For many years, people thought that individuals with autism couldn’t learn because they did not have a lot of success in traditional educational environments. They were labeled as “unteachable” and were often sent to institutions. Thankfully, we now know that this is certainly not the case. Students on the autism spectrum are not “unteachable” (In fact, I’ve spent my entire career working with individuals with severe disabilities and I’ve never met anyone who was “unteachable”). It’s not that they can’t learn; it’s just that they often learn in different ways than other students. When we come to understand the different ways that children on the autism spectrum learn and when we make necessary changes to the instructional environment and our teaching styles, these kids can make incredible educational gains.