I have a Year 4 student with ASD and ADHD in my classroom. As a beginning Teacher I did not have previous experience with children with ASD. So this year has been one of a lot of new learning for me. This learning continues every day as my student's needs continuously change and we (myself and TA) try new ways to see what will keep him on task and able to complete his work.
Fortunately I have a very supportive group of people around me (RTLB, TA, Team Leader, other teachers) to guide and encourage me so that I can best support his learning.
I have worked and continue to work very closely with my students family. We have a Home/School notebook which goes home at the end of each day. If anything more needs to be shared with his family I talk in person with his mum. This relationship with Whanau is so important.
The Awhi 4 ASD information session proved to be a good reminder of some different strategies I had previously discussed with Robyn but had not yet tried.
It was also a good opportunity to hear from other teachers about the experiences with their ASD students. With such a broad range of how ASD can manifest in an individual, I could appreciate that I have not had to deal with anything too severe with my student.
I came away from the session with a feeling of...wow...I'm lucky to have the support I have...I'm lucky to have the student I have.
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This book has been leant to me by Robyn Harawira and is full of great ideas for supporting students with ASD in the classroom.
This DVD was mentioned at the PD session.
I have had this DVD for a while now but still
haven't watched it. (I will this weekend)
