Happy holidays to all!
At this time of year, it can be hard to focus on anything other than wrapping things up or moving things along. Fortunately, I was able to attend a professional development course today, which always forces me to slow down and really concentrate on one aspect of practice.
The course was on developing and deepening learning opportunities for preschool children on the Autism spectrum, and (most helpfully for me) included lots of visual and tactile ways to integrate curricula for students who may not respond as readily to the spoken word. There were tons of excellent resources offered to me during this session, which I will dig into a little deeper in a week or two. First though, something else that is exciting!
During the presentation I was reminded of a wonderful new addition to Sesame Street as of late. Her name is Julia, and she is the show's first autistic muppet. She is lovely, and her struggles are very reminiscent of many of my students. Julia has difficulty making eye contact, responding to questions and sometimes talks a little too loudly. She is funny and she likes to play with Elmo and Abby. Most of all, she is a normal and special kid.
Not only did Sesame Street introduce this new character, but they have also developed excellent resources for parents and siblings of children with Autism. There are also videos that can also be used for basic social narratives of daily routines with the youngest students.
May the warmth of this character bring a little joy into your holiday season!
-Ms. OJ
At this time of year, it can be hard to focus on anything other than wrapping things up or moving things along. Fortunately, I was able to attend a professional development course today, which always forces me to slow down and really concentrate on one aspect of practice.
The course was on developing and deepening learning opportunities for preschool children on the Autism spectrum, and (most helpfully for me) included lots of visual and tactile ways to integrate curricula for students who may not respond as readily to the spoken word. There were tons of excellent resources offered to me during this session, which I will dig into a little deeper in a week or two. First though, something else that is exciting!
During the presentation I was reminded of a wonderful new addition to Sesame Street as of late. Her name is Julia, and she is the show's first autistic muppet. She is lovely, and her struggles are very reminiscent of many of my students. Julia has difficulty making eye contact, responding to questions and sometimes talks a little too loudly. She is funny and she likes to play with Elmo and Abby. Most of all, she is a normal and special kid.
Not only did Sesame Street introduce this new character, but they have also developed excellent resources for parents and siblings of children with Autism. There are also videos that can also be used for basic social narratives of daily routines with the youngest students.
May the warmth of this character bring a little joy into your holiday season!
-Ms. OJ
Hey Bunny I was reading your blog and came across this post & found it very insightful and would love any further information you may come across regarding autism I find the more knowledge I can gain the better it is for my son because he's on the spectrum thanks & love you
ReplyDeleteGreat post! :)
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