Inspiring Autistic Teen Video

As an educator for more than a decade, I've taught many autistic kids. I'm so glad that in the last five or so years, people have become a bit more educated on the topic (me included). I want to know all the ways to make a difference in the lives of my students, not just in a typical educational way.

Thanks for sharing the link to the video. Wow. It was beautiful (hence the song choice!) :)
 
bless your heart. there are so many who are trying to learn all they can. my daughter spends some time in regular class but the teacher admits she is not up to par on dealing with autism so its hard for her to understand when its viola's anxieties or if its just viola trying to push buttons and she doesn't know how to control the situation.but our school has some great special education teachers and aides on hand that she is able to call over. i am so glad for educators who strive to give the best b/c they can truly make the difference no matter how small. i know my little one is quite talkative. it may be at a level behind the others but she had the vocabulary of a 2 year old when she was diagnosed so its amazing to see what the school system and hard work from therapist(in and out of school) can do for us.

thank you for your hard work as well! :D

kassia

http://www.picturetrail.com/ldy_solana

http://jtjulian2003.tripod.com

YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING,WHERE WOULD YOU PUT IT??

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1307/4842454/16585805/255246443.jpg
 
Thank you for the kind words. I love parents like you!
It makes a huge difference if you are in a school who educates the teachers on autism. I belive it's also each teacher's job to education themselves on how best to deal with issues.
 
You're right, that did give me chills. What an awesome kid.

*♥´¨)
¸ .• ♥ ´¸.•*♥´¨) ¸.♥•*¨)
(¸.•♥´ (¸ ;.♥•Jennie•♥


Smoke free since: 2/05/08
 
Clothesminded and Kassia -- OMG these are GREAT videos! My nephew is autistic and he's such a little sweetie pie. I'm going to forward these videos to his parents. I'm sure they'll appreciate them.

Kassia, your new avatar and the pic in your sig line are darling! Viola is too cute for words!
 
>Clothesminded and Kassia -- OMG these are GREAT videos! My
>nephew is autistic and he's such a little sweetie pie. I'm
>going to forward these videos to his parents. I'm sure they'll
>appreciate them.
>
>Kassia, your new avatar and the pic in your sig line are
>darling! Viola is too cute for words!

thanks michelle! :) the avatar was a recent trip we did with the special needs scouts. i am so grateful i found this group so viola can be active. i think as you seen from the first video, these kids want to work so hard to be like everybody else and socialization and understanding are key points in them trying to deal with their disorders.

there is no love in the world like the one you get when your child comes out of their shell even just a little bit. its rough road but when they finally murmur out "i love you" its all worth the hard work.

kassia

http://www.picturetrail.com/ldy_solana

http://jtjulian2003.tripod.com

YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING,WHERE WOULD YOU PUT IT??

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1307/4842454/16585805/255246443.jpg
 
The part in the video of Jason and the basketball game that was so tough to hear was when (after making all those 3-point shots one right after another) the crowd all comes and celebrates and Jason said "I've always felt different, but not this different." That really made me realize that some kids never get to experience the kind of different that is because of a good thing, like hitting a ton of 3-point shots. They only get to feel the "bad" different. It made me very sad.

I always feel a bit sad when I see how many "hits" a thread which features a bunch of people arguing (ex: the recent one about P90X)and has drama in it has. But then when there's a thread about something worthwhile, something uplifting or on a topic that people really need to be reading about doesn't get many at all. I don't know if that's because people feel if issues like autism doesn't affect them, then why read. Who knows. Something I've always wondered about though, and always felt sad about.
 
Though he doesn't hit 3 pointers because team sports have been a little out of his "reach", my son (19 years old, autistic) has been MY hero for a long time. He made Eagle Scout at 16. He was a merit badge counselor at camp.

On Thursday he tests for his Brown Belt (Shojin Ryu Karate). His Sensei and I made a deal when he first started that he would have to do everything as well as the other students, no adaptations.

Scott is too "able" for Special Olympics, he competes at his peer level with "normal" students. He has the opportunity this year to go to the AAU Nationals in Karate. When he does kumite (combat) you would never know there's anything different about him.

If you want to see some clips of him http://david.lavie.googlepages.com
 
Wonderful video! I bawled my eyes out. My DS is on the autism spectrum so I can absolutely relate. I hope he has reasons to feel that wonderful too some day. Thanks for posting.

BTW--Dave, I look at your blog but couldn't find the clips of your son. Where should I have looked on the site?

Jonahnah
Chocolate IS the answer, regardless of the question.
 
These are the days I wish I had faster internet!! :D

Maybe I can discreetly check these out at work.

Thanks for posting something positive and affirming. I have a DS on the spectrum and it's good to see what our precious kids can do.

Dave, I'm looking forward to checking out the videos of your son.
 
Clothesminded and Kassia - WOW!!!

I watched both those videos and am quietly trying not to cry at my desk here. Gorgeous.

I knew about the boy with the 3 pointers but hadn't seen this video.

Kassia - that slideshow introducing that boy for his IEP, that is absolutely brilliant. My son is now too old for ABA but is heading to middle school next year. I had wanted to put together something to introduce him to his new team and now I have some great ideas. My SO is a powerpoint wizard so I will ask him for help.

Thanks for those.

Dave, you're son is next but I really should do a minute or two of work here. }(
 
OK, Dave, I tried but there's something about my work computer that scrambles certain videos. :-(

I'll try this at SO's place. I've been wanting to get my DS into a martial art. There's talk around town that someone relatively close to my area offers a class specifically for kids on the spectrum. I'm going to look more closely into that now - I think this is an area where he could shine.

Thanks for making your videos available. :)
 
>
>I'll try this at SO's place. I've been wanting to get my DS
>into a martial art. There's talk around town that someone
>relatively close to my area offers a class specifically for
>kids on the spectrum. I'm going to look more closely into
>that now - I think this is an area where he could shine.
>
>Thanks for making your videos available. :)

i hope you find something. the karate school that does this in our area was a bit out of our price range(but then again we only have 3 schools and its the only one that takes special needs) but luckily we found a scout group through boy scouts that took boys and girls(actually referred as learning for life scouts) so hopefully you will find an active group and/or martial arts in your area. our school is also going to do a month long,once a week, class to help girls socialize. they will mix special needs girls with neurotypical(they will be "trained" on how to handle certain situations beforehand) to help build up socialization and learning social rules(BIG ONE HERE LOL).

i am lucky in that my school is funded to take more special needs cases and they even have a class strictly for autistics that can't do a full day in a mainstream classroom.principals and all special educators attend a once a month seminar along with other parents at our local college(my DH works there so he is automatically in) and its encouraging to see our school there but saddend that not many from other city schools are not attending :-(.

we are advocates in our own rights by just passing these videos,threads,messages, and just kind words along.


kassia

http://www.picturetrail.com/ldy_solana

http://jtjulian2003.tripod.com

YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING,WHERE WOULD YOU PUT IT??

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1307/4842454/16585805/255246443.jpg
 
I hope the dojo you place your son into is as nice as my son's. I pay $109 a month he could take 5 group lessons per week, we get him there 3 or 4 times per week. His brown belt test is Thursday night 3/20. We are all psyched.

The focus at his dojo is the discipline and body control, sparring is voluntary.

My son used his skills at school one day, a bully in the cafeteria was messing with him, had him backed against a table. My son asked him to leave him alone twice, then dropped him like a sack of rice. All the "special kids" were cheering him on, he almost got suspended. No one messed with my son the rest of high school.
 
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