Giving an AS presentation to the staff at my school

[Christian T]

Hello everyone,

The title says quite a lot. Next week, I shall be giving an informational and instructional presentation on how to help Aspies in the classroom and in the school yard. I have ten minutes, including time for questions. I've just done a draft that I know is longer than that. Plus, I'm not sure if I've made too many generalisations from my own experience, are about to drone on uselessly about unimportant things, or have left any crucial concerns out.

Think, what do you wish your teachers had known about your condition when they were teaching you, and what do you wish they would have done differently?

I've copied the first part of the draft below, and would love some feedback on it. I'm also going to run through the presentation with my family, the members of the Aspie club I started late last year, and a few teachers. I want to make this as accurate, useful, clear and coherent as possible, and I would really appreciate your help.

Word of warning: the draft is extremely long. Please read as much as you can, and give me as much feedback as you can. It would be an incredible help to me, and I would be very grateful for it.

I'll post the other part later.

Thanks in advance:

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For those of you who don?t know Asperger?s Syndrome is: a developmental disorder characterized by severely impaired social skills, repetitive behaviours, and often, a narrow set of interests, but not involving delayed development of linguistic and cognitive abilities: now considered one of the autism spectrum disorders. But it?s high functioning autism that?s less noticeable usually.

Basically, people with Asperger?s think and feel differently to Neurotypicals, or ?normal? people. So now I?m going to discuss those key differences and give suggestions of ways to help students with Asperger?s when it comes to those differences.

A really important one is a difficulty with facial expressions and body language. A lot of the time they?re either completely blank on the face and showing nothing of how they?re feeling, or they?re showing something that?s completely inaccurate. We can often be very hard to read, and find it hard to read other people. Sometimes we have no clue what a person?s body language means, or we have some vague idea ? like recognising that they?re sad ? but we can?t deduce exactly why, and we need to know exactly why in order to know how to respond to them feeling that way.

So the way to overcome that barrier is really to communicate verbally, and very specifically. Aspies are usually completely honest and open people. They see no reason to lie, or why you shouldn?t call someone ugly if they are, or say exactly what your bowel problems are if that?s the truth. If you think they?re upset, and you ask them directly if they are, they won?t mind and they?ll tell you what?s happening, but you need to be specific. Don?t ask, ?Are you okay?? because that?s so vague and they?ll find it really difficult to summarise how they?re feeling and what they?re thinking and what?s happening in their lives, so they?ll probably just say ?yes? to keep you happy. It?s much better to ask something like, ?from the way you were scrunching up your face you looked like you were had a problem that was really affecting you, am I right.? And if they say yes, then ask, ?What exactly was bothering you?? because they won?t necessarily infer that you wanted them to elaborate on what the problem actually is. It might seem really wordy and indiscreet, but that?s actually really helpful for us to know exactly what you?re thinking so we don?t have to guess. If you?re visibly annoyed with them ? they will pick up on the fact that you?re annoyed, but won?t know exactly why ? just tell them that you can?t help getting impatient, but that you don?t blame them. We do appreciate this honesty, because it means we don?t have to guess at what?s going on inside your head, and whether or not it has anything to do with us. We?re also not really aware of what we?re doing with our face, so that helps.

Another thing we find really difficult is knowing what to do in a conversation. We often can?t recognise when it?s our turn, when it?s someone else?s turn, when someone?s addressing us if they don?t use our name, when someone wants us to respond, when someone?s trying to end a conversation and so on. In the classroom, what really gets frustrating is knowing whether or not it?s hands up or just an all-in. Especially if it switches during the lesson, because what that means they either talk out of turn without realising, or they have something to contribute, but they don?t know how to cut into the conversation and get it in, so they stay silent and it either goes unheard or someone else says it, even though they thought of it first. Either way, it?s really disheartening, so sticking to hands up really helps. It might also be useful to get them to write these thoughts down so that they?re not lost. Aspies are often extremely frustrated because thoughts and feelings that they can?t express, or never get the chance, pile up internally and come out eventually in very confusing and inexplicable ways. It?s a good idea to make sure that these thoughts are expressed before they drive the poor aspie mad.

In terms of outside the classroom, if they want to talk for ages, and you can?t or you?ve just had enough, feel free to tell them. Say, ?I?d like to talk about something else now, because I?m getting bored,? or ?I have to leave now,? ? only if you really do have to leave, though, of course. Not only do they give out blunt honesty, but they can certainly take it from other people, and even expect it. They don?t understand how honesty can be seen as rude. However, it also makes them very dependable, very likely to keep their promises and often means they have a much higher worth ethic than most Neurotypical students.

