Chapter 10 Discussion
review the power point and then answer two parts of the questions. Make sure you answer two parts and label them.

Part 1: Answer these questions. (start from question #2)
1. After reading chapter 10, watch the video by clicking on the link or go to the video link provided in the chapter 10 folder.

2. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video is worth a million. Discuss the video with your classmates.
3. How did Carly’s story enlighten you about autism?
4. How would you feel about having Carly as a student in your class?

Part 2: Please respond two discussions from my classmates
#1: The video floored me. I have had quite a bit of exposure to kids on the spectrum, but none as severe as Carly. My 16 year old nephew is on the spectrum, and when he was first diagnosed at 2 1/2, I was very involved in his care and associated therapies. He is very highly functioning – and very verbal – but even still, I have seen and experienced the intense frustration of trying to communicate with him when he was younger. Through him, I have learned that being on the spectrum means experiencing the world in a different way.

My heart just cracked wide open for Carly. And for her parents. I cannot begin to imagine the frustration and agony of seeing your child in so much distress and feeling powerless over it. And to be unable to communicate with the world, I just cannot imagine. I had never heard such a great way of explaining the sensory processing piece – the fact that flapping and stemming are an attempt to make output to drown out all of the input. This is super enlightening for me.

It would be very challenging to have a student like Carly in my classroom, but also very rewarding. Not only would it be great for her to be in the general ed class with “typically developing” students, but also sooo important for the other students to learn about tolerance, inclusion, and about ASD. I imagine it would require a lot of education on the part of the teacher and also on the part of Carly – to educate the other students about the unique challenges and gifts associated with ASD.

#2: This video was so moving in so many ways. I loved that she was finally able to express herself. It really shows how valuable technology can be in benefiting communication. I just love how dedicated her family was to her improvement. There was so much love and dedication put forth that really enabled her to find success. I also valued learning about her interpretation of what it is like to be autistic. From her writings I was able to understand and gain a better perspective on what that world is like. Having Carly as a student in my class would truly be difficult yet rewarding. I would have to gain better training to learn the tools needed. But overall I believe that it would be an invaluable experience.