I hope you have enjoyed your second week and our first class together. Sorry for being a bit scatter-brained. I need to not rely on technology so much :-) The good news: it can't get much worse next week!
First, I am so proud of you and the great work that you are doing with your peers. (Please notice that I refer to the boys as your "peers" on here. We must never use their names on our website or blog. Remember our confidentiality rules!). The first week and a half have been going great.
Of course we always have a few setbacks (aka: temper tantrums), but this is just an everyday part of our life! We are even dealing with one of our peers cursing this week- which is new. If you hear him saying what he is not supposed to be saying, we are immediately correcting that to "darn it" or "dang it". Do not respond to the swearing other than correcting him. I'll try to speak to each one of you further about this as we see it occurring (which is only when he is mad).
This coming week we are going to focus on a few different things. 1) I am going to make sure you are all comfortable with the website and Google Docs. Therefore, when you get into Lab 13 on Tuesday please immediately log-on to a computer. 2) We will be discussing the "Survival Guide" and "New LINKS" letters. 3) We will begin to have an introduction to autism.
As for your homework, check the "homework" tab before you leave this blog. You will also need to visit the following website:
Autism Speaks Website
Look around for a little while and then make a Google Doc to tell me three new things that you have learned from this website. We will be referring back to the Autism Speaks website frequently throughout our semester so get to know it well. This is (in my opinion) the number one autism website out there.
Finally: please watch the following inspirational video. I know many of you have probably already seen it, but I hope that you will now see it in a new light. After working with your peer for almost two weeks, my hope is that you have a better understanding of how difficult this must have been for this boy as well as how amazing it is that he got as much support as he did. Please comment on this blog with how the video made you feel. What stuck out to you about it? Has your feeling toward this video changed at all now that you are a part of this class?
-Mrs. VanLaan