We often get into these endless, repetitive conversations because have we have these particular obsessive interests that can keep us occupied for ages. For me, it?s language and literature that I?m obsessed with, which is very convenient because they?re two of the subjects I?m doing this year, but it?s usually something much more specific like penguins. Unfortunately, there?s no school subject dedicated to that, so they would satisfy that by talking endlessly about penguins to someone, not even trying to pick up on social cues of disinterest, because they?re so absorbed. So, three things you could do there:
1. Find someone else with the same interest, or a very similar one ? there?s bound to be someone ? and they?ll be able to connect
2. Try to tease out of them a few other interests ? it?s difficult, but it is impossible, just get them to think hard about it
3. Give them a numerical limit on how much they can talk about it. So say ? time yourself, you can only speak for two minutes or say ten things about penguins before you have to let the other person speak

That?s another thing, with the specificity comes a difficulty with understanding figures of speech ? if you tell them to wake a couple of minutes, they?ll think to themselves ?okay, two minutes? get out their watch and time you ? so always be specific, say ?at least two minutes? and make sure they?ve understood you?re instruction. I remember when I was in primary school we were doing a writing task that I should have been blitzing, but I just wasn?t getting the instructions. So finally the teacher asked, ?weren’t you listening when I was explaining what you had to do.? So, I thought, alright, she?s asking, ?Were you not listening? ? like most Aspies, most of my language skills were developed through reading, not speaking, and since I mostly read classic fantasy, I had much more knowledge of old-fashioned British English than I did of the Australian vernacular ? so I thought the question meant, ?Is it true that you were not listening?? to which I replied ?no? because that wasn?t true. I was listening, I just didn?t understand. You can see how specific you often need to be.

Also, when encouraging them to socialise, never just throw them into a babbling bunch of Neurotypical students. Having conversations with six or seven people at once is usually impossible for Aspies. Instead, find someone else who is alone and not talking to anyone, and get them to engage in a simple two-way conversation, which still requires effort, but is much less confusing and scary for them.

Aspies can also have a lot of sensory issues, so they can be very overstimulated and stifled by loud noises, strong smells, bright lights and so on. So keep this in mind as you might need to move them in the classroom to a more quiet, less bright and less smelly spot. Again, ask them directly if any of these things are bothering them. What they?ll often to do deal with discomfort, mostly anxiety, is stim. They?ll perform a repetitive action, like swaying or bobbing or clasping their hands together, that relieves the stress. They can control this, technically, but often will not be aware that they?re doing it. They don?t consciously choose to do these actions, and if they?re not paying attention to what they?re doing, they will start. Socially, they may often be teased by these habits, but everyone stims, or self-stimulates, to some degree. Everyone fidgets. So it?s good to remind other students of that.

 

[Christian T]

Here's the second part. I thought I'd post it after I got a reply, but I thought people might have been waiting on all of it before they commented. So, here it is:

Finally, there are five subjects I wanted to talk about specifically, as there are some particular concerns about them. Firstly, Drama. There are a lot of positives for them, as some Aspies who are shy as themselves really come out when they’re playing a character, and do enjoy it. What’s difficult is doing improvised scenes with lots of dialogue, because they don’t instinctively know how conversations work in real life, and physical expression can be difficult– and vocal expression too sometimes, when it comes to things like intonation. This can’t be assumed knowledge, but they can learn it, just be prepared to explain everything to them and give them lots of hints along the way because they need it. Treat as them learning about a different culture.

Second, PE. They’re very likely to embrace non-competitive sports because of the soothing repetitive action and the fact that it’s personal and individual. Competitive sports, though, are incredibly difficult for us. Most of us have very poor motor skills and reflexes, and lots of issues with spatial awareness. As with Drama, a knowledge of game strategies and rules can’t be assumed. It’s also very challenging on a social level to know when someone is about to throw the ball to you, and when they’re expecting you to defend or attack or do something else. Sensory issues also become a part of this, so throwing an Aspie into a team sport situation is a very confronting thing. If they have sport at the end of the day, and know it will be competitive team sports, they will likely be incredibly anxious and stressed all day before it, and afterwards as well as they recover from the shock. It’s very draining on their self-esteem because it highlights both their physical and social difficulties, and further isolates them socially. So, I’d say really have them to non-competitive sport as much as you can, and when you have to expose them to team sports, do so very gently. Sit them beside you and have them watch the game from a safe distance at first to help them get a sense of how it’s played, and what they’d need to do. Have them actively watch, commentate for them, explain the decisions you make as an umpire in relation to the rules, and when they’re ready let them join in. I think that would be the best way to go about it. Also, competitive games that are played in smaller groups, like tennis, without the whole class watching you, are much better too. The best thing to impress upon them is that it is a game played for fun. By all means praise them when they do something well – but only as much as you would any other student, don’t go overboard because they’ll sense how cheesy that is – and when they make a mistake, rather than saying “good try” which can come off as quite patronising, just say something like “bad luck”. Not responding at all is the best thing. Make it as much of a non-event as possible, and impress upon them that everyone makes mistakes and commits embarrassing blunders when they’re playing team sports, so that they don’t feel as isolated.

