What School Could Be If It Were Designed for Kids With Autism

Harsville, South Carolina is trying to better its educational program. But first it must change the standard of living in the town to provide greater examples of success for the children to follow.

Lack of reading material is not only a third-world problem – many poor families in the United States lack access to and funds for books. A program that helps get books to into the homes of low-income families can boost literacy, and help publishers, too.

How can rural African children learn to read when there are no books in their languages? Save the Children helps kids to create their own books, creating a homemade library for their village.

For-profit companies are making good private schools available even to Africa’s poor. They can do it – and can do it on an enormous scale – by hiring neighborhood residents to teach, and scripting out every word of every lesson on an e-reader.

Teaching reading skills to children early is crucial, especially with respect to their educational success later in life. School systems are switching reading programs to help underachieving students have one on one time with a tutor.

As kids and teachers head back to school, we wanted to turn away from questions about politics and unions and money and all the regular school stuff people argue about, and turn to something more optimistic — an emerging theory about what to teach kids.

Children coming from abusive households are often reluctant to discuss their past experiences. A Mexican foundation is using animated characters to help abused and ill children speak about their lives.

For parents, few things are more terrifying to contemplate than the fate of a disabled child who survives them - will he have to be institutionalized if there is no one ready to take on his care? In Vancouver, the Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network helps parents develop networks of care to help their child continue to live a good life in the community.

People with disabilities like autism often struggle to find welcoming and meaningful jobs. Companies that place workers with disabilities in jobs that fit their skills will be well-positioned to succeed in the 21st century.

Individuals who have Aspergers Syndrome and autism experience difficulty in conforming to workplace norms and find themselves unemployed. Specialisterne, a Danish company, has opened employment opportunities for them. Sixty countries around the world have sought to adopt the company model.