Friday, April 28, 2006
My Talk On Autism
Yesterday I did a talk for about 35 para educators about Autism and the effects it has had on my family and the role of the para educators and the schooling system in general.
My goal was to teach them that Autism did not just affect the affected child. It affects the whole family.
I also wanted to empower them and get them to educate themselves about the different disease processes that the children that they work with have which would make them more understanding and more comfortable being around the children.
I had a whole hour to talk and was not sure that I could come up with enough stuff to tell them to fill the hour.
I made them laugh and I made some of them cry.
I ended up taking an hour and fifteen minutes.
I touched on the difficulties that I had had and was still having with the school but, I didn't dwell on it.
I could see by the expressions on their faces that I had made some of them think about what I was talking about and that they weren't just a grunt.
The paras input and ideas were just as valid as the resource teacher who had initials behind their names.
I broke down the hours spent with the child and they acknowledged that they did spend a greater amount of time with the children than the teacher so possibly knew them better.
And I suggested that they start voicing their opinions to improve their child's care.
As a result, I was asked back to do the next class when it comes up in the fall.
My goal was to teach them that Autism did not just affect the affected child. It affects the whole family.
I also wanted to empower them and get them to educate themselves about the different disease processes that the children that they work with have which would make them more understanding and more comfortable being around the children.
I had a whole hour to talk and was not sure that I could come up with enough stuff to tell them to fill the hour.
I made them laugh and I made some of them cry.
I ended up taking an hour and fifteen minutes.
I touched on the difficulties that I had had and was still having with the school but, I didn't dwell on it.
I could see by the expressions on their faces that I had made some of them think about what I was talking about and that they weren't just a grunt.
The paras input and ideas were just as valid as the resource teacher who had initials behind their names.
I broke down the hours spent with the child and they acknowledged that they did spend a greater amount of time with the children than the teacher so possibly knew them better.
And I suggested that they start voicing their opinions to improve their child's care.
As a result, I was asked back to do the next class when it comes up in the fall.
# posted by donna mason @ 5:39 AM 
