Now that I've got your attention, let me tell you why:
The student that scratched me is a student with Autism. He is also a student who is classified as "nonverbal". This confuses some people, so I will try to explain it. This student, let's call him Samuel*, does not use verbal/spoken words to communicate. He uses sign language, touching, pointing, pictures and/or occasional sounds. He is very smart. The student is new to my classroom (joined my classroom in January, right after winter break) but he is not new to school. He is in the 2nd grade and has been in this school for all of his schooling.
SO... what does all that have to do with me being scratched... Let me enlighten you:
I believe that it is our responsibility to teach our students our expectations of them. For my students, all of whom have Autism and/or other special needs, it is even more important that I teach them expectations of different environments. It is important for them to know the difference between what is expected/allowed at school, at home, at the store, and other places in the community. The reason I believe this particular student, Samuel, still grabs/scratches while grabbing others, is because he hasn't been taught an appropriate replacement behavior. OR in other words, he hasn't been taught an appropriate way to get someone's attention/tell them something that doesn't require using talking verbally- since, as I mentioned earlier, he is a "nonverbal" student.
Because I've only had this student for about 2 weeks, this is something will take some time to teach him. I am excited about his learning and excited to watch this process. I love my students and it is SOO COOL to see them do things people said they can't do!
In the past (it appears) this student hasn't been reinforced for using his words (in the form of sign language, pointing, touching, etc.) when he wants something. I have observed him in the past 5 months and he was definitely reinforced for having inappropriate behaviors with the grabbing/scratching, screaming/running. What I mean by that is, he was given LOTS of attention in the form of yelling, reprimanding and physically moving him to a time out chair, in the past. This attention may have reinforced his behavior and reinforced his escape from his work. Every time he engaged in one of these behaviors, he was yelled at and put into time out--- thus allowing him to escape his work. AND let me tell you, this kiddo is SMART! He totally knew it :-)
Anyway, I got scratched this week, it hurt. I am still working to determine the exact function (the why) of the grabbing/scratching behavior. We did switch this kiddo to a new classroom, mine, and a new teacher, me, AND new paras, and teaching procedures. I did tell his parents to be aware that his behavior may get a little worse before it gets better, since we have changed his environment in so many ways.
One more cool story about this awesome kid: Yesterday, a little girl (who happened to have a learning disability) saw Samuel and I walking down the hallway, I was holding his hand. She asked me- What's wrong with him? I asked her, What do you mean? She says, Why can't he talk? I told her, He does talk, just not always with his mouth like you do. Sometimes he uses his hands to talk and, sometimes he uses his sounds. It's cool that he can talk with his hands isn't it? She looks at me thinking and says, Yah, that is really cool!
I share this with you because I think life is determined by the way we perceive it. It's our job to help others perceive and view how Awesome and Amazing our kiddos with Autism really are! They are not weird, and they don't have anything wrong with them. They may grab or scratch you sometimes, but it's not because they want to hurt you. They simply are trying to tell you something and may not have the verbal words to do it.
In summary, I love what I do. And I even have some battle wounds to prove it :-)
*All names are changed to maintain confidentiality*
No comments:
Post a Comment