As autism awareness increases, questions regarding the disorder are changing especially for teachers.

Cherie Arnn, director of autism services for the Madeline Center on West Main Street in Danville, taught certification courses this summer at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research to help teachers work with autistic students.

The first course focused on what to expect from the student and the second was on behavior modification.

Arnn says the most common misconception regarding children with autism is that they cannot be taught.

They can be taught through increasing visual strategies in the classroom, said Arnn in a news release. With rates of autism going up, more teachers are familiar with the disorder so they are beginning to ask how to teach these students.

Arnn they respond better to visual stimulation than audible instructions.

At the Madeline Centers Danville office, Arnn works all aspects of autism, from behavioral analysis to family training to teaching certification.

The autism teaching certification classes are taught at Averett University, which opened the Carrington Autism Resource Center to help children in the region in November. Now the classes are housed at the Institute. Arnn the center can use the Institutes massive resources and reach a wider range of people.

Most of the teachers are local, but some come from outside the area just because the certification is often highly sought out.

Arnn has taught the classes for several years now.

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Teachers get lesson on autism awareness