The principle of inclusion has become widely supported and recognized by national, state, and local educational authorities and has become a mandate for most districts. As the study concludes, if вЂњadvances continue in the early identification and treatment of children with autismвЂ¦these enrollment rates are likely to increase and, consequently, STEM participation among individuals with an ASD may also continue to increase over time.вЂќД®ducation for students with autism and other disabilities is changing. What does this mean? If educators and parents provide greater academic support at earlier ages, including exposure to STEM, more students may have access to post-secondary educational opportunities. The same researchers who reported the correlation between students with ASD and increased interest in STEM majors also found that these students had the third-lowest level of post-secondary enrollment out of the ten disability categories they studied. Research indicates that it can also support ingenuity and creativity, build resilience and experimentation, promote teamwork, and advance problem-solving skills and adaptability.Д«ut despite the benefits noted above, many students with ASD are not encouraged to pursue post-secondary education at all. To McClureвЂ™s point, STEM education is not just about building science skills or driving children toward technology careers. вЂњThis development is not just about the basics like counting and vocabulary, although these skills and background knowledge are important too itвЂ™s about problem solving and other higher-level skills that transfer across many domains.вЂќ

вЂњSTEM habits of mind - such as critical thinking, persistence, and systematic experimentation - are important across all subject areas and may be essential to how children learn to learn,вЂќ researcher Elisabeth McClure explained in an article for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Indeed, this lack of access is unfortunate, especially given that the benefits of childhood exposure to STEM are well-documented. вЂњBut we know from research that engaging in STEM supports gains in other content areas, so itвЂ™s critical they participate,вЂќ she concludes. Alternatively, some schools might deprioritize science learning out of a belief that such students can gain more from different areas of learning. Vinh explains that students with learning disabilities like autism might be taken out of class to receive other services while their peers engage in STEM activities. ItвЂ™s not just that they are being excluded from this - itвЂ™s really an opportunity they are denied, and that is a true inequity.вЂќ вЂњThis missed opportunity is detrimental for these children,вЂќ Megan Vinh, an Advanced Technical Assistance Specialist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, explained in an article on the matter.

This rate is significantly higher than that of the general student population (22.8 percent).Д«ut despite their penchant for science and tech, youth with disabilities are often excluded from STEM activities in educational settings due to mistaken assumptions about their learning capacity. One such study found that over a third of young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (34.1 percent) chose a STEM major in college. Past research indicates that many of these children gravitate toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) once exposed to the disciplines. But for countless children with autism, opportunities to explore such interests are often frustratingly few and far between.ДЄccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 17 percent of children between the ages of 3 and 17 have one or more developmental disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In an ideal world, any child who has a passion for science and the will to pursue it would be able to do so.

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