justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

A Gift of Learning

from the Learning Challenged

The other day, I had the privilege of substituting in a primary class consisting of six boys, all with various forms of autism. I had some knowledge of the effects of this condition, but this was my first experience helping provide for their educational needs, up close and personal, on a one-on-one basis.

According to Wikipedia, "About a third to a half of individuals with autism do not develop enough natural speech to meet their daily communication needs.  …Children with autism are less likely to make requests or share experiences, and are more likely to simply repeat others' words (echolalia) or reverse pronouns…Children with autism may have difficulty with imaginative play and with developing symbols into language."

Fortunately, I was able to work with two patient and highly sensitive aides who had an established relationship with these boys.

As an admitted "wordsmith", I'm blessed with the ability to communicate with ease. Yet when faced with the challenge of helping young children learn, I can only imagine the frustration, confusion and challenge my six students live with daily, as their needs and interests pose challenges in understanding and fulfillment – being unable to do much of what I take for granted without even a second thought.

One portion of my day included working with two of the students, one who is nonverbal, and the other who occasionally repeats words he likes. We went to the gym and played with hula-hoops, while listening to music through the PA system. The student with limited vocabulary quickly learned how to operate the

PA system, a task I myself found challenging. He enjoyed turning the system on and off, while repeating “musica” and while dancing to the rhythm of the exercise music. The other boy entertained himself while spinning the hula-hoop around in circles for over 10 minutes (much faster than I could without getting dizzy), wearing the biggest smile on his face, and looking up at the sky.

As the day progressed, I was reminded of a presentation by Temple Grandin at the college where I also teach. Ms. Grandin, a noted professor, has made incredible contributions to the understanding of autism as she has overcome some of the limitations that her own autism creates.

"Based on personal experience, Grandin advocates early intervention to address autism, and supportive teachers who can direct fixations of the child with autism in fruitful directions. She has described her hypersensitivity to noise and other sensory stimuli. She claims she is a primarily visual thinker and has said that words are her second language. Temple attributes her success as a humane livestock facility designer to her ability to recall detail, which is a characteristic of her visual memory. Grandin compares her memory to full-length movies in her head, which may be replayed at will, allowing her to notice small details. She also is able to view her memories using slightly different contexts by changing the positions of the lighting and shadows."

I am grateful that after all my years of teaching, I had a meaningful experience that allowed me to catch but a glimpse of the challenges that lay ahead unlocking the autism puzzle. While my contact with the six boys was limited to one day, I’m interested in learning more about educational opportunities in this field and look forward to additional substitute opportunities of this type in the coming school year.