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I work in an elementary school program for high functioning children on the spectrum. Our staff is full of caring adults with a lot training. I would like to bring the perspective of people on the spectrum of all ages into our training. I wonder if anyone might share some helpful advice or insight that they think teachers would benefit from knowing about elementary school age children on the spectrum. Please keep in mind that these teachers work with autistic students in an integrated setting, know a lot about education, care deeply about all students and are well trained professionals.

Any insights would be great.

Thanks,

Neil

It would help if you ask some specific questions to people here to get insight.

There are some people with autism who speak about what it is like to have autism. Maybe you could explore the possibility of inviting someone to give a talk at the school. Hearing someone explain their experience with autism can be really powerful and eye opening. For a long time my dad didn't quite understand me in respect to the things that were caused by/associated with my autism. However that completely changed after my dad and I went to an autism conference together and he heard an autism expert give a talk about "transitions across the lifespan," and the another talk from a guy with Aspergers describing his own experiences. I can only remember three instances when I've seen my dad cry, and that was one of then. He gave me a hug and said "I met my daughter today."

Also, as btbnnyr said, feel free to ask any specific questions that you might have, as there are plenty of people here that would be more than happy to answer them.

Thank you so much for seeking to understand autism. It really means a lot to me when people take the time to listen and understand what it's like to be autistic.

In March I attended a workshop for educators working with children with ASDs, and posted my observations on this forum. Many of the other posters responded with excellent insights. It might be of help to you:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt253661.html

I should add, I did not grow up with the knowledge of Asperger's--my diagnosis was suggested when in my thirties. However, my memories of school experiences were very "textbook": being annoyed by the brightness and buzzing of fluorescent lights; being distracted by every sound, no matter how slight it might seem to others; wandering on the edge of the playground, examining trees and grass and clouds in detail; hesitating to engage with others. The world felt--and still does feel--intensely vibrant, in a way that is often overwhelming. I am a perfectionist, and expected to do well at everything, so I felt very frustrated and self-critical when I did not achieve perfect scores or found that I could not learn a concept as readily as others. I knew I was smart, and adults often commented on the fact that I knew so much about very obscure topics, so I could not understand why some subjects in school did not come easily to my understanding. I would often cry or hit my forehead or the desk when I was frustrated, because I did not know how to ask for help. It is not the same as pride I think, I really did not know how to describe my own frustration, or to articulate that I needed more specific information or a different teaching approach. I also avoided others' gaze, and one of the nuns in particular (I went to a Catholic school) took it upon herself to break my habit of staring at the ground. She wanted to build my confidence and self-esteem, but this felt very invasive to me. Looking at others' faces distracts me from hearing what they are saying and exacerbates my anxiety, and still when I am attending closely to what someone is saying, I am usually not looking at them directly. Sometimes, when I am listening to someone, their words suddenly sound like a foreign language, because my mind can't process what they are saying at the rate they are saying it. Because people grow weary of repeating themselves, or explaining something differently, or seeing me break down in frustration because I have misunderstood, social interaction can be very exhausting and I have become wary, avoiding interactions when I anticipate miscommunication and its "fallout", and others avoid me as well. Most of us were bullied in grade school and beyond, and that really hurts, especially because we don't always "get" why people are laughing at us, or if we should laugh, too. Sometimes I would tell my mother about an incident at school, assuming it was funny because the other kids laughed, and my mother would ask me why I did not "stand up" for myself. This would confuse me further, because I didn't know what standing or sitting had to do with anything! Once I understood the expression, I was still confused because I didn't know how verbal self-defense should work.

I now work with students at the university level, and have found that many of the faculty come to me with questions about "problem" students, because I am much more tolerant of those whose needs fall outside the norm. Many of them continue to struggle, as I did, because they are trying to behave as they think everyone else does, rather than finding creative ways to meet their own needs while still fulfilling their responsibilities as individuals in society. This is a lesson that can be instilled even at the primary level, by very explicitly outlining tasks and goals and then visually mapping out, step-by-step, the many different ways the students can try to accomplish these necessary goals.

Thanks very much for your efforts.

Here's a few paragraphs I wrote out for a group of teachers I gave a lecture to back in February. They're notes I discussed in my lecture, and the teachers found them useful so they asked for a hard copy. Hope you find some of it helpful.