Stik
Well-Known Member
I'm an ASD paraprofessional (teacher's assistant in autism classroom) at a public elementary school and I've experienced a lot of things that I feel like sharing but not a lot of people want to talk about it as much as I do. I was diagnosed as being on the spectrum not too long ago, before I chose to work with autistic children this school year. Before, I worked with other special needs. I'm loving it so much that I'm going back to school to be an ASD teacher. I thought this could be a thread that I continually add to as I experience more. Basically, I want to share what has and hasn't worked in the classroom hoping to help others. I'm not sure if there is already a thread started for this, if there is I can move my thoughts there. Just remember, every autistic kid is different (just like kids without autism) so my methods may not work for others. Autism has become one of my interests since I've been exposed to this population. It's an interest that has consumed my life and I'm very dedicated to it now.
I work in a 4-5 grade classroom so we are preparing them for middle school and helping them at the beginning of puberty. Puberty can be a traumatic experience for someone on the spectrum. Those are things that we have to think about when helping our students. There are six students, one teacher, and two paras (including myself) in our classroom. We often get together with a 2-4 grade ASD classroom that has the same amount of people. I sometimes get to be in a class with 12 kids on the spectrum. It's quite the experience. Stressful at times but mostly I feel at home
LEARNING TO DRAW ...
My teacher has started letting me teach a short drawing class at the end of the day on Fridays. I teach an after school drawing class so I use the same materials but modify the lesson for our students. It's been a great experience and we have discovered a lot about our students in only three sessions. One of our nonverbal (can talk but has to concentrate) students that has a hard time following spoken instructions has really impressed us. He follows right along with me as I draw with no help. It's amazing because he usually needs help doing his work and has a hard time staying on task and in his chair. He sat the whole time. How cool is that? It's the last thing we expected. So we have learned that he can follow visual step-by-step instructions and can now use that technique with other subjects. We also discovered he can stay on task while drawing.
Please share your experiences in education because we can all help each other.
I work in a 4-5 grade classroom so we are preparing them for middle school and helping them at the beginning of puberty. Puberty can be a traumatic experience for someone on the spectrum. Those are things that we have to think about when helping our students. There are six students, one teacher, and two paras (including myself) in our classroom. We often get together with a 2-4 grade ASD classroom that has the same amount of people. I sometimes get to be in a class with 12 kids on the spectrum. It's quite the experience. Stressful at times but mostly I feel at home
LEARNING TO DRAW ...
My teacher has started letting me teach a short drawing class at the end of the day on Fridays. I teach an after school drawing class so I use the same materials but modify the lesson for our students. It's been a great experience and we have discovered a lot about our students in only three sessions. One of our nonverbal (can talk but has to concentrate) students that has a hard time following spoken instructions has really impressed us. He follows right along with me as I draw with no help. It's amazing because he usually needs help doing his work and has a hard time staying on task and in his chair. He sat the whole time. How cool is that? It's the last thing we expected. So we have learned that he can follow visual step-by-step instructions and can now use that technique with other subjects. We also discovered he can stay on task while drawing.
Please share your experiences in education because we can all help each other.
