Hello again, friends. Chapter four in Neurodiversity in the Classroom is titled “The Gifts of Autism” and (go figure) discusses all the positive aspects of having students on the spectrum in your class and how to best teach them.
Indeed, students with autism tend to be difficult to work with simply because of their difficulty working with people, something most teachers (who are generally “people people”) struggle with.
This chapter is nice because, again it discusses successful role models who also have autism, as well as providing a lot of excellent strategies for working with students on the spectrum.
Working with assistive technology is particularly good for high-functioning autistic students because they prefer working with machines and technology to people.
Further, I also found the discussion of the best ways to engage with students with autism and increase their comfort level with human interaction to be particularly helpful.
Perhaps the most difficult thing teachers and aids face with students with autism is that they often cannot communicate what it is they want and need in the classroom. Thus, it’s our job to try to figure that out. Hopefully, with this chapter under my belt, I’ll find that easier to do in the future.
If you’re interested in Neurodiversity in the Classroom, here’s the link to it on Amazon.our next chapter is all about students with intellectual disabilities. Happy reading!
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