Barb

Before attending the Barb Rentenbach presentation, I held a somewhat narrow idea about autism, and although I have a close friend whose child has autism, I had never had the opportunity to note the differences in severity from personal experience. Barb is inspiring in that she has been able to rise above the views of others regarding her abilities and has proven that she is more than her autism. Having the type of disability such as Barb's that interferes with a person's ability to communicate must be more frustrating than most of us can possibly imagine, but Barb has put an enormous amount of time and effort into building alternative means of communicating with others. 

As someone who has studied literature for years in college, her writing is comparable with all of the writers that I have been exposed to, and I am excited about the prospect of having time to read her book as soon as classes are over for the semester. From the excerpts that we heard in the presentation, Barb has a type of descriptive language that is unlike anything that I have read in the past due to her ability to view the world differently through her "prism" of autism. This connects to one of my favorite parts of the lecture in which Lois discusses the idea of neurodiversity and how our differences in the way that we perceive the world should be seen as an advantage, not a weakness. When we think about disabilities, we often consider the negative aspects, or the things that a person is unable to do, rather than considering how a disability can create a strength for an individual. Lois and Barb are both able to look beyond that and have instead chosen to view Barb's autism as a powerful force within her that enhances her gift of writing and her creative energy. 

The most important thing that I am taking from yesterday's presentation is the mindset that despite our differences, we all bring our own unique abilities to the world, and like Barb, all of us have something to contribute. I think as future teachers, this is a perspective that should be ingrained in all of us, as we will encounter diversity in our students every day that we are in the classroom. We should learn not acceptance, but gain the ability to welcome these differences in our students and to consider how each of them can enrich the learning experience for everyone.