Barb Reflection

I loved watching Barb. She showed people exactly what autism is. Autism is not a deficit, and people with autism are not incapable of doing things. Working with kids with autism has taught me so much. These people just have a different way of thinking and interpreting the world around them. There is nothing wrong with that at all. I love that Barb was able to talk about her autism in a very positive manner. I feel like sometimes people look down upon people with autism, and Barb was a great example of how people can be highly intelligent, and just not have a way to communicate her intelligence. Sometimes autism is just a silent intelligence. One of the kids I work with is in the second grade, and has pretty severe autism. He uses sign as his main mode of communication, and if the teacher does not know how to communicate with him, or manage his tantrums; she will send him to the resource room and let him just play in the computer all day. Because of this, the school system is wanting to hold him back because he is "not up to par" to go on to the third grade. I believe this attitude in the school systems needs to stop. I believe, as teachers, we need to believe that every student is intelligent and has opportunities to succeed. I think that most of the times when we think about autism, we tend to think about those who have autism and a learning disability; just as Barb was thought to have severe mental retardation as a student. We now know that a lot of these children and adults are capable of high intelligence, but we have to figure out a way to communicate with them in the most effective manner. Just like the boy I work with who uses sign language, we must have a way that they understand. I think this goes not only with people with autism, but also typically developing individuals as well. All semester we have been discussing the ways for students to do their own assessments. Such as, having kids write a book report, act it out in a play, draw a picture of the story, etc. Finding a way for kids with autism to communicate is just another example of this.