I often get asked about my journey into the Special Education field. Many people are surprised when they find out that it was my lack of experience and knowledge that led me to the path that I am on today. I began my career in a general education classroom, as a kindergarten teacher in the city. I distinctly remember having two students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a disorder I knew absolutely nothing about. Because of their IEPs, these students (whom I will name D & E) would only spend a part of the day with me, and when they entered my classroom, they would always sit in the corner of the room, with an assistant helping them with daily activities. I remember thinking how little I knew about their disability, and how much I yearned to support them, beyond what I was already doing. I remember writing on the white board during Math lessons, and turning around and looking at them, looking at me. It was during those moments that I felt inexplicably connected to them, as I reflected upon how incredibly unique each of them were; how their diagnosis was the only thing they had in common, because their personalities, wit, and abilities varied greatly. I began by reading more about ASD, in an effort to help them, but my goal shifted as I strived to know D & E as individuals, apart from their disability, and the more time I spent with them, the more I realized just how capable they are as individuals. The more I got to know them, the more I loved them, and the more that I continued to seek knowledge to be a better educator and a more compassionate human being. My passion for education led me to pursue a Master’s Degree in Special Education (with an emphasis on ASD), and now a PhD in the same field. I currently work as a special education teacher and my research is centered on supporting students with autism in general education classrooms, and with every encounter that I have with a new student, I remember D & E. Everything that makes me who I am as an educator today is because of them.
Since entering that school, I’ve worked in several other schools, gaining experience in self-contained and general education classrooms, as I worked with students with different disabilities. Looking back, I know that I learned more from my students at that school than I could ever learn from anyone else. Those students-the ones who had meltdowns, the ones who were nonverbal, the ones in wheelchairs, the ones who struggled writing their names- they were the ones who taught me how to teach. They taught me that they were not defined or limited by their circumstances. They taught me to look beyond what the eye sees. They taught me that good teaching is giving each student access to the resources they need to access their learning environment. And most of the time, that means giving students different tools to succeed both in and out of the classroom.
It has been years since I’ve seen D & E. Much has changed in my life, but I have never forgotten their impact on me, and I hope to someday share this story with them. My philosophy centers around the belief that each individual we encounter is worthy of respect. And as I heard in an autism seminar, “the key to being comfortable around an autistic person is to know that under each veil of autism there exists an intelligent being with the same emotions you have.” As an advocate for individuals with disabilities, I hope to increase access to inclusion, and provide a better understanding of the word "disability;" one that is neither positive nor negative, but one that promotes the idea that the individual with disabilities is unique, as opposed to them being seen as being "less than" or "deficient" as they are sometimes seen in the medical sense. Most importantly, I embrace the perspective of the social model of disability in my everyday practices and beliefs, because although a person's disability poses some limitations in an able-bodied society, it is often the surrounding society and environment that proves to be more limiting than the disability itself: “There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more” (Robert M. Hensel). It is up to us educators to “to teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students...if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin” (Bell Hooks).
For more information on how to support individuals with ASD, please visit:
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1153&context=ejie
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2396941518804407
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02673843.2018.1433695?needAccess=true
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epub/10.1080/09687599.2019.1594700?needAccess=true
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/supporting-students-autism-10-ideas-inclusive-classrooms
