LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
My children are always teaching me valuable lessons but perhaps none as mindset-changing as the one my son Jacob taught me when he was in 5th grade . My breakthrough moment came while watching Jacob work through his frustration during art class . I had come in to help as the teacher had informed me that the project they would be doing , coiling , would likely be challenging for my boy .
The children all sat on the floor as the teacher demonstrated the many steps required to coil a basket . I watched Jacob start to become overwhelmed by the vast amount of information being given at one time . Heck , I still remember feeling overwhelmed myself , and this happened 5 years ago . Anyway , the teacher must have noticed me watching Jacob with a look of concern because she made a point of having him move closer .
“ Jacob , I need you to move over here , in front , so you can see me better ,” she said . “ How do I get over there ?” he replied , starting to become visibly upset .
The teacher looked confused . To her , it was very clear that all he needed to do was get up and walk around the other students . But to Jacob , who was already baffled by the complicated instructions , it was anything but clear . I wiggled my way over and whispered in his ear , “ How do you get from point A to point B ?” After taking a
Jacob is 15 now , and not only is he taller than me , but also , he is definitely wiser .
moment to think , he smiled and then moved to the back of the room , where he walked around the perimeter until he made his way to the front and proudly sat down . Not the most direct route , the quickest path , or the road I would have taken , but he made it to point B . Mission accomplished . And he did it in his own individual way . Jacob showed me that it is okay that our paths don ’ t all look the same because most of the time , the roads all end up at point B anyway . I share this story because , to me , that is what this issue is all about – how Autism can change our perspectives , the way we view the world and the lenses we use to do it .
Dr . Stephen Shore is back with Part TWO of his series that will hopefully help the teachers out
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ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses