Barb

When I arrived at the presentation thinking that I knew what to expect. I had watched the videos ahead of time, and I had worked with students with autism before on many occasions. I brought my boyfriend with me, but I didn't really think to explain to him what autism was before we showed up. I really should have put more effort into explaining to my guest what the presentation was going to be about, and what to expect during the presentation. However, I am almost glad I didn't. The presentation was that more intense for him because he wasn't prepared for it. Barb didn't act "normally." She rocked back and forth, and sometimes squeaked out noises and cuss words. If I didn't know Barb, and just saw her in on the street or in a restaurant, I would not guess that she is capable of communicating so artfully, effectively, and with such a big vocabulary. I suppose this reveals my unconscious prejudices - I should never assume anyone isn't capable of something, especially as a teacher. It should be up to the individual to determine what he or she is are capable of, and to themselves as individuals.

Barb seemed to get really uncomfortable and make more vocalizations when students did a less than perfect job of reading her writing (a few students mispronounced words or names, and a few stumbled over the unique syntax). It must be hard to have written a work of art with a unique voice and have someone else butcher it (or not read it with the same emphasis, intensity, and tone with which you intended it to be read). I wonder how Barb would have wanted her work to be read - even as her voice comes through powerfully in her writing, she has to rely on others to "read" her work and interpret it. Barb must share this with other poets and writers whose work has been performed by other people.

I was really interested in the story about the student with Autism who was really good at DDR. The psychologist reached him by doing something that she was really uncomfortable with and not very good at (dancing DDR in the mall). Many of the things that we ask students with Autism to do are difficult for them, and we don't think about how the academic tasks that we expect students to do can be extremely difficult and uncomfortable. This story also reminded me of the many ways that people and students can be intelligent. We should not assume that students aren't "smart" because their brains aren't wired in the "average" way. I agree with Barb that respecting not only racial and cultural but also neural diversity is really important. It also reminded me how important it is to develop good relationships with students.