Autism Education in Classrooms

I decided that it was important for me this April to go into my son's classrooms to talk to their classmates about Autism. I chose age appropriate books as the base of my talk with them, and I printed out a blank Autism Awareness ribbon coloring sheet for the first graders (this is the class my son Ryan, who has Autism, is in) and a fill in the blank worksheet for the fifth graders to fill out while I talked. When I arrived at the school, they called Eric to pick me up in the office. He was a little nervous and embarassed for me to be talking to his class, but he was also excited. I arrived in the class and Eric's teacher had him introduce me and tell his classmates why I was there. Mr. O, the teacher, asked the class "How many of you know someone with Autism?" A fair amount of children raised their hands, probably about 40% of the class. Then a little girl spoke up and said "I have Autism". All eyes turned to her in surprise. None of the children had known previously, and since she has a fairly mild form, no one had seemed to notice. I was touched that she felt comfortable with my presence there to share this information. Mr. O asked again, with a smile on his face, "NOW how many of you know someone with Autism?" The entire class raised their hands. I had Eric pass out the worksheets as I made my way to the front of the class. I began by asking the children if they had any questions before I started. Of course there were many questions, but what impressed me was the quality of the questions! They were really thinking about this topic and asking very smart and mature questions. "Can you get Autism when you go through puberty?" was my favorite question. There were two children who had siblings with Autism who offered insight, which I so appreciated. The little girl with Autism shared some information about what it's like having Autism and she told me about how she uses Echolalia at home, but she's not sure why. She said she "just likes it". This was special for me to hear, because perhaps when Ryan does it, he's doing it just because he likes it; not because of another potentially negative reason. Who knows :) She then asked me if puberty was going to be harder for someone with Autism. I was very moved that she wanted to ask that, however it is not a topic I am familiar with yet, nor am I the right one to talk to her about it!! So I recommended she and her mother go to the library and get books on it. Over all I was BEYOND thrilled with those fifth graders. They were smart, attentive and open minded. This is why it's so important for our children's futures that they are educated on diversity of all kinds at this young age.
Next I went to Ryan's classroom. I have been there before to read and I must say, the kids are particularly fond of me. I think it's because I bought Ryan a pet snake and they all think that is totally cool. I walked in to a chorus of "IT'S RYAN'S MOM!" and "HI RYAN'S MOM!". It was hearwarming. I sat in front of them and asked them if they had ever heard of the word Autism. One boy raised his hand and said "I've heard of it but I don't know what it means". I read the book called "Some Kids have Autism" and then asked the children if they had any questions. Boy, this was a different group than the fifth graders!! HA HA HA One little girl who was wearing glasses said "I think I have Autism in my eyes because I can't see very well." How can you not smile at that? They were also concerned with HOW do you get Autism? It was hard to explain to them but I assured them that kids with Autism are born that way and they can not 'catch' Autism. Ryan was very happy and comfortable talking about it and shared many comments with the class. They did not seem to look at him differently and many almost seemed bummed that they couldn't 'have Autism, too'. I then had Ryan help me pass out the Autism Awareness Ribbon coloring page and they were excited to color it. A couple of the little girls gave me their sheets, which was quite moving. The little girl in the glasses wrote on hers (after asking my name) "Amanda is Ryan's mom and she is osum, Ryan is osum too". I about died. :)
I also sent a letter home with all the children letting their parents know that I was there and what I had talked about with the kids. I provided my information in case there were any parents that had further questions or to let them know that there is support available should they, or someone they know, need it. Overall, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I am DEFINITELY doing it again. I would love to begin a reading program to visit all the classrooms in all the school district. But...I'll start with one class at a time :)