My Personal Research Journey!

Colleagues,

     I have chosen to research Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) because I am a special education teacher of children with significant disabilities.  For the previous school year, I had a total of eight students with multiple exceptionalities that were grouped together.  My class was quite diverse in that, some of the students were able to move about the campus unassisted while others had to be escorted from time they entered the campus until it was time for their departure.

     In particular, I had four students who were diagnosed ASD.  For the purpose of this class, I will refer to them as Alley, Balley, Caley and Daley. Alley was on the low end of the spectrum, she was a non-verbal third grader who was suspected to be on the pre-k level.  I was challenged to teach her “on-grade level” needless to say she didn’t get very far.  The only thing she wanted to do was search for music on the internet while chewing any wiring within her reach. She was aggressive and would often throw objects when she couldn’t get what she wanted.  Balley, a sixth-grader, on the other hand was also non-verbal, hated computers/electronics and was stimulated by turning pages of a magazine or book. He could write his first name but often complied with writing tasks while yelling and laughing.  Caley, a third grader, was also non-verbal all she wanted to do was clean up.  I often lost papers because she would put paper into a pile and move it to some unknown location.  Dally, a fifth grade student was able to maneuver about the campus without assistance.  He moved extremely slowly. By the end of the school year, he was able to complete 1^st grade work without assistance.  He would create toys from paper with precision.  Imagine trying to teach these students in one setting with disabilities as diverse as the ones I have mentioned. Four students diagnosed with Autism, four completely different challenges.  The task for me was extremely challenging but of the students enrolled in this class, I absolutely loved working with the Autistic children—no matter what their challenge.

     On a more personal note, I am adopting a set of twin boys who were abandoned by their drug addicted mother since birth. At about one year old, I noticed that one of the boys was not reaching developmental milestones.  I spoke with the pediatrician who explained to me that it was probably because he received more illegal drugs during gestation.  He recommended I watch him closely and take advantages of the services he had set up.  I took his advice but nothing changed with him.  After he had received the prescribed services from Early Steps, his case was turned over to the local special education department in our school district.  He was serviced by a team of special providers, a special education teacher, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist and an adaptive physical education teacher.  During this time he was also diagnosed by a neurologist as “Autistic Spectrum Disorder.” I am convinced to provide the best quality of care to my child; I need to be abreast of any research in the area of ASD.  In conclusion, these are some of the reasons I have chosen to research this topic.