For about an hour in class, we listened to Michelle Rhoades Cahoon, a woman who has a son with autism. I think the stories she told to our class are ones I will remember for the rest of my teaching career. I learned more in this hour session, than I learned in my entire exceptionalities class. I feel I did learn more because the experience was personal. Michelle told us stories from a parent's perspective, which made them a lot different from others I have heard.
I am very grateful for the packet she gave us with information in it. I plan to read some of the book recommendations she made for us this summer. I learned, as a teacher, all I have to do is ask. I should ask the parents what works best with their child. I do not have to try and figure it out all on my own. I also learned about taking small steps to try and help the students in my classroom. Michelle mentioned using pictures instead of words and other small things that can be done (such as "how-to" charts) to make life easier for my students.
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I'm glad that you enjoyed what Mrs. Cahoon had to say in her presentation. I agree, having those words spoken to you by a parent of a child with autism is way different than someone who can only study it and can't relate to what it is like to have someone so close to you who has the disorder. Honestly, that packet doesn't even start to scratch the surface of how much there is to learn about autism, and how much we still have yet to learn about it as a society. That's not a crack on her presentation, thats just saying that there is so much to learn about autism. I used to work at a camp where a percentage of our campers were autistic. It makes me think of the saying "if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism".
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