Graduation Speech : Minimum Verbal Autistic Students

Tommy R. is a 6-year-old boy and a kindergarten student in a K-8 combined elementary and junior high school in the San Jose greater metropolitan area. There has been a meeting requested by his educational team and parents to talk about his behavior in school and cognitive abilities in the classroom. School staff have been receiving complaints from Tommy’s teacher and classroom staff about not following direction and non-compliance. Tommy also struggles with completing some classroom tasks as well.

“Work to view my autism as a different ability rather than a disability. Look past what you may see as limitations and see the gifts autism has given me…Be my advocate, be my friend, and we’ll see just how far we can go” –Ellen Botbohm, author of Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew.

Autism, a developmental disorder is becoming widely diagnosed here in the U.S. and throughout the world affecting children in all different types of backgrounds. From children living in rural or urban, rich or poor. Currently there are many speculations and superstitions as to the causes for developing autism but science has no clear evidence as to why autism affects certain people and not others, autism can greatly affect the families and its patients for their entire lives. Most of you do not know that I have twin younger brothers with Autism. Before this speech, I had no clue what autism really was. Through my research I am now able to relay this information to you. Today I want to talk about Autism. The three things I will be speaking about is what is Autism? How does autism affect the family and how does autism affect people who have it?

Throughout my life, I feel as though I have had many encounters with special education. Growing up, my grandmothers close friend had a daughter that had down syndrome. She was extremely sweet and loved company. Her parents had six other children who were grown and lived on their own. However, she lived at home with her parents her whole life. In elementary school, I do not remember many encounters with special education students. I do remember some kids being taken out of my class for part of the day, but that was my only experience during that time.

As a part of American culture, Autism Speaks has wriggled its way into the homes and mouths of families across the country, throwing massive amounts of money into fundraising, advocacy, research, and advertising every year. They are one of the most well-known, easily recognized organizations that advocates and raises awareness for the growing community of Autistic people in America. However, can the American people really be sure that Autism Speaks is going about it in the right way? With better, faster diagnoses, disability services, and more qualified specialists, why is Autism Speaks focusing tightly on researching connections and causes and cures, rather than channeling that money into assisting families of autistic children and adults? Why do some of the salaries of their board members exceed six figures, if they truly are a “non-profit” organization? Why do some of their ads treat autism like a man in an alleyway waiting to rob someone of their happiness, their money, and their “happy marriage?” (I am Autism). While millions of Americans believe that Autism Speaks is a worthy non-profit organization, the truth is that their spending is reckless and their treatment of autistic

Most parents wonder what is the next chapter after their child with autism spectrum disorder graduate from high school, for some individuals, it is to move onto higher education. As stated by Cai and Richdale (2015), the USA has one of the lowest rates of college enrollment for individuals with ASD, with over 50% of these individuals being in neither education nor employment following their secondary school, with similar finding in the UK (p. 31). For the individuals with ASD who move forward in gaining a higher education will have to learn to adapt and determine how to transition into higher education. Mentioned by Cai and Richdale (2015), a USA national survey illustrated poor outcomes from transitioning from secondary school into adult-hood. “The findings showed that after young adults with ASD left the public school system, 80% continues to live at home, only 32% attended postsecondary education, just 6% had competitive jobs, while 21% had no employment or education experience at all. Further 40% reported having no friends. (p. 32)”

The way information is processed can be described as hypersensitive or hyposensitive. The sensory system can be viewed as having seven components:

Before doing the research on autism spectrum disorder I thought it was a disease, but not I know it’s a disorder. Autism has actually become a very common disorder and has also became well known. After my speech I hope to have given you guys a better understanding about this disorder so when you guys see the puzzled ribbon you have a clue of what it is.

Many people have dreams and aspirations for the future. Some want to be rich, have their dream home, be famous or travel the world. While these are all great goals and aspirations, they are not a wish of mine. My dream is to open a non-profit organization that assists in finding employment for disabled adults, specifically autistic adults. Before beginning this establishment I must have a solid vision, the mission of the non-profit, the goals I am aspiring to reach and a firm set of policies in place all while ensuring the correct management style is utilized.

One student I observed had severe disabilities. She seems to be very high on the Autism spectrum. She spent most of her time in the other room, but from what I saw she had severe communication difficulties, would repeat words, and would repeat actions like spinning and rocking. She also showed aggressive behaviors, especially when she didn’t want to do something, like read.

Room 213 is located in Lillington-Shawtown Elementary School (LSES), a diverse and mid-sized school located in the Harnett county seat of Lillington, North Carolina. A classroom of five students with moderate disabilities, this EC self-contained setting is spacious and well-organized to address the needs of the four boys and one girl who are taught by Ms. Hatcher and assisted by Ms. Parrish and Ms. Roper. Most of the students are either 4th or 5th graders, half of whom are returning for their second year with Ms. Hatcher; there is also one student who is currently homebound who may be joining the class in September pending the results of upcoming conferences. The students’ classifications include autism and intellectual disability- moderate and per the county’s designation the classroom is listed as an Autism Self-Contained classroom. All of the students received additional support from the school’s occupational and speech therapists and half of the class receives additional support services from the school’s physical therapist. All students are provided transportation services as well.

P.S. 369K is located within P.S. 133K in Brooklyn. Classes I observed were a 6:1, with an additional 2 paraprofessionals. The class was classified as autistic students with minimum verbal skills, ranging in age 7 to 8 ½. Students are considered having very significant needs, including academic, social and interpersonal development, physical development, and management needs. Many of the students identify as having severe difficulties with language and social skills as well. In the classroom, there was a class schedule posted with pictures for the day, as well as the week. A laminate daily schedules were also placed in front of each student’s binder. Desks were arranged in a circle rather than a row. Students were given cues of traffic lights

Children With Autism Children with autism have the possibility to improve greatly, and some even overcome the effects of autism if appropriate therapies are begun early enough. A multifaceted disorder, autism has long baffled professionals and parents alike. At a point in time, doctors gave parents absolutely no hope for the recovery of their children. But recently, new treatments and therapies have shown that improvement is possible. With early intervention, intensive care, some children have if not fully recovered, improved, and have been integrated into schools, indistinguishable from their peers.

To eliminate bias and hatred against autistic or differently abled children and individuals, it is important to educate the masses about the endless possibilities autistic people are born with.

There has been an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism or other autism spectrum disorders. It is likely as an educator that you will have at least one child with this diagnosis in your classroom. This paper explores some of the methods used to teach autistic children.