Q&A
“ If you could let a teacher
(past or future) know just one
thing about yourself (if you
are autistic) or your autistic
child (if you are the parent),
what would it be? ”
“Dear teachers, past, present, and future: You
underestimate me. Because my body does not
obey my mind. Because I can’t speak in a way
that demonstrates my understanding. Because
I can’t sit still or look at you and pay attention.
Because my body language is a completely foreign language to you, you mistakenly believe it
is expressing disinterest, stubbornness, defiance,
lack of engagement, and inability to learn. Don’t
underestimate me. You can learn as much from
me as I am learning from you. And I AM learning.” ~ Michelle Jones
“I wish someone had noticed and empowered
my different mind instead of writing me off as
stupid, difficult, unmanageable, or attentionseeking. I wish someone had taken the time to
read between the lines and figure out what my
verbal scripts meant. I wish someone had advocated for me instead of everyone being against
me. And above all, I wish I knew what autistic
was so that I knew I was more than just stupid,
difficult, etc.” ~ Em Martha Feightner Heil
“This is a deep one for me, so my reply will be
broken up into two:
Dear teachers of elementary school past: I
needed you to be my social advocates through
the bullying, crying fits, and low grades. What?
You’re finding this out now? Well, I couldn’t
voice it back then because I didn’t know I was
autistic back then. Just that I was different.
While most of you did do a good job with helping out with grades, academics don’t mean a
thing on the playground, where I needed you
most. You can’t say you didn’t know because
you had access to an IEP. You can’t say you
didn’t know because you labelled most of that
behavior as problematic. If only I could go back
and show you what I’ve become now, but alas,
there is a reason they call it the past ...
Dear teachers of the future: Let me tell you
something you’re probably not going to hear in
any of your teachers’ college courses: ‘A child
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ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses
isn’t an IEP, and an IEP isn’t a child.’ Don’t let
bullet points on an IEP dictate what a child can
and cannot do because at the end of the day,
autistic children are human and can live up to
their potential like any other child.”
~ Theo Howe
“Just because I’m not making eye contact
doesn’t mean I’m not listening. Getting in my
face and/or yelling at me doesn’t get my attention or respect. In fact, my behavior will probably escalate, which doesn’t benefit anyone!”
~ Sarah Bradley Morris
“Don’t mold me in your image. Just because I
disagree with you doesn’t mean I’ll kill you in
your sleep. How can anyone learn if we’re all
parroting your opinions? Saying “this is wrong,
fix it” does nothing to help me understand the
assignment. Try teaching me the concept first.
If I still don’t get it, try another tactic rather
than doubling down and using the method that
didn’t work the last five times. Your double
standards appall me. The boy who talks about
groping is funny, but my off-color humor is
shocking? Your favorites can do no wrong, but
I’m a bad person for wanting disability accommodations? No one is fooled at your feigning to
like me.” ~ Emma
“ She knows a lot more than she will express to
you.” ~ Patty Zayas
“I wish any of my teachers would have noticed
that I’m autistic and got me the help I needed
as a kid. I’m about to have a career as a teacher
starting this fall. I hope that my autistic students
feel safe in my class. I hope their parents and
other school staff don’t force me to try to make
them act neurotypical.” ~Karin Gomez
“Sigh. Social skills. They need to be taught. By
the time I ‘mastered’ (right!) peer-level concepts,
ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses
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