Dr Temple Grandin recently published an article in Take Part which gave her views on the education of children on the autism spectrum. I love what she has to say and I encourage you to read it. I have included an extract here, but you really need to read the whole article.
Her stance - stay positive.
“Special educators need to look at what a child can do instead of what he/she cannot do.
There needs to be more emphasis on building up and expanding
the skills a child is good at. Too often people get locked into a label such as
dyslexia, ADHD, or autism, and they cannot see beyond the label. Kids that get
a label often have uneven skills. They may be talented in one area and have a
real deficiency in another.”
She goes on to say “Kids with autism often get fixated on
one thing, and it is important to expand their fixations. If the child loves
race cars, then race cars can be used as subject matter for reading and math.
If the child only draws pictures of NASCAR race cars, a teacher could start
expanding the fixation by having him draw an Indianapolis-type car or draw
sports cars that regular people can buy at car dealerships. The next step of
expansion is to draw pictures of places where race tracks are located.”
Her advice is so very logical that it makes me wonder why
the education system doesn’t follow it.
Read the rest of the article. It is practical, sound and full of clear
advice.
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