Student Profiles

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League Learners

The League School provides services to children ages 3 to 21 years who have a primary diagnosis of Autism, and who may or may not carry additional diagnoses including anxiety, ADHD, intellectual disability, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, depression, seizures, gastrointestinal symptoms, and similar diagnoses.

Our students require highly specialized and individualized instruction and support to access learning. Students are able to participate in small group instruction with accommodations in place. League students benefit from lower staff-to-student ratios to support communication, academic, emotional, or behavioral needs.

Students may be enrolled in the day school program or have residential programming incorporated into their educational experience.

Common Presentations

It is common for League School students to present with challenges in social communication, including expressive and receptive language, social interaction, and non-verbal communication. Some students use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC, such as a communication device) to share their messages with others.

Students often present with sensory processing differences leading to over- or under-responsivity to sensory input which impacts engagement and behavior. Stereotypic or repetitive movements and vocalizations are common. Many students thrive when provided structured schedules and predictable routines across the school environment. Many League School students have high interest areas that they enjoy sharing with others.

Students commonly have difficulty with emotional regulation and may experience periods of emotional dysregulation when they perceive stress. These periods could include mild aggression toward self or others, bolting from designated areas, or mild property destruction.

It is not uncommon for students to present with complex learning styles that include executive functioning difficulties, dyslexia, and other specific learning disabilities that require individual accommodations and specific teaching styles.

Student Snapshots

Xavier — Pathfinders

Xavier is working toward a high school diploma and hopes to enter a community college with supports in place after graduating. Xavier enjoys talking with others about video games and role playing games and engages in reciprocal conversations independently.

He is independent in most self-care tasks but benefits from subtle reminders from his teacher if he needs to freshen up before going on a community trip or to a job site. He expresses how he is feeling but needs support to understand the causes for those feelings, especially if it is related to another person’s opinions or behaviors. Though he has a number of helpful coping strategies (e.g. taking walks, listening to music, talking to a trusted adult), he benefits from a reminder to use these when he is experiencing stress. Xavier has difficulty understanding humor and sarcasm and tends to think very concretely. This can lead to challenges when interacting with peers. He is a great storyteller and Xavier’s teachers are helping him to build on this strength. Academically, Xavier is working at grade level and is able to complete standardized testing in a quiet space outside of the classroom. He is learning to advocate for himself and ask for support from others both in the classroom and in the community.

Brian — Transitions

Brian is currently in the 11th grade and is learning functional academic skills that include making simple purchases with a debit card, reading and understanding community signs, and typing emails from a pre-drafted template. Brian uses a visual checklist to complete his daily hygiene routine along with some verbal prompts from staff if he gets distracted.

Brian uses words and phrases to share his wants and needs with others and is able to do this spontaneously. He has a communication device and, with some staff support, he is able to comment on activities and ask follow up questions during structured conversation practice with his classmates. Brian is sensitive to noises around him and will leave the room when he feels overwhelmed. He is working on using his communication device to let staff know he wants to go for a walk or to grab noise reducing headphones to wear. Brian enjoys a variety of vocational opportunities including working in the school garden and making deliveries around the school building. He recently started working two hours each week at a local restaurant, helping prepare vegetables for the chef to use on the lunch shift. He joins his class on weekly trips to the grocery store and local restaurants, where he needs guidance to safely navigate parking lots and street crossings. He loves being in the community and has become a familiar face to employees at the grocery store, his favorite community spot. He’s currently practicing some skills in the school store with a job coach that he could transfer into a job at the grocery store in the near future. His family will begin looking at community-based adult day programs for him after he receives a certificate of completion from school at age 22.

Tana — Foundations

Tana is a second grader who loves princesses and animals. She uses spoken language in the form of echolalia, often repeating those words that teachers and caregivers use when communicating with her. To let others know what she is thinking, she uses a picture exchange system and was recently provided a communication device to help expand her spoken language and ability to share her message with others.

She is interested in her peers but benefits from staff support to interact with peers during play. Tana enjoys sensory play and uses the sensory gym to swing and jump in the crash pads at intervals during the day to help her stay well regulated. She loves finger painting and creating with play-doh during free time. Academically, Tana is able to print her name on a piece of paper. She can identify all letters of the alphabet and is practicing printing letters that are not in her name. She recognizes a number of sight words related to her day and smiles widely when she can be a leader in the classroom, moving visual icons to “all done” on the classroom schedule. In math, she is able to identify numbers 1-10 and uses manipulatives to add and subtract single digit numbers. Tana benefits from a structured daily schedule that is posted on the wall to help her transition through her day. Along with structured sensory breaks, Tana’s personal schedule also includes scheduled bathroom breaks as she is not yet independent in letting her teachers know when she needs to use the bathroom. She washes her hands with modeling from her teachers.