Margot’s Reviews > Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew > Status Update

What a great chapter on building self esteem. I've heard about leaving the restaurant if the kids are acting up... but the idea of having the kids eat solo until they're understanding why eat, then, socialize them. Great... As a kindergarten teacher, I really think children interpret the pull outs as "less than". I've seen it so often over the years. Even working on a skill with an assistant can backfire.

How does the message, your kid isn't fitting in well get communicated to the parents?It's such a sensitive issue and needs to be handled well. In LAUSD we are legally mandated, if we see a problem, we have to set up a meeting so that the process of getting the best plan started goes forward. Ms. Notbohm had to ask, "Do like my kid?" before it was understood that she had been dealt with wrong.

On speaking... I have experience with second language learners, who aren't always as adept at speaking because it's harder to learn than listening and understanding. So, you have kids who speak, in their own tongue, but understand a whole lot more than they let on. I wonder how this applies to the echolalia business and other ways autistic people fall back on safe methods such as different methods of communication.

On echolalia, I've seen a very weird form of this... Where a person is so uncomfortable being his/herself, that he/she echos another person's tone, speech patterns and attitudes. Said person also will use prank phone calls and pretend to be professionals. Thus doctors, politicians and lawyers don't realize what they are being made to say.

Ch. 3, Can't vs. Won't... Sometimes, a child, would come into my classroom and just couldn't handle putting his/her things into the closet. It really wasn't my place to do the task for the child, so I was ask, the class, "Who can help so-and-so put their things away"... In kindergarten the kids are really helpful. Problem was solved, it wasn't about getting special attention from the teacher and it stopped.

What an eye opener Ch. 2 is. Get your senses in sync guys... I'm sitting in my father's study, there's a print of kids using instruments, surrounding a kid with his hands over his ears... My father has perfect pitch. Yet, auditory overload is a constant problem for him. I have a friend who suffers from tactile defensiveness. Me, I have a hyperacute sense of smell, I can get nauseated in an ice cream shop.

Wow! I love the first chapter on describing autistic children... Ms. Norbohm's understanding of reality to autistic-genius is refreshingly helpful. Having genius skills doesn't necessarily give more meaning to a child's life. Learning to understand and work with the child's issues is really where the parent and teacher need to go..

Ms Notbohm seems like a sensitive author who's had to deal with her own autistic child. Interestingly, she also has a child with ADHD, a code word for what seems to be an issue with me. The idea of how to face that your own child has autism, raises an issue for me. When people see someone with bizarre behavior, giving it a name can calm people's fears. So, there's the struggle.. for acceptance and understanding.