This discussion and question portion of the class led me to take my own time to research Autism and also different organizations that fund research related to Autism. I came across
www.autismspeaks.org, which is an organization that informs the public about the effects of Autism, offers support for families who have an Autistic child and also raises funds to support research into treatment options.I appreciate that Josh came into our class and presented not only about Autism and dealing with children who are Autistic within your classroom, but also general strategies to classroom management that are effect for all students no matter their "condition" or "behavioral" issue.
3 comments:
In my experience as an undergraduate in the MSU College of education I have only interacted with one child who falls on the Spectrum of Autism. She is in my current placement. I would place her in the middle of the spectrum because she can interact with others but it is somewhat hindered by the brain disorder. This would only be a guess. It is hard for me to determine where on the spectrum she would fall because I don’t have enough experience with Autistic children. I do not understand where either end of the spectrum is. I would assume very high functioning Autistic children can function and interact at a high level. On the other hand, I assume low functioning Autistic children can barely interact with other humans.
After our class seminar on Autism I feel better prepared to engage and interact with autistic children. I now know how common the disorder is and I feel better prepared to interact with these children. I know that some autistics respond better to visuals or common routines. I also know that specialists and other resources are available to help me. Knowing these things will help me approach teaching autistic children with confidence. Overall, the seminar and presentation in class has encouraged and motivated me to learn more about this disorder and these special children.
In my current placement, our CT tries to include our autistic student in group lessons and some group activities. It seems that she leaves most of the individual instruction to the specialists at Bath. Maybe this is because she has 28 other students to worry about or maybe it is because they have met with each other and discussed each others role. Either way, after several conversations with my CT, it seems our autistic student will most likely be placed in a special education school at the beginning of next year and her time in an integrated classroom is over.
In my three years of placement here at MSU, I have never run into a child that had Autism (to my knowledge). Not that I have never seen anyone that suffers from Autism but that I have not had an Autistic child in any of my classrooms. Therefore, the guest speaker’s lecture from last Thursday’s class was very informative and helpful. I kind of knew what Autism was from one of my Anatomy classes but it was never really covered in depth. I was surprised when I saw the short video clip he showed at the beginning of his presentation. Autism covers a wide spectrum; that’s probably why he entitled his presentation how The Spectrum of Autism.
On the other hand, while I have not experienced Autism in any of my classrooms, I experience someone with Autism on a daily basis. My roommate is slightly Autistic. Before I knew he was Autistic, I thought he was a little odd but could never really put my finger on why. He functions normally but he does have his little quirks, a lot that Josh covered in his presentation. When he was describing some of the characteristics of Autistic children, it was like he was describing my roommate to a “T.” My roommate is a little socially awkward if you will! When we are sitting around the house, he sometimes has a hard time conveying what he wants to say or what he is thinking. He is in love with science too, something Josh said that is very characteristic of Autistic males. And even though my roommate sometimes cannot handle a plain old conversation, he can talk your head off about random things. He can go on talking about the show “How It’s Made” or about dinosaurs for hours on end but when you ask him a legitimate question, he sometimes stutters through his ideas. When Josh said all of these characteristics, I knew that he really knew his stuff!
After the presentation, I feel like I have a good spring board on how to deal with an Autistic child. I learned how common the disorder is and how it can vary from slight to almost crippling. It also intrigued me to find out more about the disorder and to find out how else to help students that suffer from this disorder. I feel that since Autism is so common that I will eventually come across students who will have this disorder. And instead of worrying about how to deal with the student, I will now be more comfortable and smarter about the accommodations I will have to make for that student.
I really enjoyed last weeks class regarding class mangament issues and Autism. I felt that although the lecture was more focused towards Autistic students I could use the practices discussed in any classroom. The examples that Josh gave for managing a class as a whole were thoughtful and insightful. I am reminded all the time that classroom management is a hard task to accomplish. In my placement we have experienced a situation where the administration did not want a teacher reprimanding the whole class versus individually due to parental complaint. No one other than the teacher and maybe some classroom helpers can understand the full dynamic of a classroom. A teacher should be given the opportunity to manage their classroom to the best of their ability without others stepping in. However should a teacher be presented with the opinions of others it is nice to know that one can use individual managemnet strategies as well as classroom strategies as a whole. I really enjoyed his presentation and I think he should continue to present to other seniors as well.
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