Saturday, October 24, 2015

Schooled by the Spectrum

I started working at a school last year supervising over the noon-hour, this year I was hired by their daycare.  I have found that my experiences with Austin has helped me a lot with understanding and being proactive with some of the children at the school who face their own challenges.  I don't claim to be an expert on autism at all, I am not.  I am still learning everyday.  I am happy though that I have learned somethings that I am able to apply to help other children who on their own journey.  Some have a much more challenging time than Austin did and are more sensitive.  There are children too that have challenges I have never experienced and the staff I work with are fantastic on helping me become more educated on how to handle situations and always there when I need it.  I am very grateful to all of them!

Yesterday, I brought my iPod with a movie on it for one of the boy's at school who has sensory issues.  He doesn't like loud things and we were to show a movie in the afternoon for all the children.  I thought that if he had his own little movie to watch in another room, with our supervisor, it would really help him, and it did!  My supervisor, who goes above and beyond to help all the children, asked for the iPod and he was on his way to a supervised, quiet room, until his parents came to get him at the pick up time.  I was thanked and it made me feel humbled because I just reacted from my experience with Austin.  I didn't think I did anything special and all the staff at the school I work at help to accommodate all the children as much as possible.

I look back on how lost and how much I didn't know when Austin was younger.  He has progressed very well and continues to.  As he does, new challenges arise and we address them as they happen.  It is a long road, a journey, a step each day into an unknown.  I am comforted to know that my journey with Austin has given me a little bit of knowledge that may help someone else and make their road a little sunnier to travel.

All the best!  *HUGS*