Arizona Autism Charter School leader urges more specialized schools, describes in-class supports

An Arizona Autism Charter School leader and parent said the school’s mission is to provide focused education strategies for students with autism and neurodiversity and called for more schools like it so families have additional options.

The speaker said the school narrows classroom size as student needs increase and staffs classrooms with instructional coaches, applied behavior analysis (ABA) managers and behavior response teams. “We are able to specialize and focus solely on strategies that work well with students with autism and neurodiversity,” the speaker said. “We have ABA managers on the ground that are able to support behavior. And then we also have great behavior response teams that are able to go into a classroom if a child is maybe needing a little extra support.”

The speaker identified personal stakes: her daughter Sofia, age 7, attends the school. “I know for a fact that she's in the perfect setting for herself because she, is is happy. She sleeps well at night, and she tells us every day that how much she loves going to school,” she said. The speaker said students are forming peer relationships and feeling a sense of community for the first time at the school.

The speaker also described the school's role helping others create similar charter schools, saying, “We're here to help. We are willing to share what it takes to do what we do. We are able to walk side by side with them and help guide them through that process that it takes to go from just inception of an idea of opening a charter school all the way through going through application processes, finding, facilities, hiring folks, and getting everybody trained to actually opening their doors.”

Remarks in the transcript were descriptive and promotional in nature; no formal motions, votes or funding commitments were recorded in the provided excerpt. The speaker did not specify funding sources, licensing details, student counts, or regulatory approvals required to start new charter schools.