Cindy,

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2001 : August : 13

Cindy,
By KimW

I'm not a sp. ed. teacher but I did an interim where I had to work one-on-one with an autistic child. So, I can answer a few of your questions.

I know that there are levels of their ability, some autistic children can
function well while others can't function on their own. For example, I went to school with a boy (high school) who was nice but I just thought he had a quick temper. I find out from his sister that he is autistic. He went to college and now is working. He functions very close to normal; so close I never knew he was different. Then in my interim, there was the child I worked with mostly

but there were other autistic children in the classroom. One was very smart, he could keep up with the classwork easily. However, he would get upset easily.

The child I worked with was lower than the others. I had to be with him constantly to keep him on task. He didn't talk, and refused to sign. He would get VERY upset if his daily routine was changed (like taking a different route on a walk). He would cry a lot (by the way he was 6) and we had no idea why. We had to be on him a lot to keep him from using self-stimulation (rocking, waving his arms, running in circles, screaming). He didn't like to touch things (I had to take his hand and put it in the sandbox, make him pet the puppy, etc). He wouldn't eat so I had to coach him to eat his lunch (this was one of the most difficult things to get him to do). I had to lie with him with my arm around him to get him to sleep. However, the simpliest thing was a big deal to us. I played with him all the time and we became good buddies. He was like one of my own. I miss him very badly.

I wanted you to read a little about my experience with an autistic child but the one your're looking at will probably be more functional. I would say watch for a temper. Be careful about changing the routine. Give him a lot of attention. He may have a hard time catching on to things and may need it repeated. Research Autism, buy a book, something, but whatever you do, share it with the parents. Maybe they don't understand and are in denial about their child.