Hello. I'm too tired to blog.

But I wanted to check in anyway. We survived the first week of school. I think I'm really going to like my class. They cross the full spectrum of autism - from non-verbal, still havin' an accident once in a while to the kid who is taking Algebra II with general ed students, and can calculate how many minutes left in the class period practically instantaneously.

I'm still trying to figure out how to teach functional academics in high school. Everything we work on is supposed to have a real-world application to prepare the students for adulthood. Math is all about money, paychecks, time cards, banking, etc. Reading is about ads, newspapers, menus, etc. Writing is about shopping lists, letters, job applications, personal information sheets, etc.

Here's a cute story. One of my guys has the total stereotypic version of autism - high academics, low social skills, perseveration, stimming, etc. He can quote complete scenes from his favorite movie, and loves to sing the theme at the top of his lungs (sometimes at inopportune times and places). His favorite computer program has an application that he loves - he can sing into the microphone and hear himself through the headphones, which of course are designed to keep the rest of the class from being distracted when it's his turn on the computer. The other day two groups were working on Math, one student was writing a letter, and he was having his turn on the computer. The aide noticed that he was going to his favorite program...the one where he likes to yell. So I placed a piece of tape over the mike at the top of the screen, then added a sticky note over it that said "Quiet! It's time for Math." It must have worked, because he didn't even try to yell into the mike once during his turn. Bwahahahahaa!

Have a great week.