- Another reason I selected this is because, a few years ago I was a one on one for a young lady in order for her to attend a week long summer camp. She was classified as having Asperger's disorder; which is a high functioning portion of the spectrum that affects the language and behavioral side of a child.
- My next run in was last summer when my family and I were on our family vacation on a cruise ship. We were placed at the same table as another family, who coincidently happened to be from New Jersey as well. Having set with the same group of people for nine whole days, you intermingle and begin to converse about what each family did on and off the ship that day. In addition to the "vacation talk" the mom and I had started talking about what professions we were in. When I mentioned I was a teacher, she began to open up about her son being diagnosed when he was about six or seven and he was fifteen or sixteen at the time. So the mom begin to tell me how hard it was at his new school to get him services, because he refused to take an "mandatory evaluation".
- My last and most current situation is a little boy that I have in my class now. He is a cultural student who at the beginning spoke absolutely no English and only jibberish in his native language, at the age of three. From the various books and online articles I have read in the past, I began seeing signs and symptoms that this boy was displaying as apart of the autism spectrum. Having mentioned to my supervisor on more than a few occasions, she placed him on our "review" list, which pretty much means out special educator has to come and observe him, in addition to our speech therapist to see if it was only a language barrier. As my suspicions were right, he turned out to be right on target for the autism spectrum, according to both ladies. Little things that he does in the class that is noticeable; lining objects like chairs, cars, books etc. up in one straight line. He's totally obsessed with school busses and fire trucks. Did not like when people invade his personal space, including mom and dad for hugs. If talking to him, sometimes he would stare at you as if you had two heads, and other times wouldn't make no eye contact whatsoever. Displayed and still displays a very extreme aggressive behavior physically; such as hitting, kicking, spitting, pinching, and pulling hair to teachers as well as students. Lastly, he has sensory issues, where he can just take his hand, arm, or face and repeatedly rub it across different textures back and forth just to amuse his tactile thoughts.
Some resources that I am very fond of:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002494/
http://autismnj.org/
http://www.autismfamilyservicesnj.org/index.php
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
Sherrell,
ReplyDeleteYou have selected an excellent topic full of many knowns and unknowns. I look forward to hearing more about your research, since I too have seen an increase of cases over the years. Happy Researching!
Audra
Hello, Thank you for your post. When I was in my undergraduate program I wrote many papers of Autism because I found it to be extremely interesting and I wanted to know how the mind of a child with Autism functions. Their thinking is not like any other I have seen or witnessed. I have worked with two children who had mild forms of Autism and just working with them was difficult for me. I am use to hugging and giving my students eye contact. However, with these two students I could not truly form the loving nurturing relationships I had with others students. It was hard for me to win them over but in the end I believe I did impact them in a positive way and if giving the opportunity I would work with them again.
ReplyDeleteSherrell,
ReplyDeleteWhat a timely topic to learn more about. I have been reading Asperger's has a new place in the DSM which may affect what services those children will be able to receive. I will be very interested to see what information your research provides for you and our class and wish you the best in gaining answers to your research questions.
Laurie Parker
Hi Sherrell,
ReplyDeleteThe topic you you have interest in I think it's a wonderful topic I feel like Autism is not talked more about with younger children or in infants.I would want to know how can see the signs in young children like in babies or toddlers.That is a very interesting topic in learning more about.