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Beyond the Curriculum: Teaching Students About Their Classmates With Special Needs
http://thinkingmomsrevolution.com/beyond-the-curriculum/#sthash.5FmQo3sH.EQKsvp95.dpbs
Beyond the Curriculum: Teaching Students About Their Classmates With Special Needs
Posted on October 23, 2013
~ Sunshine
Every school year I go into my son’s class to read to the kids. The topic? Autism. When he started elementary school, I hadn’t planned on doing this at all, but early on in his kindergarten year, I witnessed an incident that made me take action.
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Fast forward to now. Fourth grade. I was asked by his teachers to come in again and read to the class. I had selected different books in previous years, but this time we had to shift the focus a bit. You see, the kids help Rob a little too much now. They care about him, and want to help him, but independence is always a goal. I went back to the old stand-by and read about the boys that live across from each other and talked about ways that they can help Rob without doing things for him. The kids were amazing. Their suggestions were nothing short of perfect (show how to do things, reminders instead of telling him what to do, asking him to join in) but their questions were even better:
Why does Rob’s brain work differently?
Their comments were priceless:
But my favorite . . . the best thing I have ever heard come out of anyone’s mouth is this:
You know what, I think we just need to always believe in our friends. Believe that they can do things.
I am crying a bit just typing that out. Children are just brilliant. They are filled with so much love and compassion, they just need to understand what is going on. The students don’t just need to learn about autism but about all students with special needs. The kids in Rob’s class asked about the students in school that wear hearing aids, what Down’s Syndrome is and about physical disabilities. The more information they have, the better they can understand, relate to and empathize with their peers. If I had left them to come up with conclusions about Rob, who knows where they would have arrived?
<>
Beyond the Curriculum: Teaching Students About Their Classmates With Special Needs
Posted on October 23, 2013
~ Sunshine
Every school year I go into my son’s class to read to the kids. The topic? Autism. When he started elementary school, I hadn’t planned on doing this at all, but early on in his kindergarten year, I witnessed an incident that made me take action.
<>
Fast forward to now. Fourth grade. I was asked by his teachers to come in again and read to the class. I had selected different books in previous years, but this time we had to shift the focus a bit. You see, the kids help Rob a little too much now. They care about him, and want to help him, but independence is always a goal. I went back to the old stand-by and read about the boys that live across from each other and talked about ways that they can help Rob without doing things for him. The kids were amazing. Their suggestions were nothing short of perfect (show how to do things, reminders instead of telling him what to do, asking him to join in) but their questions were even better:
Why does Rob’s brain work differently?
* How do you get autism?
* Was he born this way?
* Can people with autism get better?
* Do you ever wonder what Rob sees and thinks about if he sees the world differently?
Their comments were priceless:
* You know, Rob talks to me a lot more and plays with me sometimes.
* I think we are more the same than different.
* I always look out for Rob to make sure he doesn’t get bullied.
* Are you going to come in and read to us again sometime?
But my favorite . . . the best thing I have ever heard come out of anyone’s mouth is this:
You know what, I think we just need to always believe in our friends. Believe that they can do things.
I am crying a bit just typing that out. Children are just brilliant. They are filled with so much love and compassion, they just need to understand what is going on. The students don’t just need to learn about autism but about all students with special needs. The kids in Rob’s class asked about the students in school that wear hearing aids, what Down’s Syndrome is and about physical disabilities. The more information they have, the better they can understand, relate to and empathize with their peers. If I had left them to come up with conclusions about Rob, who knows where they would have arrived?
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