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Teaching Artist Training Institute

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TATI participants observing PS 37 Arts AcademyWork that The Center for Arts Education (CAE) has done with children with autism has shown that they learn better through the arts. The Teaching Artist Training Institute (TATI) was created to train teaching artists to work with students on the autism spectrum.
 
TATI grew out of an innovative partnership among PS 37 in Staten Island, a school for students with severe cognitive disabilities, Marquis Studios, and CAE. Now in its second year, TATI has grown from 10 to 20 participants, has dance and visual arts residencies, and has increased participant contact hours with the students and classrooms. Participating teaching artists attend three out of six observational classroom visits and two Saturday seminars led by PS 37 teachers, Marquis Studios teaching artists, related service providers including Speech Therapists, Physical (PT) and Occupational Therapists (OP), and CAE staff.
THE HISTORY
From 2002-04, PS 37 was funded with a CAE Partnership grant and from 2005-07 the school received CAE Leadership In Practice grants. These funds enabled the school to partner with Marquis Studios to establish arts residencies that integrated arts into the core curriculum. Through these residencies, it became clear that students with autism learn better through the arts. The residencies, now known as the Arts Academy, allow time for classroom teacher collaboration in the development of extensive literacy goals and objectives as well as incorporating extended individual time with students. Teaching Artists work with the same class for two 45-minute periods each week for 12 weeks.

PS 37 teacher Judy Gruber and TATI participants reflect on the day's session During the pilot year of the Arts Academy, it became apparent that some teaching artists were not as experienced working with autistic children as others, and more training would be beneficial, particularly in acquiring a better working knowledge of classroom and behavioral management techniques in addition to learning the communication systems that are fundamental to this population. Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the U.S. (1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism everyday, according to Autismspeaks.org); an obvious next step was for CAE, PS 37, and Marquis Studios to develop TATI.

The TATI pilot program was held in 2008 and more than 50 applicants vied for 10 coveted spots. This outpouring of interest confirmed the need for the program. The program has had ongoing funding from The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and also has additional funding in place from the National Endowment of the Arts, The Dana Foundation, and The Staten Island Foundation.