On a random sidenote...

Download Sara Bareilles's album, "Little Voice" because it's INCREDIBLE!

Here is my sound off on the autism article I posted previously...

I like the idea of treating students with autism as learners, as opposed to labeling them disadvantaged. Many of them can learn and they need to be encouraged and guided by their teachers. This may require the teacher to spend more time with the autistic learner. The article gives a number of ways for the teacher to organize her curriculum so that reading is the focal point. We all know how important literacy is, and there are creative ways to improve this among students such as oral reading and visual aides.

On the same token, I am a proponent of special needs students being within their own specialized program. Intergration works, but only if the student is mentally capable enough for it. My sister is Alyssa is a special needs students (not autistic), and she attends a special needs school in Chatham, NJ. She is not able to learn in a typical classroom, and we are fortunate that there are schools that can help her learn and development at her own pace. Even with special attention in a regular classroom-she could not learn.

I gave a presentation yesterday in my Honors Methods of Research class. I spoke about the teacher's responsibility to guide special needs students in the "typical" classroom. This is something all teachers should be willing to devote time to. Not every "special needs" student can attend a school like my sister does. It was decided through testing (IEP) that they are able to learn in a standard classroom setting, just with some adjustments and extra help.