When I first started teaching 12 years ago I had no idea
what autism was. Coming from a business/management background, words like
autism, IEP, and Asperger’s were foreign to me. So when I was told that I would
have a 7th grade student who shared my name and had autism, I
thought, “Cool. Another me.” I had no idea what it would be like to be a
teacher for Matt. I knew that his parents were apprehensive about how he would
adjust to the new school, and we were all warned that Matt would sometimes need
alone time. I was also told that Matt loved to run. He sounded enough like me
that I started wondering if we were the same person.
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old
student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh.
He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from
what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly
recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes
to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach
the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I
recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense
these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And
sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out
the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a
7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no
real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a
race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one
was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong
way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his
hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an
Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted
continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re
proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things
for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the
classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of
his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness
that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to
complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate
from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching
him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the
days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I
thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before
I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
When
I first started teaching 12 years ago I had no idea what autism was.
Coming from a business/management background, words like autism, IEP,
and Asperger’s were foreign to me. So when I was told that I would have a
7th grade student who shared my name and had autism, I thought, “Cool.
Another me.” I had no idea what it would be like to be a teacher for
Matt. I knew that his parents were apprehensive about how he would
adjust to the new school, and we were all warned that Matt would
sometimes need alone time. I was also told that Matt loved to run. He
sounded enough like me that I started wondering if we were the same
person.
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh. He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8jLy.dpuf
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh. He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8jLy.dpuf
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th
grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real
idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a
race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground
if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes
taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a
school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or
the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about
our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his
teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence
about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without
understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8.
When
I first started teaching 12 years ago I had no idea what autism was.
Coming from a business/management background, words like autism, IEP,
and Asperger’s were foreign to me. So when I was told that I would have a
7th grade student who shared my name and had autism, I thought, “Cool.
Another me.” I had no idea what it would be like to be a teacher for
Matt. I knew that his parents were apprehensive about how he would
adjust to the new school, and we were all warned that Matt would
sometimes need alone time. I was also told that Matt loved to run. He
sounded enough like me that I started wondering if we were the same
person.
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh. He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8jLy.dpuf
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh. He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8jLy.dpuf
When
I first started teaching 12 years ago I had no idea what autism was.
Coming from a business/management background, words like autism, IEP,
and Asperger’s were foreign to me. So when I was told that I would have a
7th grade student who shared my name and had autism, I thought, “Cool.
Another me.” I had no idea what it would be like to be a teacher for
Matt. I knew that his parents were apprehensive about how he would
adjust to the new school, and we were all warned that Matt would
sometimes need alone time. I was also told that Matt loved to run. He
sounded enough like me that I started wondering if we were the same
person.
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh. He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8jLy.dpuf
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh. He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8jLy.dpuf
When
I first started teaching 12 years ago I had no idea what autism was.
Coming from a business/management background, words like autism, IEP,
and Asperger’s were foreign to me. So when I was told that I would have a
7th grade student who shared my name and had autism, I thought, “Cool.
Another me.” I had no idea what it would be like to be a teacher for
Matt. I knew that his parents were apprehensive about how he would
adjust to the new school, and we were all warned that Matt would
sometimes need alone time. I was also told that Matt loved to run. He
sounded enough like me that I started wondering if we were the same
person.
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh. He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8jLy.dpuf
When I met Matt, he was a lot like any other 12-year-old student I had ever worked with. He made goofy jokes that often made me laugh. He asked questions that challenged me. He gave answers that were so far from what I was looking for that I didn’t know how to respond. But I also quickly recognized his obstacles. He had a really difficult time with any small changes to routine. If something did not go as he had planned, he would quickly reach the point of a panic attack. He also had moments when he started to withdraw. I recognized these as times that he needed to be alone. Sometimes I could sense these times coming on by the way he started rocking back and forth. And sometimes I could tell that he was ready for a break by the way he stared out the window.
Matt and I really bonded on the cross country team. He was a 7th grade superstar, and I was the dorky first year coach who had no real idea what he was doing. Matt would run his hardest, get first place in a race, rest for about thirty seconds, and then go play on the playground if one was nearby. He would blurt out comments that were sometimes taken the wrong way, like the time he got a first place medal from a school, took it in his hand, and shouted out, “But it’s so small!” Or the time we had a race on an Indian reservation and Matt, excited about our new red uniforms, shouted continuously, as an encouragement to his teammates, “We’re red and we’re proud!” You see, Matt had an innocence about him that caused him to see things for what they were, without understanding the offense that others could take.
Matt and I spent six years at our school together in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I got to watch Matt come out of his shell and develop into a confident young man. He never lost that candidness that was so endearing. He learned how to put off needed alone time in order to complete tasks and to handle surprises more calmly. Matt went on to graduate from college.
Learning how to help Matt through his struggles and watching him grow and stretch himself was a great privilege. He brought me joy on the days when I felt frustrated or stressed. In the beginning of seventh grade, I thought I had to “deal with” Matt because of autism. But it wasn’t long before I just saw Matt as a person…a really cool guy.
- See more at: http://reconciledworld.org/journey-of-a-student-with-aspergers/#sthash.6zDF8jLy.dpuf
