Humble Beginnings

I began teaching special education ten years ago.  My first class consisted of thirteen 4th and 5th graders with the disability category of ID (Intellectual Disability) in a self-contained academic setting.  I was right out of college and I hit the ground running!  I had high expectations of my students and even higher expectations of myself.  By my third year, I was asked to be the Instruction Leader for Special Education, worked as a Classroom Behavior Coach and New Teacher Mentor.  During my fourth year, a student with moderate Autism was placed in my room, and not having any experience with Autism, I was intrigued.  "James" was an easy going student with a peculiar way of speaking.  He did not seem interested in socializing with his peers and avoided eye contact like the plague.  On occasion, when he would become overstimulated he would flap his hands and vocalize.  With that being said, "James" was a bright student and true joy to have in class.  So when I was offered a job the following year teaching a self-contained Autism class, I jumped at the chance.   I was so excited!  I mean, I was going to have a classroom of students all of whom were going to be just like "James".  Please know that as I was writing this very sentence I was laughing just as hard as you are now, reading it!  Boy was I naive!!

My first year of teaching children with Autism, was by far THE most humbling experience I have ever had and expect to ever have for as long as I live.  Remember, I had no formal training with Autistic children.  I'll never forget the first day I met my students, I walked into the room  wearing a pair of nice slacks white blouse and a pair of brand new black pumps.  I attempted to gather the 13 little whirling tornadoes to the carpet for morning circle, only to realize one child was already 1/2 way out of the classroom window, while another was running back and forth slamming his body into the walls and still another had just pulled off his pants and underwear, prior to walking into the bathroom!  Needless to say, I never wore heels to work again, I pretty much gave up on wearing anything that cost more than $50, Pinot Noir and I became close acquaintances, and I cried.  A lot.

As the years passed, I was provided support from our central office but still no specific training and it showed.  That is until, three years ago.  Three years ago, our school division was awarded a grant that provided specific training and support to better develop educational programing for student with Autism.  The grant support was provided by NPDC and the ACE program.  The first stage of the grant was to develop a model site autism classroom that implemented evidenced based practices.  My classroom was selected as the model site. I'm sure it had everything to do with the craziness that was my classroom.  I was provided with training and support to develop a high quality program for children with Autism.   

The goal of this blog is to recall the steps and the progress my Autism program has made and hopefully help others along the way.