Thirdly, maths: this is often a very popular subject with Aspies, as we tend to view the world in a very logical way, a very mathematical way. Maths is a pretty common Aspie obsession, and many aspies are highly skilled in this area. There are some who can look at a complex quartic equation, and solve it in an instant – it’s rare, but it happens. Although, the problem there is that they can only see the answer, not the steps they took to reach it. Often the main issue with Aspies in maths is showing their working, because some steps are so incredibly obvious to them that they can’t see the need to write them down. They also might have difficulty with explaining certain processes in words, and naturally with understanding worded questions as well. It may simply be that rote learning what steps need to be recorded, and good ways to express things verbally is the best way to go. A lot of aspies have excellent rote memory, so this may be an easy solution. Although, it’s very important not to generalise. A thread on an aspie forum title “Who hates math?’ got the range of responses you’d expect to see in Neurotypical – or “normal” –students.

Next, English: plenty of Aspies are also very gifted with words, and many of us love reading, as it’s a solitary activity, so comprehension skills are a likely strong point – to an extent. Aspies can easily recall what happened in a reading passage, and why, on a superficial level, but certain symbolic messages, character motivations, figurative language, tonal messages and the social implications of some events are likely to be misunderstood. It can be frustrating for them to know when exact detail is being asked for, or whether their English teacher wants them to look at the whole picture instead. Often they’ll have no idea what quotes they’re supposed to view as significant, because when asked to look for deeper meanings, they can often find them in just about every sentence. When discussing a text is about quite hard for them to find the middle ground between explaining every single detail, and just stepping back completely and saying “this book is about life.”

Also, the oral component of English can sometimes be difficult. A rigid, scripted and well-rehearsed speech, while still nerve-racking, is often easier for them to deliver than something that’s spontaneous, like rebuttal in a debate, where they often take a long time to come out with an explanation of their argument that satisfies them. Perhaps as a general rule, say that if in they are explaining something, in writing or speech, that is different to what has already been discussed frequently and is familiar to you as a teacher and the students in the audience, then tell the student they need to explain it fully, even if, as in maths, certain points seem painfully obvious.

Finally, in the practical division of subjects like Science, Food and Health, Textiles and Science, where demonstrations are necessary and lots of practical instructions are given at once, it is much better for an aspie to have the steps explained one by one as they perform them. This may mean that, after the demonstration to the whole class, you will have to re-explain every step individually, make sure they understand, watch them perform each step. As this is of course very time-consuming, the aspie student will need to wait between each step for you to be available again to help them, so it is a good idea to factor that in in organising the time structure of the prac. Sensory issues can also come into this, of course, because certain activities such as operating dangerous machinery in Woodwork, lighting a Bunsen burner and cooking on a stove can be really terrifying and make us feel very unsafe. It would probably be a good idea to have them rote learn the steps involved, and practice them in their heads or with other objects that they can pretend are the ones they’ll actually be using.

The last thing I’ll say that is that most of the Aspies you teach may well be undiagnosed, but if you notice a lot of these traits in them, I’d say it’s worthwhile to also use these strategies to help with them with their difficulties, and to recommend that the student’s parents look into the possibility of them having Asperger’s.

 

[Bay]

Christian, this is wonderful and I applaud you for having the bravery to do this! You write beautifully, by the way. I think it is great pretty much as it is, but it may be too long for your time frame. If it were me, I would heavily edit the second section, for length/brevity. Your audience may not need that much detail and their minds may begin to wander. It may be difficult to cut bits out, as all of it is good, but in my opinion that is where you can most afford to do so.

Best of luck to you! I will be looking forward to learning how your presentation goes.

 

[Christian T]

Thank you so much for those very encouraging words. I'll see what the other Aspies and the select group of teachers think of the second section during the practise, and maybe get them to help me cut it down.

Perhaps I should have mentioned that I know that the draft is way too long, and I'm asking everyone for help with editing it down to the essential parts, because I don't really know what details are helpful and which ones are superfluous.

Thanks again Bay!

 

[Bay]

It occurs to me that maybe you could turn your presentation into a two-part series. Then you could provide the level of detail that you like. Just a thought. P.S. Editing is part of my job, and I would be happy to run through your text, if you like. Everything would be a suggestion, naturally.

