Class 1

It was an interested start to our Assistive technology course. Leaving the beautiful sunshine outside and coming in to an old hot room was difficult but after a review of the course I settled in to enjoy a really interesting movie - Autism Is A World. Suzie opened the movie by talking about how she always knew she was retarded. Hearing her say this was so shocking to me. I know people can be ignorant and use such terms about people when they really don't know what they are talking about but I was really shocked to hear her refer to herself in this way. It saddened me. Nobody is born thinking that way. She was clearly an intelligent person but as a society I think we were the cause of her seeing herself this way.
I was really surprised that she was so aware of how her behaviors looked to other people. This made me reflect on my own teaching and classroom. I have made the assumption that when my students with autism display certain behaviors that the student is unaware that this behavior makes them look different.
Suzie also referred to herself as a non person before she could communicate. This was not because of how others treated her but how she felt about herself. I have a 14 year old non verbal student in my class and I can't help but feel that she might be feeling the same way. We haven't had success in finding this student an effective communication device. There are things that seem to be preventing us from finding the proper assistive technology. Some of these include her physical behavior, yearly changes in teachers and EPAs, and other medical conditions she has. I strongly believe this student has so much to offer and we are failing her by not discovering and providing her with the tools she needs to express herself in a more effective way.
By the end of the movie my thought was: How much of what I think I know about autism is really what I know? I know that sounds like a mouthful but what I mean is I feel that I have gained a lot of knowledge about people with autism but how much of this information is accurate and valuable in working with people with autism? Am I going to look back in ten years and cringe at programming I developed for students based on what I thought I knew about autism?
During our class discussion about the movie I thought the most prevalent comment was that we need to assume competency in all of our students. The retesting of Suzie's IQ when she was able to communicate is such a clear reflection of this.

Following the movie and discussion our look into Tyler's life was fascinating. I couldn't help but feel jealous that Barb was able to follow his progress and provide support throughout his education thus far. This is my fifth year in five different schools and I really want to know the feeling of watching a student grow and supporting them while they grow.
Tyler's smile was contagious throughout the entire movie. I caught myself smiling as I watched and I felt protective of him when we talked about barriers for Tyler. One was him having a teacher trying to implement hand over hand as a strategy for writing.Yuk.
At one point during the presentation I felt overwhelmed by the amount of things that have to be in place for Tyler to have reached the level of success he has now with communication and education. The amount of AT used was overwhelming. There were more than a dozen items on the list that he used in grade three. This is awesome. I am feeling like Tyler is a lucky boy to have the people and supports he needs to be successful in school. Not everyone is this lucky. We have had this conversation in class before but sometimes it just gets overwhelming to me.
Great class!
I wanted to post a trailer to a new MTV show. It's called How's Your News?
I'll be interested to see what people think of it.