Barb

I unfortunately was unable to see Barb in person but after watching the video online I was very moved. As a verbal communicator, I spent much of Barb's presentation thinking about how differently my life would be if I could not talk to communicate my thoughts or feelings. Barb is absolutely incredible and her large vocabulary is mind-blowing. As a teacher, it is important to consider Barb's struggles that my future students may relate to. Perhaps, my future students may be capable of learning but show difficulty in providing evidence of their knowledge. I need to consider alternative assessments to allow these students to demonstrate their knowledge like Barb eventually discovered. I did further research on Barb after watching the presentation. Her comments about friendship were touching. I believe that relationships are important to being a human being and it made me sad to think of Barb living much of her life lacking such connections. Communication is necessary to maintain relationships so it is a blessing that Barb is now able to communicate through written expression. My preconceived notions about Autism were disarray. I have researched Autism in SPED 402 and presented my findings of stereotypical autistic behavior and symptoms of autistic individuals. However, Barb changed the beliefs I used to have about autism in general.