Difficult but rewarding
IROLL out of bed some mornings wondering if it is worth it. I pause to reflect on whether it really matters and to whom does it matter. Every morning I get up I put myself together and head out like corporate Jamaica to be on time. To be on time to a place where I am coughed on, screamed at, used as tissue, jumped on, hit, scratched and sometimes laughed at. I hurry in the mornings to head to a place where my clients, by their behaviour, ignore me and my instructions. When I stand before them, they look right past me or not in my direction at all. I stand like a human recorder on rewind, repeating a concept in several ways to ensure they grasp a concept. Singing, dancing, chanting, drumming, you name it I’ve done it. Cartoons, videos, games, I’ve used them. The clients ‘walk’ right over them sending me back to the drawing board some days. Who are my clients, you may ask? They are my students; the precious
ones entrusted in my care for a few hours of the day.
Now it may seem as though they get away with a lot or I’m at their mercy. These are children who are to be handled with care. They are students who possess the ability to be great; the ones who have, beneath the surface, their abilities which I seem to need heavy-duty equipment to unearth. I am in no way implying that these children cannot learn or are incapable of grasping concepts. Far from the truth.
The truth is, my children are not just any children but uniquely designed packages on the autism spectrum. Autism is a developmental disorder which connotes that individuals engage in repetitive behaviours, and have difficulties with communications. This means they will display particular social behaviours. These children are challenged by daily interactions which are the norm for you and I. It is normal for us to hear someone speaking to us and we look them in the eyes. It is normal for us to hear our names and respond to it. As a child it is normal for us to play with other children as opposed to alongside them. For us, it may be easy to adjust and readjust to changes in our environment without even a mention. Not so for the children with autism. Sometimes children with autism have fixations which help to characterise who they are. Andrew* was a little boy who could not focus until the classroom door was closed. Marc* needed the classroom to remain the same as the first time he entered at the beginning of the school year. Kyle* had to eat his apples then grapes then Pringles in that order every day. Troy must put items in ascending order, while Renay* collects triangles. Then there are those who have sensitivity to noise so they cover their ears.
Children with autism have a hard time picking up on social cues and so will find it difficult to find friends.
IGNORE MY EXISTENCE
There are days my children would come into the space and we have a wonderful day working together, but then there are other days they try to ignore my very existence. It is hard working with a class of children with autism. Please understand, as teachers we love and appreciate our children, but it is not a simple task. It is one that keeps me on my toes, keeps me looking for new strategies, and a task that causes me to step back, and put on my scientist’s coat in the lab, I call a classroom.
There are countless days I sit in my classroom after school to reflect on what I could have done differently, am I mentally prepared and equipped to handle these children? Am I being effective? Did I use the best tools with this child, did he understand the concept, how much of this will I have to repeat tomorrow? Then come the days I cry because I’m not seeing what I know the children are capable of and I beat on myself because I must be the issue. As I pause to reflect, there is a ray of hope. A child decides to sing a song I was singing, or says thank you, or looks into my eyes or simply says “open”.
Before today, children with autism were hidden, ignored, abused and labelled. Today, they are rubbing shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts in society. We have become more informed and more accepting of others and their differences. I have learnt to love and appreciate these children and to exercise the patience they need to bloom. Working with children with autism is difficult but rewarding.