#autistic learning

Excerpt:

"We do gain skills without necessarily being drilled or pushed, just in ways that might not be apparent to observers.  Just because progress or learning aren’t being displayed to others does not mean they aren’t happening.  An ability probably wasn’t learned or gained at the moment it was first displayed, but has been “under construction,” internally, for a long time.  Things that are intuitive and easy to typical people can require long periods of interior fermentation and distillation in order to develop, and then for us to feel safe or comfortable enough to use them.

And then seemingly suddenly, when the time or circumstances are right, there they are, like a night-blooming flower.

That uncertainty about whether they will ever show themselves doesn’t make it a miracle when they do; it means it took the time or circumstances it took for that to happen.

I’ve also said before that I feel that very few of my autistic traits are, themselves, positive or negative.  They’re all double-edged swords.  Disabling or painful in one context, necessary or pleasurable in a different context. 

Amanda Baggs has characterized autism not as a specific set of permanent deficits, but as a particular way that the brain allocates cognitive resources. *

That an autistic person might suddenly display an ability they’d never outwardly demonstrated before, or be able to do something under extremely specific circumstances or specific kinds of stress that they can’t do under typical, everyday circumstances, is neither magic nor miraculous.  It’s a common aspect of being autistic, and it’s one of my favorite parts.  It’s part of how being autistic works that distinct skills can develop at atypical times, and seemingly in isolation from other aspects of development, or are usable in extremely specific contexts when they aren’t normally.

Part of presuming competence is maintaining awareness that just because a skill has never manifested itself yet, does not mean that it never will.  And that just because someone might, in fact, never gain some particular skill, does not mean that they won’t gain others."

Consider donating to help my friend fill her classroom!!

Tori teaches 3rd and 4th grade science and social studies at a school for autistic kids and kids with developmental disabilities

Every item big or small will help her students to have a good and positive year this coming school year

Her wishlist included frequently used classroom items, snacks for the kids, and many other items to help engage her students in learning!

Cultivating the Seeds of Self Regulation

Kids with autism cannot be expected to self regulate emotions until we teach the skills needed to do so. But don’t get too excited. Our work is not over once the “content has been covered.” I suppose that it true for all teaching. Deep learning needs far more than coverage of skills. To learn a skill well enough to be able to use it under stress and in different situations, we have to have a…

Hello everyone! As some of you might know I'm working with Eureka, the National Children's Museum, on putting together a new exhibit on sustainability and green issues. We're looking into the feasibility of building up the exhibit from the point of view of children on the autistic spectrum. The museum has recently (in the last three years) been putting together a lot of resources and clubs to enable children on the spectrum to access and enjoy the current displays, and now they'd like to build that suitability in from the ground up.

So why am I telling you this?

Well, I'm looking to interview (or just chat, if you don't want to be formally recorded) anyone who feels they have an interest in this area - that could be adults on the spectrum, professionals, parents/friends etc - especially anyone who also feels that they have an interest in the issue of global sustainability and how best to communicate that.

So, if you have any comments - any comments at all, even if it's "Dude that's totally not gonna work and this is why" (actually especially if that's your comment!) - please message me and we can set things up. :)

This is your chance to really affect what happens at the National Children's Museum in the next few years! Let's make it good. :)

(A few notes:

 This is the UK museum

The age range is 0 -11

No, I don’t work there - I’m just a postgrad student and they’re very kindly letting me submit this report to them as part of my studies.

Any mistakes and misinformation I make/give at any time should be considered my responsibility and not reflective of Eureka’s staff or policies.

Directives From the Spectrum: If You Want Me to Learn, Enter My World First

I am different. I sense things differently. I enjoy things that seem odd or weird to you. My inner world is far more wonderful than you choose to believe. It can’t be…..you think… because it is not like yours.

I know that I must exist in “your” world. I will concede because I am outnumbered. However, I question your methods for teaching me howto be in your world. Must you begin where I am…

Directives From the Spectrum: If You Expect It, Teach It.

Johnny needs to learn to self- regulate. Billy needs to control his emotional outbursts.

Goals such as these produce  burning questions in my mind:

How exactly will this happen? Why has it not already?

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for developing goals around the development of self -regulation and emotional control for our students with autism. But, too often, I find myself wondering why we leave…