I’ve met Temple Grandin, one of the world’s leading authorities in autism. She is also severely autistic. She would say that the school the 10-year-old autistic boy was in, needs to learn the special needs of autistic students. They do need to learn good behavior and the way to do it is not by the school of hard knocks. It is through a rewards system that educators should have learned in their teacher’s training at the University. These students can be trained to use their best abilities. They have mental abilities in areas beyond the average person. Grandin is an example of a person with super mental abilities in design. There are few people like her in the world. She would say that schools can work with these students to help them find that special ability that autism has caused their adaptive mind to create. It is the same mechanism that enables a blind person to create a mental image of their environment through their sense of hearing. Autism creates a blind spot in the mind for normal function. The mind compensates by beefing up areas that it can function. Many times this adaptation becomes extraordinary abilities: E becomes MC^2.
If you are not a vegetarian, you should know Temple Grandin.
Temple Grandin, Killing Them Softly at Slaughterhouses for 30 Years
E doesn’t “become” MC^2.
You should know that.
One of the very many things wrong with our education system,public/private and parochial, is the very socialist/democrat view that special education in all its’ forms needs to be accommodated by regular ed classes. That hurts regular education students. Another “special” circumstances at the expense of many.
I’ve been “working” in education for 30 years. Teacher, paraprofessional/aide, parent in public/private/parochial schools.
The only students who benefit academically from special education is special education students.It’s a drag on regular and accelerated students.
The “rewards system” sucks.
I teach accelerated math. The autistic student I have this year benefits from me treating him the same as I do the other students in the class. I hold him to the same standards as the other students and it’s been rough for the last two years but he is getting the best education I can provide without taking away from my other students. He is held to the same standards.
He is brilliant especially in math. I don’t have the problems with him his LA and other teachers have. But there have been problems (not doing required assignments, disruptive classroom behavior, etc.). What worked, and what I require, is “you want to be in this class then you behave” and I treat him the same as every other student in the class, to hell with the IEP. It’s been a rough two years for us but I wouldn’t and didn’t allow him to control our class to the detriment of the other students. And he’s not only succeeding in our accelerated math class, he has the highest grade (with not being allowed to miss assignments blah blah blah).
It’s been months since I had to throw him out of class for disruptive behavior. He adapted. We didn’t. I refused to put my other accelerated students through that bullshit.I’m surprised I still have a job, really.
I get paid the same no matter what but I care about the education my students receive and it will be a cold day in hell before I let a child or his parents control my classroom.