WALL, N.J. — In conjunction with National Autism Awareness Month, Student Transportation Inc. (STI) is using the month of April to roll out a company-wide education program designed to teach its employees more about the disorder and how to transport autistic passengers even more effectively and safely. 

Employees will be trained through the company’s distance learning system, ST University, where they will engage in a multimedia program that includes slides with voice-over instruction, a video segment and quizzes to reinforce the material they learned.

“Autism affects one in 110 children worldwide and we transport over 500,000 students daily, so understanding autism is very important to our core mission of transporting students to school safely and on time every day,” said council leader and Student Transportation of America Western Pennsylvania General Manager Jeff Finfrock. “I am proud to be a part of a company that is putting forth the resources and showing this kind of commitment to all of our passengers, especially those with special needs.”

(As SBF reported in February, STI created a special-needs council that focuses on promoting a greater understanding of the types of disabilities some of the company's passengers experience.)

To learn more about autism and raising awareness, visit www.nationalautismassociation.org or www.autismspeaks.org. For more information about STI, visit www.RideSTA.com or find the company on Facebook here.