Category Archives: Positive Aspects of Life on the Spectrum

Mar 10 2024
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Positive Aspects of Life on the Spectrum, Teaching

Sheila’s Story:

Positive Effects of Neuro-divergent Thinking.

In this series of blogs, we are looking at the innovative approach and empathic attitude that Sheila, a Certified Educational Assistant who is on the spectrum, brings to teaching in her classroom.

In the previous blog, she taught her learning-challenged student to do math using a line-drawing on the schoolground.  For the first time in four years of schooling, the student was able to correctly complete a math worksheet on her own, working from the school yard line drawing.  Sheila’s challenge now is to translate that ability into a process that will work in the classroom.  The story continues in her own words.

I copied a number line onto a piece of paper, thinking she could use a marker to count up the lines.

It was a complete disaster. She did not seem to understand any part of it.

“Don’t worry” I told her, “This is not your problem. I’m going to figure out something different and we’ll try again tomorrow.”

The only thing I could think of was that the number line was the traditional horizontal line that most students use. I converted it to a vertical number line, and she was able to use it without a problem.

After a week of using the vertical number line successfully, I brought out the horizontal one and we talked about it. Eventually she was able to transfer what she had learned on the vertical line and successfully apply it to the horizontal line.

Through the repetitive use of the number line, she learned how the numbers in addition and subtraction related to each other. This led to her ability to transfer that information so that she was able to add and subtract using her fingers.

Progress has been slow but steady and she can now add or subtract any two lines of numbers. She can also multiply any number by another one digit number.

 In my work I seek information, materials or support from anyone I deem helpful. Speech therapists are sometimes required. In other situations, kindergarten and grade one teachers who are willing to share resources they have used to help much younger children learn, are invaluable assets.

I sometimes have to invent materials when new approaches are required.  As a result, I’ve become increasingly adept at designing and writing new programs for these students.

Some colleagues wonder why my classrooms are always quiet.  I tell them: “The students work hard to finish their assignments because they know when they finish, I always have a five minute ‘free time’ activity prepared for them.  It’s a fun thing we like to do at the end of the class.

I stay with the students during their fun time and we talk about the game or activity they’re doing, along with their work and how their day went. I always know what my students are thinking about their work, because they talk to me.”

Sheila’s early experiences as a single mom on government assistance with a high-functioning autistic child, combined with her natural ability, compassion and authoritative presence led her to a career as an Educational Assistant. 

But it is Sheila’s neuro-divergent thinking which enables her to explore unusual avenues, facilitating successful outcomes for her challenged students.

“My desire for these students is always first and foremost, Success!” Sheila says, “I want them to experience success, and I’m going to bring everything to the table, everything I’ve got to help make that happen.”

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Feb 25 2024
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Autism Spectrum & Career Excellence, Positive Aspects of Life on the Spectrum, The autistic child at school

Positive Aspects: Sheila’s Story continued.

In the previous two blogs, I’ve entertained positive aspects of non-neuro typical thinking, and presented the back story of Sheila, a single mom who found that both she and her young son were on the autism spectrum. This begins the story of the mindset Sheila brings to her work as a teacher’s aide, and the empathic understanding through which she views her students. The following is part three of Sheila’s story, told in her own words.

Once the school finally had the information they needed to support my son, I decided to join the workforce again.  But I needed to find a profession. Teaching was a direction I’d been encouraged to pursue since elementary school and was one which held a very strong appeal. Since the reality was that I had limited financial resources and a special needs son who demanded time and attention, a Certified Educational Assistant (CEA) seemed like a good fit for me and a more reasonable option.  Grants paid for the college and university classes I needed, and I was able to complete the course at a pace that worked for my son.

When I am assigned a student, I am aware that often many aides and teachers have already tried a wide variety of learning tools and resources to support the student’s ability to understand and integrate information or concepts. In other words, to “learn”.

With the groundwork that has already been done there is a lot of information about which approaches have not succeeded, as well as a list of interests, strengths and even passions that the student is able to contribute to the process.

Having studied the file, I turn to the child. I look for patterns of behaviour and sparks of interest and consider how these can be intercepted and guided toward opening new channels of insight and communication.

