Barb Rentenbach

I wasn't quite sure what to expect at this presentation by Barb Rentenbach.  However, I thought it was very interesting and it really opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective about people with autism--and students in general.  Barb (and her assistant) brought up the fact that there is no gold standard brain.  In today's world of standardized testing it seems like policy makers believe their is a gold standard brain--and standardized testing determines this status.  In my opinion, Barb really epitomized the statement of "no gold standard brain."  Barb was brilliant and she was funny too, but in her book and the video of her readings she claimed that people look at her and think she is limited, while she is limited physically she is really brilliant, yet people judge her by her appearance: this is a huge dis-service to people with autism and students in general.  No ones potential should be based on their appearance or their past performances.
One thing I thought was really interesting about the presentation was when Barbs assistant claimed that the best treatment is connection.  I think this can be applied to every student--it is essential to make connections with students of every type so they can learn from educational experiences.
I think the saying "we learn from those we serve" perfectly describes Barb's situation and my educational experiences--it is important that teachers are constantly learning, and what better way to learn than from your students?  I feel like I gained much knowledge from this presentation and I thought it was really inspiring that Barb could do such amazing things despite her autism.
Finally, another thing I will take away from this presentation is something that Barb's assistant said when she was referring to students and people with autism, that is we are asking them to do things that are easy for us--it is frustrating to try to do things that seem to come easily for others; this is often the case with education too.  I think that when dealing with people in general, but especially students in the classroom (whether it be general education or the special education classroom) that we, as teachers, should remember that all students learn differently and that we must take this into consideration daily--we are not teaching a class, we are teaching individuals who vary in many ways. 
I will certainly take away a lot from this experience, as I have stated above.  I think this relates to our class in many ways, but mostly I think it relates to thinking and differentiation.  Teachers must constantly be critically thinking about how to make classroom instruction work for each and every student.  This brings in differentiation--all students learn differently and in order for teachers to make learning effective and meaningful they must differentiate instruction based on their students needs and learning abilities.  Overall, I felt really empowered and inspired by Barb and her presentation.