Tuesday, March 15, 2011

"Special" Education

As some of you know all too well, students on the autism spectrum have a great deal of trouble with figures of speech. It's because they are very concrete in their thinking; very literal.  The English language is full of idioms, metaphors, etc. and I have to be very conscious of this when talking to sixth graders in general, but especially with kids on the spectrum.

Take Troy, for example. Hard as he tries, he just can't seem to grasp the double meanings in so much of what we read in class. When I ask questions about the intentions of various authors' techniques, I always get very concrete answers from Troy. When observing him conversing with peers, it's often clear that he and the other kids are on different wavelengths when it comes to what's funny and what's not.

Today, we started working on Readers Theater, which is basically like forensics; students read scripts together, demonstrating smooth reading fluency, voice inflection, etc.  Students grouped up and began searching for appropriate scripts.  Troy was invited to join a group that quickly found a script, but he did not want to join them; he said he was sick of always working with those same kids, but no one else seemed to have room for him.  I encouraged him to look for a script to possibly invite someone to join him.  Troy quickly became frustrated with the process and was starting to lose his cool. His tell-tale anger cues (loud voice, red face, etc.) were starting to show. He just didn't like any of my suggestions, either, until finally, I asked him,

"Do you like baseball?"

Score! Troy apparently likes baseball!  I asked if he'd ever heard of Who's On First, performed by Abbott and Costello.  He told me that he hadn't and seemed only mildly interested, but it had been almost an hour, and I really needed to get him interested in something, so I grabbed my (school's) iPad and found an Mp3 recording of the original and the script.  I told Tory to let me know what he thought of it, and I walked around the corner to help a couple of other kids, who were working on their script in the hallway.

Several minutes later, I heard some loud chuckling. Soon, Troy came rushing around the corner with the iPad, enthusiastically offering, "It's totally going to work! I really wanna be the guy with the anger problem! Can I be the guy with the anger problem?!"

We enlisted the help of another student to play the role of Costello. (He's a very capable reader and has a nice, even temperament.) It's going to be great.

And just like that, Troy changed from sullen and disconnected to excited and engaged.

I wonder what Abbott and Costello would think, to know that they helped a kid with autism today.

22 comments:

  1. I think they would be proud of you.

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  2. Bravo. Our education system needs more intuitive teachers like you.

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  3. Always enjoy reading how you figure out what works with your students :)

    There's nothing quite like a success story for a child (or adult!) with special needs....

    'Lucy'

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  4. Way to think on your feet! So good that he "got it"!

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  5. In addition to your sense of humor, I think your job requires a lot of flexibility! Good job!

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  6. Only a spectacular teacher would think outside of the box like this to energize her student. Way to go!

    I remember sitting my older son down to watch this video. He bellyached about enduring anything in black and white and almost walked out of the room. He stuck around and ended up enjoying a classic.

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  7. Awesome idea!!

    I once taught a class of third grade ESL Russian immigrants and had to do a lesson on metaphors. Ran into the same problem. Unfortunately, I didn't come up with a solution quite as creative as yours.

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  8. Good thinking, Teach!

    Not only did you help this kid, you introduced him to one of the funniest and most ingenious comedy sketches of all time and a personal favorite of mine.

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  9. thank goodness you are creative teacher and have the tools to reach these students....what a difference his day must have been.

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  10. You my dear are a bright treasure to our school systems.

    I always adored workin' with my autistic students. How awesome they can be!!!

    God bless and enjoy the 'skits'!!!

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  11. And that, Gov. Walker, is what education is all about!

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  12. Again, you went out of your way to help someone! I wish there were more teachers like you at every grade level.

    You're a quick thinker. Way to go!

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  13. classic favorite skit - I would have never thought of it appealing to someone with autism. I'm not sure but I suspect back when the skit was first performed autism was not even recognized.

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  14. There you go again...making someone's day! Very quick thinking and what a treat for him! You are an amazing teacher!

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  15. That skit always drove me a bit batty. lol How cool that something that frustrated me to no end would be helpful to someone else - you just never know!

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  16. Love it! Mister Man at least pretends to get some of the double meaning stuff, but I have to admit that jokes are funny to him because he KNOWS they should be funny. I don't know how much of them sink in. But hey, he's trying. And Abbott and Costello? Perfect! Nicely done, my teacher friend.

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  17. As the mother of a child with Asperger's, I applaud you. I wish more teachers would take the time to do what you did. You helped him find the perfect fit and therefore made his day. You've made mine. Thank you for that! :)

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  18. Wonderful breakthrough story, you are certainly blessed with the special gift of teaching... Troy is very fortunate to be in your class this year!

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  19. I just got through reading about autism. Evidently they have trouble conceiving of other minds. So it stands to reason, I guess, that they'd have trouble with idiomatic language. Your world would become very literal if you were the only one on it.

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  20. I love that you found something he can laugh at! Your school kiddos are so fortunate to have you!

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