A mother’s mission to empower, educate autistic children

WORLD Autism Day is celebrated globally on April 2, but for Devrani Barrios, a mother of four and a teacher, it is a daily journey, as two of her children are on the autism spectrum.

“Being a mother to my two amazing autistic kids affected me profoundly. I wanted to create a safe environment for them, a place where they could feel safe, learn and grow at their own pace.”

It is this motherly love and instinct that drove Barrios to publish a series of four foundational readers aimed at helping children with autism learn phonics and simple words.

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects how a child understands, communicates with and interacts with the world. It is a broad spectrum, encompassing the challenges these children face in understanding and learning within their environments. Their way of thinking is different, and their communication can also be a challenge.

“I learnt to love beyond sight. I cannot demand normalcy from them, but I could help them grow at their own pace. In my classroom, I think of mothers like me, who want independence for their children.”

Barrios, who has been married for 24 years, has been a teacher since 2011. She started teaching privately before entering the public school system. However, she credits training at The Aural-Read-Respond-Oral-Write (Arrow) Foundation with sparking her passion.

Arrow is a non-profit organisation focused on developing literacy skills for children through a series of programmes. According to its website, children are missing the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Arrow's approach is about motivating children and increasing their attention and self-esteem through strengthening the wiring in the brain, significantly improving auditory skills, short-term memory and overall learning ability.

“I got bored quickly in my previous jobs. But teaching and watching students change and improve, I could never get bored of that. At Arrow, I saw children struggling and I wanted to help them. So I did my first degree in English. It wasn’t until my children’s autism diagnosis in 2015 that I discovered my calling in special education.”

She says her approach to teaching is simple: it’s about giving each child whatever they need to succeed, and she explains children with autism face unique challenges in learning, especially in social situations and require different teaching strategies.

“They need more time to grasp concepts and benefit from smaller, incremental steps. They may require additional support, such as aides, technology, smaller classrooms, and an autism-friendly environment.”

Barrios says emotional barriers like fear can also affect learning and says working with behavioural and occupational therapists can help students cope.

“It’s more work, but the child progresses happily – the key word is ‘happily.' I know what it’s like to be told ‘no’ over and over again by principals who say my children could not attend public school because of their challenges. I know what it’s like to not have the money to pay for school fees in the private sector. This has made me more empathetic.”

Barrios says the inspiration for creating her foundation's readers series came after struggling to find resources to help her own children learn. At the time, she was pursuing her MA in educational psychology while juggling her responsibilities as a mother.

The book initially drafted for her children was soon adopted by friends after they saw the educational improvement in her children.

“I began teaching remedial reading using my book, which was a simple spiral-bound notebook at the time. Soon, I saw a need to create levels two, three and four. I used my knowledge and experience to identify the sounds and struggles in the reading journey to bridge the gaps in learning.”

With encouragement from teachers, peers and friends, she “self-published” the books – a term she admits she had never heard of before. Her books are published locally and available on Amazon. Series one and two are both available at selected bookstores.

Lamenting the struggles her children faced, she credits these challenges with teaching her valuable lessons, saying they not only shaped her own methods but have had a ripple effect on the children who have used her books.

“Foundation Readers and all its levels were created with these students and their struggles in mind.”

Barrios explains the logic behind the book structure. Level one is the first step in the reading process, focusing on phonics and phonemic awareness, with simple sight words introduced.

Level two builds upon sight words with confidence-building paragraphs, introducing concepts such as diphthongs, the silent "e" and digraphs so students can learn the sounds.

Level three introduces larger words made up of smaller sounds, syllabication, comprehension, sentence construction and research.

“It was my intention in level three to broaden vocabularies, spark more curiosity beyond the passages and create an interest in technology for research. Comprehension, syllabication and research are the third tier of reading.”

Levels three and four focus on using technology and writing. The fourth tier is centred on promoting written expression.

“Reading should open up curiosity and encourage students to write about what they learn or experience.”

Asked how she determines what each level should encompass, Barrios says her education, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, gave her the knowledge and skills needed. Additionally, her experience with her children and their learning challenges played a crucial role.

“There is no age limit to my books.”

Barrios stresses the importance of partnering closely with parents and therapists, as she strongly believes it “takes a village.” She identifies equitable education as the first strategy for achieving success.

In an ideal classroom setting, she said this would mean a ratio of four students to one teacher to ensure each student receives the attention they need.

At home, she suggests repetition, YouTube videos and the support of siblings as strategies to enhance learning.

“With siblings, they will learn love and support too.”

One of the most common challenges Barrios encounters in her classroom is the need for smaller groups and more individualised support. Independence is also crucial to her approach.

“Once a student can read on their own, they are encouraged to help their peers, fostering speech development and social skills.”

Barrios has also found certain teaching methods particularly effective for autistic children in phonics and reading.

“Differentiated learning, where each child is taught according to their specific needs and pace, is important. Hands-on activities, chart building, project-based learning and technology integration all play a role in reinforcing learning. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach.”

She says the feedback from parents, educators and children has been overwhelmingly positive. Barrios said parents appreciate the resource and teachers value the books as a supplementary tool, though they are unable to add them to official book lists without policy approval.

Looking ahead, Barrios envisions expanding the series and hopes to create an audio and Spanish version. As well as an activity book for levels one and two. She is also working on a math series.

Barrios stresses that measuring success in autistic children is the progress made in the four tiers. She says if students are grasping phonetic rules and understanding the content they are learning.

Her advice to parents with autism is simple: "Do not give up; take time to understand what each child needs."

She says therapy may be necessary for children who find the classroom environment overwhelming and encourages parents to balance the child's emotional needs with academic needs while acknowledging it may be challenging.

As for Barrios, balancing her roles as both teacher and mother has been a difficult yet rewarding experience and she says it requires a strong support system, or village.

Barrios describes a child's joy in exploring the pages of her book as the most fulfilling feeling, calling it her constant motivation.

“I hope that Foundation Readers will become a part of that village and support parents who need it. I hope our government will consider equitable education for our children and take a portion of our nation’s budget to make therapy, aides and technologies free and available for our students to access,” she concluded.