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« on: April 01, 2012, 05:54:13 PM »
You have every right to be on a soapbox, and I'm glad you are! There are so many, many simple strategies that help with communication - visual cues, simple direct instructions, and a longer response time, for example, that can improve the learning environment not only for the autistic child, but also for the teacher and his/her classmates. I wish I knew more about it when my nephews were younger. As a teacher, I recognized some of their red flags for a learning impairment, but their parents were not accepting of the fact that there could be a problem. One is gifted, high functioning and his younger brother is low functioning. It took so long to get them diagnosed that it makes me sad thinking of the time waisted that we (his family) could have been spent helping him learn to communicate with us. And, you are right about some teachers not caring, but there are so many others that simply don't know what to do and become overwhelmed with the multitude of disorders - cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral - that are present in every classroom. Keep on advocating!!! Acceptance is the first step to understanding!