Welcome to ECSE Autism

Our program at Bryn Mawr consists of 2 Early Childhood Autism classes, 1 full day section for Pre-k age students (4 by Sept. 1), and 1 half day section for 3-5 year olds.  

Our team has an expansive background of early childhood autism experience and the teachers hold MN licenses in both ECSE and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Our philosophies combine the best practices for young children as well as children with autism, including the Reggio Approach, Montessori, TEACCH, Floortime, DIR.  These are all play-based approaches that allow the adults to follow the interests and lead of the children to help them learn. This allows us to differentiate our approach for each child's individual needs.  We follow the district’s Pre-K curriculum, Big Day for Pre-K, which is a theme based play curriculum to expose students to many different topics and academic concepts.  

The classrooms run a typical preschool day, but add in lots of opportunities to work on social, communication, and regulation skills throughout all activities, in addition to targeting each child’s individual goals.  In addition to a variety of educational approaches, the expertise from our many related service providers enhances the work we do in our classrooms. Our related service providers include Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Social Workers, and Physical Therapists. We are lucky to have a District Program Facilitator who also has a licensure in autism and connects us with various resources and ongoing teacher training.

Please feel free to reach out at any time!

Teachers:

Lisa Rodenkirchen - Full day room 111

Catherine Mandle (Teacher Cat) - Half day room 110

Support staff:

Related Services:

Martha Bather - Social Worker

Brynn Bergman - Speech Therapist

Afton Jutila - Occupational Therapist