I had the opportunity to attend an autism conference two weeks ago that was led by author Michelle Garcia Winner. I have read her books before on social skills but, in person, she is so much more inspiring. She brought up so many wonderful insights into the minds of kids (or individuals) with autism. She not only presented many ideas for lesson plans but she had real-life scenarios that helped to reinforce her ideas.
I had the chance to buy many of her books that she referenced throughout the conference to help with running my social skills groups. I feel like all of the information I learned is applicable in the classroom.
Did she have any suggestions for students who are "stuck" on certain subjects. For example, I have a student who enjoys Star Wars and I have been using that to encourage him with his academics. Did she say that it is okay for student's with autism to continued to be fixated or do we encourage them to expand their interests?
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, I've been experiencing that same issue with the small group I work with in Confirmation class at church! 2 of my 5 youth are on the ASD spectrum (placed with me because of my education background), and I have one young man who only really wants to chat with us about video games and Legos. Our pastor happened to find a Lego version of the Bible (random, right?), but I have wondered the same thing: Do I try to pull him out of his comfort zone, or should kids on the spectrum be allowed to function inside whatever parameters they feel most comfortable?
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