 

[Christian T]

Thanks for the offer, it would you be helpful if you could please do that for me.

I see your point about the two-part series, but I don't really think that can be arranged, unfortunately.

 

[Christian T]

Thanks for the edits Bay. Much appreciated. Today I did a practise with some other aspies and a few teachers, who all thought what I was doing was excellent, and suggested that some parts were a bit repetitive and that, as you said, teachers' minds would wander here. They thought I should make the focus much more clearly on the suggestions I'm giving, and that these should be dot-pointed on a powerpoint presentation.

So, I'll do that, and time myself covering all of those points within the time frame, using your edited version as a very helpful guide.

Thanks so much for taking the time to edit it for me.

 

[Bay]

It was a pleasure to work on something as well-written as your presentation, Christian! Please let us know how it goes.

 

[Soup]

@ ChristianT: It's really well done & you have much courage to speak in front of the staff this way. I agree it is wordy but you can easily edit out the superfluous wordiness & remain within the 10 min. limit. For example, this is how I'd edit the 1st paragraph:

"For those of you who don?t know Asperger?s Syndrome is: a developmental disorder characterized by severely impaired social skills, repetitive behaviours, and often, a narrow set of interests, but not involving delayed development of linguistic and cognitive abilities: now considered one of the autism spectrum disorders. But it?s high functioning autism that?s less noticeable usually." - ChristianT

Asperger's Syndrome is an Autism Spectrum Disorder characterized by severely impaired social skills, repetitive behaviours and often a narrow set of interests. It is often less noticeable since there are no cognitive or linguistic delays. <---- same info, 1/2 the time to say & more precise.

If you's like some input with the rest, pls let me know.

 

[Christian T]

Thanks Soup!

 

[Christian T]

I have now done the presentation, and for the most part I was extremely pleased with the reception I got and with the amount of detail and explanation I gave. I know at times I probably rambled, but in the end that worked as a demonstration of an Aspie trait, and I did apply much of the input from Soup and Bay in order to compact it.

A few queries were raised in order to get clarification, and that was good to see. Towards the end I was asked how it affects me personally, and I had a bit of a mental blank, but no matter. I got something out, and I'm giving another presentation to the whole school next term which will be more personal.

The huge applause, laughter (at some points) and smiles - when they weren't staring blankly as I was talking about subjects that were well outside their department - were hugely encouraging, and it was fantastic to hear them speaking in the terms "NT" and "Aspie" which I got them onto straight away.

All the teachers tell me it was a very valuable service. By the way I also had a powerpoint that summarised my suggestions to them, and some were taking notes.

And, yes, I was very happy with it as a whole. I don't think the teachers had seen anything like it before.

 

[Bay]

I have now done the presentation, and for the most part I was extremely pleased with the reception I got and with the amount of detail and explanation I gave. I know at times I probably rambled, but in the end that worked as a demonstration of an Aspie trait, and I did apply much of the input from Soup and Bay in order to compact it.

A few queries were raised in order to get clarification, and that was good to see. Towards the end I was asked how it affects me personally, and I had a bit of a mental blank, but no matter. I got something out, and I'm giving another presentation to the whole school next term which will be more personal.

The huge applause, laughter (at some points) and smiles - when they weren't staring blankly as I was talking about subjects that were well outside their department - were hugely encouraging, and it was fantastic to hear them speaking in the terms "NT" and "Aspie" which I got them onto straight away.

All the teachers tell me it was a very valuable service. By the way I also had a powerpoint that summarised my suggestions to them, and some were taking notes.

And, yes, I was very happy with it as a whole. I don't think the teachers had seen anything like it before.

Applause! I am so happy to hear that your presentation went well, and delighted to hear that you will be giving one to the whole school next term! Well done, indeed. I wish you could come to my office and give one to my coworkers. You rock, ChristianT!

 

[Christian T]

Thanks so much! Teachers have kept congratulating me throughout the week, and telling me that I should present to businesses, other schools and all sorts of places. We're now in the process of organising for me to present to other primary schools, which I'm so happy about, because there's so much that I wish my primary school teachers had known, and so much I don't want present day primary school aspies to suffer through and that I want them to be able to enjoy.

 

[Soup]

Congratulations! You are truly awesome & make a fantastic activist & Aspie educator & representative. Your presentation will help many people down the line &do a lot of good. Please please continue exactly the way you're going. I could see you touring & visiting schools & workplaces as well as giving informative presentations to both newly dxed Aspies & parents of newly dxed kids on the spectrum. Our gregarious, confident community members (like yourself & Geordie) are treasures indeed!