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Leo isn't my only child -- he has one sister entering kindergarten and another entering middle school -- but I will get to talk to my girls' teachers every day when I drop them off and pick them up. Meanwhile, Leo will be riding a bus twenty miles each way to a county school for kids with autism and behavioral issues. His teacher has the upper elementary class -- the big kids -- which in my opinion is one of the most challenging teaching positions in our county. I want her to know that I'm grateful she'll be teaching my son, and exactly how much I believe in her abilities.
I know I'm not the only one tamping down the trepidation in favor of being filled with hope and thrilled by the possibility of a what a new school year means for my autistic child. I encourage you to write your own letter to your child's teacher, and link back here using the Mr. Linky tool at the bottom of this post, so our pooled emotions can provide a net of community strength and guidance.
Dear Teacher Delia,
I am so glad my son Leo will have a such a capable, understanding teacher this year, because third grade is poised to be one of the most important academic years his life: This is the year we think he'll start being able to read.
For Leo, autism means difficulty with verbal communication, and so, like many people with autism, reading (and hopefully, eventually, writing) may make a huge difference in my son's ability to learn, communicate, and become more independent. I realize this is a huge responsibility to ask from a teacher, but from what I've heard, you're up to the task.
Leo is so ready to learn to read. He is SO ready to learn to read. He's a smart kid; he knows all his letters and sounds, he does a phonics-based early reading program at home, and his visual memory skills are amazing -- he can match novel words of up to eight letters, from among ten choices, without any picture cues.
My hope for this year, is that, amidst the managed chaos of your classroom, among the extreme structure that requires separate, individualized visual schedules and curriculum for each student in your class, you can carve out time for, have Leo's aides focus on, make your paramount Leo priority teaching him to read.
You spent some time introducing Leo to your class during summer school, so you already know that my son lives fully in the present moment, and that he comprehends what people say to him, but that his own talking mostly consists of requests and descriptions and occasional conversational echoes. You have seen for yourself that he is sweet, affectionate, and a capable learner. I am hoping that your familiar face along with the familiar campus and class structure will help him transition to your teaching style and classroom, that he will settle into a routine -- his favorite support structure! -- quickly, so you can start working on his reading without delay.
Leo is lucky that your room is across the hall from his previous classroom and former Teacher Tina, and I hope you can use Tina as a resouce if you have any questions about Leo's needs and strengths and learning style. Tina's class made Leo feel like a superstar, with his following two extensive visual schedules for the day with alacrity and gusto, with his increased ability to stay focused even when some of his classmates had screaming fits, and even moderating his classroom straw use to one per day (for a straw-loving boy like my son, this is somewhat miraculous). Leo has the potential to truly succeed in your class.
Hopefully his former classroom's proximity will be a comfort, rather than a distraction. But he did really love the lower elementary play yard with its sand pit -- we will definitely need to work on providing alternative play opportunities for him on the big kids' playground. I am hoping the great big upper elementary saucer swings will be a trade-off. If not, we can work together to provide other sensory-related recess activities for Leo. His home/school curriculum liason, Supervisor M, has suggested we ask if any of the aides like to play soccer -- Leo loves to kick the ball around, and is quite good at it. Maybe some of the other kids might be up for soccer, too?
I realize
