Today I came back after doing a two day observation on a child with autism who I'll refer to as Andrew. He was recently promoted to high school and he's just going to turn twelve. He's a very sweet kid and actually quite cute too. You'd never know he was autistic simply by looking at him. He reminds me of my cousin's son (I call him my nephew he's a little younger than Andrew and also quite the heart breaker). Andrew's quite artistic, very bright, and very much a perfectionist. Unfortunately he is also self deprecating. Every time he gets something wrong he berates himself by saying he did it wrong. That was quite disturbing to me, especially for a kid who isn't even twelve yet and has a moderate level of autism. It made me think about how critical his parents were, especially his mom. I spoke with her on the phone a few times and I can tell all she wants is the best for her son and to get him to function as "normally" as possible. To her favor, she's done a wonderful job of teaching him how to act fairly independently doing his work immediately and doing it as well as possible. I can totally see this kid as normal and how he would be if he didn't have autism. I just wish there weren't such illnesses such as these. It's so heart wrenching to see a child with so much potential and talent and yet know they do not fully understand you and yet easily feel pain and sadness. It was hard for me keep my distance and not really "care".
He is new to the high school department and is surrounded by peers mostly older than he is. Case in point, one of the guys in his class was actually trying to get my attention and kept on smiling and trying to hold my hand. -__- apparently he is one of the jocks of the school. Anyway that was made evident when he wouldn't let go of my hand when he claimed he just wanted to shake it. What a bastard! I was not amused and I am sure he knew it by the time I stopped being polite. Sure some other guys at the school tried to do the same, but weren't as persistent and obnoxious. They kept their distance. Too bad I couldn't yell at him. His teacher was there LOL.
Today there was a game and the jock was playing trying to show off of course. I sat next to Andrew, near the shade and away from the loud speakers. Andrew, like many autistic children I've seen including my nephew, hates loud or sharp noise and opted to sit elsewhere. I don't like noise either so that was a relief to get out of that. I tried to get him to watch the game, but he was less than interested. He kept himself occupied by quietly singing to himself and observing the commotion around the area. I was surprised that he can stay in one spot for a long period of time. At one point he came up to me and said "kiss" and tried to give me a kiss on the cheek and I quickly backed away in a reflex (and surprise) and said "no". That was a pretty bad deja vu moment from my college days (bad memories). Of course he berated himself again. I felt bad having to do push him away like that in the sense that I made him feel bad. In such cases, especially if I end up doing work with children or even teenagers, putting clear boundaries and knowing how to act in certain situations can be pretty difficult. As professionals who work in the schools, SPs are bound to protect the rights and uphold the safety of students. That includes acting in a professional and caring manner towards them. This experience alone made me realize how big of a problem this can be if students and even facultly start to hit on you left and right. I don't even consider myself as all that attractive, but I already had a lot of looks going to this school, including one weird teacher who invited me for lunch twice. It was kind of creepy, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was just one of those "weird" people who don't really fit the mold. I mean how many people ask if you have a boyfriend, are married and where you live in the span of 10 minutes meeting you? Well, I'm glad my trust in people didn't betray me. And no i did not give any personal information. Luckily I don't have a card. He did give me his though. I guess guys would hit anything with a pulse. In Andrew's case, I see him so much like my nephew than it would be easy to act like family with him. Of course, that is one relationship with his family, no matter how close I am to them, I probably can never pursue especially if I plan to stay in this field--which is sad. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings though. He's such a good kid.
I also had a long chat with the biology teacher. She is Japanese (but I doubt she could speak Japanese at all), very strict, very smart, and very outspoken. Kinda scary that lady, but she wouldn't let me go either. I missed home ec because she kept on going on and on about her experience as a teacher, potential nurse, med school, troubled personal life and ultimately her views on the educational system. I did benefit from talking with her though. I'm sure I can use some of her connections even though she is a bitter lady. She's cool though. I think she likes me, cause she doesn't seem to trust anyone else. She seems to think everyone is stupid. I'm glad I don't get that feeling from her on her perception of me. What was cool though was she asked me if I listen to KROQ and I proudly said "almost every day" and she mentioned how Bean has Aspbergers, and I was like "I know!" lol.
The speech pathologist was also Japanese (also very white washed) and I spoke to him briefly about Andrew's progress. I think he's the only sane person there. Well him and the school psych. The home ec teacher and the home room teachers are okay too, but I didn't really have too much time to talk to them. In a way I think these people like to get new blood in the system since they've been in the loop for such a long time. Getting in contact with someone from the outside world is probably refreshing to them. The thing is, most of them have lives outside of the school, so I don't get why everyone is freaking talking to me so much!
He is new to the high school department and is surrounded by peers mostly older than he is. Case in point, one of the guys in his class was actually trying to get my attention and kept on smiling and trying to hold my hand. -__- apparently he is one of the jocks of the school. Anyway that was made evident when he wouldn't let go of my hand when he claimed he just wanted to shake it. What a bastard! I was not amused and I am sure he knew it by the time I stopped being polite. Sure some other guys at the school tried to do the same, but weren't as persistent and obnoxious. They kept their distance. Too bad I couldn't yell at him. His teacher was there LOL.
Today there was a game and the jock was playing trying to show off of course. I sat next to Andrew, near the shade and away from the loud speakers. Andrew, like many autistic children I've seen including my nephew, hates loud or sharp noise and opted to sit elsewhere. I don't like noise either so that was a relief to get out of that. I tried to get him to watch the game, but he was less than interested. He kept himself occupied by quietly singing to himself and observing the commotion around the area. I was surprised that he can stay in one spot for a long period of time. At one point he came up to me and said "kiss" and tried to give me a kiss on the cheek and I quickly backed away in a reflex (and surprise) and said "no". That was a pretty bad deja vu moment from my college days (bad memories). Of course he berated himself again. I felt bad having to do push him away like that in the sense that I made him feel bad. In such cases, especially if I end up doing work with children or even teenagers, putting clear boundaries and knowing how to act in certain situations can be pretty difficult. As professionals who work in the schools, SPs are bound to protect the rights and uphold the safety of students. That includes acting in a professional and caring manner towards them. This experience alone made me realize how big of a problem this can be if students and even facultly start to hit on you left and right. I don't even consider myself as all that attractive, but I already had a lot of looks going to this school, including one weird teacher who invited me for lunch twice. It was kind of creepy, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was just one of those "weird" people who don't really fit the mold. I mean how many people ask if you have a boyfriend, are married and where you live in the span of 10 minutes meeting you? Well, I'm glad my trust in people didn't betray me. And no i did not give any personal information. Luckily I don't have a card. He did give me his though. I guess guys would hit anything with a pulse. In Andrew's case, I see him so much like my nephew than it would be easy to act like family with him. Of course, that is one relationship with his family, no matter how close I am to them, I probably can never pursue especially if I plan to stay in this field--which is sad. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings though. He's such a good kid.
I also had a long chat with the biology teacher. She is Japanese (but I doubt she could speak Japanese at all), very strict, very smart, and very outspoken. Kinda scary that lady, but she wouldn't let me go either. I missed home ec because she kept on going on and on about her experience as a teacher, potential nurse, med school, troubled personal life and ultimately her views on the educational system. I did benefit from talking with her though. I'm sure I can use some of her connections even though she is a bitter lady. She's cool though. I think she likes me, cause she doesn't seem to trust anyone else. She seems to think everyone is stupid. I'm glad I don't get that feeling from her on her perception of me. What was cool though was she asked me if I listen to KROQ and I proudly said "almost every day" and she mentioned how Bean has Aspbergers, and I was like "I know!" lol.
The speech pathologist was also Japanese (also very white washed) and I spoke to him briefly about Andrew's progress. I think he's the only sane person there. Well him and the school psych. The home ec teacher and the home room teachers are okay too, but I didn't really have too much time to talk to them. In a way I think these people like to get new blood in the system since they've been in the loop for such a long time. Getting in contact with someone from the outside world is probably refreshing to them. The thing is, most of them have lives outside of the school, so I don't get why everyone is freaking talking to me so much!
posted by shine
at
Friday, October 19, 2007
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