My family, the best support crew EVER! It's been great to be back at home with them all, one last time. (My sister Amanda is getting married soon!! In case you didn't know.)
From an awful distance, my best friend keeps me grounded and sane by loving me and kicking my butt when I need it.
To preface the video clip, this is the teacher and students I have been working with the last couple of months. Tricia is amazing, I love her and her devotion to theses kids. I've only been there for 2 months and they all already have my heart. I even dream about them almost every night now. See the video HERE. Sorry, I'm not sure how else to post it.
Tricia gave me a book that I am completely engrossed with, "Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew". For anyone who may not know, I am fascinated with Autism as a neurological disorder and have been blessed for the last several years to spend time with incredible individuals who fall everywhere on the Austism Spectrum. This book talks about a lot of things that while essential concepts to remember while working with ASD students, I'm finding that applying it to that setting has helped me realize the importance of implementing these into my daily practice with anyone. When I look at it, many are things I have heard and learned about before but now that I am applying it to a setting so close to my heart, it reverberates throughout the rest of my day, if I let it. One of these concepts is that "Learning is Circular". The author, Ellen Notbohm devotes an entire chapter to this and states, "teachers themselves must take advantage of learning opportunities as the present; passing up those opportunities in the name of saving time will eventually only slow the teaching process. How could it not?" Prior to this statement, "This seems not only natural to me, but exhilarating." Oh how perfectly she describes my state of being as I daily learn from the children I work with. The gratitude I feel towards the teachers, staff and other professionals involved for their patience with not only these students, but my own curiosity. Man, can I pick a persons brain. But exhilaration is exactly what I feel in those moments where I connect with a soul, that of an Autistic child or otherwise, connecting in a way that we share a brief glimpse of each others intent, compassion, need, hurt, talents and even our quirks. I feel exhilarated everyday, to different degrees. I'll tell ya, it can be exhausting but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am so grateful to have finally come to a point where I feel ready to move forward as a student with a goal, a motivation to learn in a formal setting and a drive to contribute in a specific fashion.
I.LOVE.MY.JOB and I.LOVE.MY.LIFE
