I taught special education for 27 years and then, for a while, worked with children in an ESL program. (English as a Second Language). Basically I babysat or helped with homework while the parents took classes in English.
During these times I had limited exposure to autism. I did have a student with Asperger Syndrome. Asperger syndrome, also known as Asperger’s syndrome or Asperger disorder, is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development.
Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain but may be extra sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation—which may contribute to a reluctance to being cuddled or hugged.
I had a resource room, which means I worked with children with varying levels of learning disabilities on whatever they qualified to come to my room for, be it math , reading, etc. Having the student with Asperger was quite a challenge and we went round and round. At the time, I knew very little about the area, but did my best to meet her needs, while still meeting those of the rest of the class. This child didn’t just need attention, she demanded it. She was intelligent and belligerent, aggressive, in her approach, I guess would be good words for it.
I’m not sure, but I strongly feel her needs were not being addressed at home, so I was dealing with a lot of carryover pain from that area. It made life interesting for that two years, to the point where I qualified for a teacher’s aide, just for this child. She had good and bad days and we all held our breath to see which it was. One of my main concerns with all my students was that they were included in their regular classroom activities as much as possible and we worked hard to see that she got to experience as much as she would allow herself. I hear from her occasionally to this day. She has a child, a job, and is in a relationship that seems to be good. I’m happy for her.
My other experience was in the ESL situation. We had a pair of twin girls, one with autism, in the group. They had very little English as it was and one of them appeared fine, though later, I believe, she was diagnosed with a milder form of autism. The other girl was such an experience. They were identical, and absolutely beautiful with their dark hair and eyes. They were sweet and loving. The one with autism was distinguishable because there was an inability for her to meet your eyes. She went where led, or took off on her own , while her sister would talk to you or come to you for a hug or care. On frequent occasions the one with autism would go into rages, throwing, screaming, kicking out, etc. These were brought on by the smallest things, sometimes we didn’t know what. It might be that she couldn’t find a particular playtoy, though she couldn’t tell us which. She would not allow anyone to touch her hair, which was another way we had of distinguishing her from her sister.
She would go to the toy boy each night and pull everything out and then put it all back in. She had no interest in the snacks provided. It was hard working with her because I’m that person that wants to comfort and ease and help and she just wasn’t having it, at all. Often we’d have to get her father, who was the only one we ever met, parent-wise, to help with her rages. He was so good with her and she would go to him. It was challenging and rewarding at the same time. The least little thing that we were able to do for her, that she accepted, was a success in our eyes. She was a joy, and a heartache, but I wouldn’t change the experience for anything. I would love to see the twins again and see how they’re doing. These kids are amazing and lovable and sweet and everything, but they are hard to handle, work with, teach, etc. It’s a challenge and you have to be willing to work at it and celebrate the small accomplishments as well as the big ones.
I can’t say I understand autism, or that I did a great job with my small contributions, but I was touched by my experiences with these children.
Competitions: As part of RJ’s Autism Awareness posting I will be drawing a name from any comments to this post and offering a copy of one of my books, your choice.
Don’t forget the Spectrum Competition being run by Silver Publishing in support of Autism Awareness hosted on Silver Publishing’s Forum. If you haven’t already, register to be a part of the Forum and have a chance at the amazing Prize.
AKM Miles loves reading the M/M genre and decided to write what she loves. Early authors, read years ago in this area, were not as much interested in love, storyline, and character development, as those that she has found recently.
