Teaching kids w/ autism, and interacting with them

Hi,

I will be teaching in the fall (student teacher) and it will be at a school with kids that have autism. I requested to be there because i wanted to learn about other types of disabilities and get a better understanding of how our brain works. I myself have a learning disability (i was born deaf, but wear a Cochlear Implant) so hopefully i can use my different communication methods to communicate with the kids. I really look forward in working there, and wish i could start today.

My question is to any one that has advice, ideas, suggestions, or information that they wouldn't mind sharing with me, i would really appreciate it.

Thanks So Much,

awm616@aol.com

Hi EarlyEduTeacher, and welcome to IAN.

I just wanted to recommend reading the "About ASD" section of the IAN Community website, for starters. It will give you a good idea of the diversity of people on the autism spectrum. Also important is our section on Challenging Behaviors, which helps set out some of the key issues you may encounter.

"About ASDs": http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/about_asds/

"Challenging Behaviors": http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/challenging_behavior/

Best wishes with you teaching - children on the spectrum certainly need dedicated educators to engage with them.

Hi EarlyEd - I worked at a school for the deaf and now working in a regular public school.I have used my sign language with some of my hearing kids (with phonological disorders) and with the kiddos who seem too anxious to talk. They respond very well to it. I would love to know your journey and opinion of cochlear implants and if you have been a part of Deaf culture and if that changed due to your speaking. I am a speech pathologist.

Hi Sarahoo,

I actually work as an advocate for Cochlear Americas and love my CI. I was implanted in Nov of 1995, and wore hearing aids (2) from 3 months to about 1997. I felt that the CI was much better than a hearing Aid. I am hoping that my different methods of communication and experience with working with kids will help me in my student teaching next semester with kids that have autism. Slowly and slowly i have learned a bit about what autism is and the science behind it. I speak very well (most people are surprised to even know that i was even born deaf) due to 13 year of speech therapy. I wasn't really "apart" of the deaf culture, but i do know friends who are deaf/hoh still and others who were deaf/hoh and got a CI.

eye contact is very important when talking to autistic children you have to get right down to their level so they are looking straight at you.If they are stimming you must join them in what they are doing after 10 mins they will respond to you as you have enterd their world.

If you could read the NRC Educating Children with Autism. It is a great book also the Out of Sync child is a book that deals with sensory processing issues. Children with Autism are uniquely individual and you will see that when you begin your journey in teaching. What works with one will not for the other and so on. I would recommend keeping a journal of the specific's that you see everyday and how that child react's or doesn't. It will help you in the long run because you can get to know each child.

Hello and first and foremost thank you for thinking of working with children with autism - they are fascinating in every way and I think you can bring alot to them and vice versa. My main suggestion would be to remember there is a huge gammit of goals for kids with Autism and most while in school are also receiving other types of therapies such as Speech, OT and PT plus their classroom time in trying to build a structure on academics. The primary reason I chose to send my daughter to a pre-k school was to allow her to engage in peer social development, since that was the only thing I was unable to provide with all the other therapies I had her involved in. Today, it is unfortunate to say, but after I had a school evaluation done by our Judevine Technician the report indicated that social interaction in the classroom is not being encouraged. I was so very disappointed in this. I purposely choose this school, which is a special learning center for kids with disabilities, not just autism, so she could enjoy a smaller classroom environment and possibly gain social skills development with academic classroom structure; it is heartbreaking that is not happening. Even more heartbreaking is knowing the fact that they have age appropriate developing peers intermingled in the classroom for this purpose and they are not building on it with our children. I thought that was the primary reason for their placement in these classrooms, but I know now that is not the case. Teachers and therapists who work at the school are allowed to send their kids to this school and those kids are allowed to have their own little cliques and ignore the children who so desperately could use their attention in helping develop appropriate social skills behavior. So my advice to you would be to always remember that social skill development for our children is just as important as all the other developments and needs to be highly encouraged in some form daily in the classroom setting. I think pairing children during free time or circle time would be an ideal place to start especially when their are age developing peers in the classroom. Good luck and God bless.

Hello,

I just want to thank you all so much for all the response you have given me. This will definitely help me out. I can't wait to start teaching. I am definitely someone who is always on the floor playing with the kids and i do make kids look at me (or i try my best) when i am talking so that it helps me understand any feedback they give (verbal or non verbal). I currently work at a child care development center with toddlers and we have "small groups" where a group of 3-5 depending on activity and such work together so we can see the child grow and see their interactions. I will purchase a few books to add to what i have to further more learn about how i can give the best of my abilities to help any child with a disability of all types.

The Child Goes First not the disability. I had one person say "he's a hard of hearing person"... i am a person who is hard of hearing... not the other way around!

Thanks

Hello,

Does any parent, teacher or anyone have any books that they would recommend or any information they could send me? I want to listen and help.

Thanks,