Today was our first day of class for EDUC5173, Assistive Technology. We went through the regular protocols of reviewing the course syllabus and various class assignments, including this blog. I have to admit that at first I was a little daunted by the fact that we had to create, publish and continuously update our blogs, however as it turns out it is quite simple. It is more or less like an online journal, at least for the purposes of this class and for sharing information, links, sites and other related items to our course.
We were introduced to Susie Rubin in class today via a documentary. This was extremely profound and a defining moment for me reflecting back on my teaching career. Currently, I am in the administrative role at my school, which I enjoy immensely, but I found when watching Susie on her self directed documentary, I was brought back to my teaching experiences. Susie certainly gave me an education today and made me see life as an Autistic person through her own eyes...not just what we assume to be their life and what they have to deal and cope with. Susie, who is essentially non-verbal, was not able to have her own voice until about the age of 13. For years she felt "trapped in her own body" as a "non-person". I was absolutely amazed at Susie's self awareness and insight into Autism as well as her awareness of what Autism "looks like" for her and how she copes. She commented on the spoons that she always has with her and this being her "comfort". Often times, I feel that as teachers, we overlook these types of things as being unnecessary and we try to make attempts to take these things away from the children to make them focus more readily on tasks at hand. What we fail to realize is that there is not a need to take these items away, that they are in fact comforting and a source of enjoyment and relaxation for the individual.....something they are not able to articulate to us if they are non-verbal. Susie certainly demonstrated this eloquently in her documentary when she was standing at the sink with her spoons and playing with the water, discussing how this makes her "zone out" where she doesn't have to think about her autistic challenges.
Susie gave me such great insight into the world of special needs students and taught me to not just assume anything about an individual and their abilities or lack thereof as we oftentimes do. Her documentary was profound and insightful and gave me many moments of pause to reflect on my life, abilities and the manner in which I view special needs children. I would consequently like to thank Susie from the bottom of my heart for opening up her world and sharing her experiences with us so that we ALL may benefit and learn from others....assuming nothing in the process. The key element is for individuals to be able to have a means of communicating so they can clearly articulate their thoughts, knowledge base, social and emotional skill sets and be a functioning member of society. Thank you to Susie! I will remember her face very clearly and her message will be with me in all that I do in the future related to my career and personal life.
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