In one instance, a grade four student was unable to correctly add single digit numbers up to twenty without support. This was something I had never encountered before. After a brief assessment with the student, I saw that she could count past 100 and easily recognize numbers. She knew 1+1=2 and 1+2=3 but did not know what 1+3 equaled.

I thought about this student’s classroom experience, what it would be like to watch your peers work independently and with only a little help, get the right answers. And all you can do is sit there, frustrated and anxious, staring at the numbers, struggling to grasp the process, all the time thinking “I just don’t get it!”

The school was giving me the resources and the opportunity to assist this child, and I was determined to help her. To find the key that would unlock the door to some level of success.

Sheila’s innovative approach and her student’s learning process follow in the next Blog.

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Feb 11 2024
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Autism Spectrum & Career Excellence, Books on Autism, Positive Aspects of Life on the Spectrum, Rudy Simone, Aspergirls, The autistic child at school

Positive Aspects of Life on the Spectrum: Sheila’s Story.

In this blog series, I am presenting lives that express the ways in which not being Neuro Typical is a career asset.  Thinking outside the box is normal for people on the autism spectrum. In certain circumstances this attribute of our condition can be beneficial. 

To continue Sheila’s story, begun in the previous blog, I will first relate some background information, along with some early practices she implemented. These temporary solutions to her son, Seamus’ social and learning problems ultimately led to her ability to explore unique and innovative methodology, which will be discussed in the next blog in this series. 

Sheila’s school experience was successful both academically and socially. However, later circumstances rendered her a single mom on welfare with an autistic child, Seamus.

As a result, Sheila experienced the understanding of how frustrating life can be for both parent and child, when someone is trying their best, socially and academically, and yet, is largely unsuccessful at one or both.

Seamus was a loving boy, but he found socializing at school impossible. Ostracized and bullied, he could never join in any games, and he had no friends to ‘hang’ with at lunch or recess. Sheila decided to see how she could help.

Every lunch hour she joined Seamus on the playground. Standing with him, she would ask, “Who wants to play baseball?” Invariably several children would crowd around.  “Alright,” she’d say, “There’s only one rule, and that is, Seamus gets to play.”

At first, the other children would eye each other speculatively, and Sheila worried that no-one would accept her invitation.  But then, to her relief, someone would shrug and agree to play and soon, enough kids had joined in for a make-up game.

The ‘Seamus ball game’ soon became a popular lunch time activity! Sheila would also stay later on occasion to help in the classroom if Seamus was having a problem with the work. Her organized approach, ability to quickly assess a situation through Seamus’ eyes and her friendly but authoritative air made her an asset in the classroom.

In the late 1990’s, not a lot was known about the autism spectrum, especially the high end kids who seemed to have no trouble learning but couldn’t manage their social life. After countless incomplete diagnoses, from leaky gut to ADD and ADHD, Sheila felt at a loss. She didn’t like the effect of the medications prescribed for her son, and he didn’t either, often refusing to take them.

One day, after attending a conference on autism, a teacher from Seamus’ school phoned Sheila.   I think I know what Seamus has, she told Sheila. When given a list of the symptomatic behaviours, Sheila recognized to her surprise, that it was not only Seamus who was on the spectrum–she was on the spectrum, too! This self-knowledge opened up a wide range of concerns and possibilities for both Sheila and her son.

In her book, Aspergirls, Rudy Simone states that for adults, being diagnosed can be a relief. A diagnosis for a child can also bring relief for parents like Sheila, who until Seamus’ diagnosis did not know where to turn for helpful information. In the years before Sheila was diagnosed, her focus was on helping Seamus.

Little was known about how to help those on the high end of the spectrum, then known as Asperger’s. With the help of his school staff, his family doctor, and Sheila’s campaigning, Seamus was able to access a facility for testing.  Once he was diagnosed, funding became available for special programs and activities for him. 

Every dime had to be accounted for, and it could only be spent on the special needs or activities for him, Sheila recalls.

Sheila’s experience with her son provided her insight into similar situations. She understands the frustration of having a child who neither learns nor interacts in the same way as their peers. She has gained the power of finding those keys which open doors for students who feel stymied by the different ways their brain works.

Success is what these kids need to experience. Sheila tells me, referring to both behavioural and learning issues. Helping her students find the self-confidence that will allow for success, is the motivating factor in her work.

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