Mastering Essential Skills

Through Community-Based Instruction

By Folwell Dunbar 

 

Chartwell Center classes at Jazz Fest -- Folwell Dunbar, waving.

I recently attended a workshop in New Orleans. The presenter was talking about experiential learning. She asked the audience how many field trips they had taken this year. A principal responded, “We try to have each grade level go on at least three short trips a year.” 

“We’d love to take more field trips,” a teacher lamented, “but it’s not always easy. We have too many standards to cover. We usually schedule a few after testing.”

“It’s tough on our budget,” admitted a superintendent. “We try to do capstone trips at the end of 8^th grade and 12^th grade. It’s a nice reward for all their hard work.”  

I raised my hand and said, “We average about 125 field trips a quarter. This past spring though, we broke a record with 207!”  

There was an uncomfortable hush and a few gaping mouths. 

“Perhaps I should explain,” I said. “I run a small school for children and adults with autism. Most of them are on the more profound end of the spectrum, meaning their needs are significant. We take field trips almost every day, but we refer to them as community-based instruction or CBI. We go to libraries, museums, and stores; we take buses, streetcars, and ferries. We go to work, we workout, we eat, and we play. We interact with people who aren’t our teachers, and we interact with people who aren’t on the spectrum. It’s an integral part of our curriculum. It’s one of our Four Pillars.”     

Where the rubber meets the road

Community-Based Instruction is a research-based practice that provides students an opportunity to generalize skills learned in the classroom out in the “real world”. CBI targets skills that are meaningful to individuals and to their families, everything from personal hygiene and traffic safety to vocational and social skills. 

At the end of each year, we survey our parents. In one of the sections, there is a question that asks them to rank the different components of our program. It includes things like arts integration, a focus on health and wellness, music therapy, social play, and academic skills. For the past several years, CBI has landed at the top of the list.

According to one parent, “We want our kids to have experiences that neurotypical kids have. We want them to get out in the real world.” 

Of course, lots of schools like to talk about the importance of “real-world learning.” They put it in their mission statement, and they plaster it all over their website and brochure. But when you visit the school, it is nowhere to be found. Instead, you find kids in rows memorizing facts and figures. They toil from bell to bell preparing for some “all-important” standardized (and mostly multiple choice) test. They are asked questions like, “What is the capital of Iowa? Who discovered the polio vaccine? And, “If a train left the station at 2:00 p.m. traveling 60 miles an hour…?” The answers to these “oh-so-important” questions are usually found on bubble sheets filled in with #2 pencils. It’s not exactly what educators would call, “real world.”      

At our school, things are different. Whenever we have visitors, they often find that the classrooms are empty. “Where are all the kids?” they ask. 

“Out in the city on a CBI” is my common refrain. “It’s where the rubber meets the road.” 

Teachable moments      

Fortunately for us, CBI is very accessible. Our school is located on a commercial corridor. We can walk to restaurants, stores, parks, and museums. There is also a bus stop on our block and a streetcar line nearby. We can get just about anywhere in the city. We have over 50 different CBI destinations. We keep a database that includes everything from schedules and age appropriateness to travel times and reviews. We write a grant every year to cover the cost of bus tokens, entrance fees, and incidentals. Teachers at our school take their students off campus almost every day. They practice important life skills like navigating New Orleans streets (and potholes), selecting and ordering healthy food, paying for things with a debit card, and playing with others in public parks. These outings allow our students to practice what they learned in the classroom in a novel, authentic setting. 

Our school’s mission is to empower individuals with autism and their families. For us, empowerment is synonymous with independence. CBI promotes that independence. For example, here in New Orleans, swimming* is considered an essential skill. You can watch videos in the classroom of people swimming. You can look at diagrams of different strokes, and you can read books about the importance of water safety. But, ultimately, you have to get in the water. You have to demonstrate mastery of that essential skill in a real setting, be it a backyard pool or a hurricane drainage canal.  

Note: CBI isn’t just for kids on the spectrum. When I was a middle school social studies teacher, I used it to explore architecture, geography, archaeology, civics, and conservation. We collected artifacts, we took oral histories, we designed rain gardens, we shadowed investigative reporters, and we sat in on City Council meetings. We even rummaged through garbage to learn about what different people consumed.    

Whenever we get a new student at my school, I conduct an interview with their parents. We use the information to put together Individualized Education Programs or IEPs. In a recent interview, a tearful mother turned to me and said, “I just wanna be able to take my son shopping at Walmart.

I thought to myself, “Big-box stores are filled with all kinds of teachable moments.”

“Yes,” I said, “we can make that happen.”    

Ambassadors of neurodiversity 

According to Kendra Mitchell, the head of our high school and adult program, "Each time we take our students out into the community, something special happens. Not only are students learning life skills, but we are fostering connection. Each shared interaction builds understanding for both the community and the students, showing the beauty of neurodiversity and what inclusion really looks like." 

We have partnerships with local schools and universities. We visit them, and they visit us. It gives our students an opportunity to interact with people who aren’t their teachers, and to practice essential communication skills in an authentic setting. It also gives them an opportunity to interact with individuals who aren’t on the spectrum. Conversely, it gives our partners an opportunity to interact with individuals with autism spectrum disorder or ASD. They learn about autism – and, they learn about themselves.   

I like to say that “on every CBI, our teachers and their students become ambassadors of neurodiversity.” They promote autism awareness and acceptance wherever they go - and “Oh, the places you’ll go...”  

How to start CBI at School

Before starting a CBI initiative at your school, it is critical to get parent and teacher buy-in. The best way to do this is by pointing out all the benefits, and by incorporating parent needs into the planning process. Next, you need to make sure your teachers teach and practice all requisite skills.  For example, our teachers have a “Walk with me” program for their students. They walk in the classroom, then down the hallway, and then out in the parking lot, before ever stepping out onto the sidewalk and streets.  And finally, don’t forget, safety is always the number 1 priority.   

6 Practical Tips for CBI 

1)        Always take the trip yourself before brining students

2)        Find out if the site has a sensory friendly space or other accommodations for individuals with ASD 

3)        Identify the tasks needed to successfully complete the trip

4)        Prime students before the trip using visual cues, video, role plays, etc. 

5)        Make arrangement for students who might become dysregulated 

6)        Debrief with your team after each trip

Sample Resources

Just like in the classroom, it is important to collect and analyze data while doing community-based instruction. For example, we track student progress via task analysis. The attached is a sample form from one of our apprenticeship learning sites. 

We also collect, share, and regularly update important information about each destination. Attached is a copy of our CBI database.

We keep open lines of communication with our CBI sites. Attached is a sample letter to the organization that runs Jazz Fest here in New Orleans.     

* Drowning is the leading cause of death among individuals with ASD. Swimming is definitely an essential skill.  

Folwell Dunbar is the Director of the Easterseals Louisiana Chartwell Center. He can be

reached at fdunbar@laeasterseals.com.