.”
child has autism is probably the most difficult part of my job,” Adam says. “But it is our
The Faison School attempts to offer that intense training and treatment because most
goal to help as many people as possible and work ourselves out of a job.”
public schools are unable to. Students like Carter, who do not benefit from public education,
Faison serves children ages 18 months to 22 years with individualized curricula. “It’s
attend Faison where the public school covers tuition for them. All other students are either
difficult because autism is a spectrum disorder,” Adam says. “So if you’ve met one child
privately placed by their parents who cover tuition entirely or receive scholarships from
with autism, you’ve met one child with autism. They are all different. We want to have the
Faison. “We try to help as much as possible,” Adam says, “but are unable to provide full
best educational tools available based on science and research to give each child the
tuition because we want to help as many people as possible.
most fulfilling life they can possibly have.”
Sarah Swope, director of development, works to make sure The Faison School is able
The Faison School implements Applied Behavior Analysis, a teaching method that
to do exactly that. She handles all fundraising efforts and event planning for the school.
presents instruction to students in a way that motivates them to increase their social and
“Sixty-five percent of operations comes from tuition,” she says. “For the rest we depend on
educational skills. “Behavior is reinforced and consequences for getting things correct
individual donations and corporate grants. We provide an important service here and we
may be more specific to their interests, with constant feedback and teacher attention for
want the community to know and remember that.”
completion of tasks,” Adam says....
Swope says the quality of the services provided at Faison can be seen in the interaction
Students’ responses to ABA and individual instruction are recorded in substantial
between the students and teachers. “You have to be compassionate to work with these
amounts of data each day. Teachers use the data to continue or adjust lesson plans
students,” she says. “You see that here. You see the smiles when you walk down the hall
and implement new tactics if the current plan is showing no results. Parents are also
and know that these people are very special. You see the caring come out.”
responsible for recording data of their child’s progress at home.
Barbara Ledford witnesses that first hand. “I know Carter is going to a place where
“They really work with the entire family,” Barbara Ledford says. “We communicate
the people understand him, have an effective plan for teaching him and love him,” she
back and forth in a home-school log. They tell me how he did in school and every night I
says. “You don’t get that from very many places when dealing with an autistic child. He’s
write how he did at home.” Weekly letters are sent home and parents and teachers meet
very happy at the school.” V

DECEMBER 2009
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