Multi-Modal - Guest Speaker Michelle Cahoon

Hello Everybody,

This Monday we had a guest speaker in our Multi-Modal class. Michelle Cahoon, Rotary Camp counselor and mother of a child with autism, came in to class to teach us a little more about Autism. She provides us with a lot of valuable information about the condition that may be helpful for us when we become teachers. I believe that probably the most important point that she discussed with us was the way that children with Autism should be accomodated in the school system. She also gave us a lot of tips for handling the issues that can come up when working with a child who has Autism. Tips included: listening to the parents of autistic children, talking to previous teachers, teach to the kind of learner they are, etc. Being the mother of a child with autism, it was apparent that Cahoon is very passionate about serving students with special needs. She expressed her opinions that it is very important that teachers do everything possible to accomodate students with autism in their classrooms. Yet, a member of the class raised a very important point. How much should a teacher do to accomodate a child with autism before it becomes unreasonable and unfair to the teacher? I think that this is a very valid question to ask. As teachers it is our responsibility to try to reach and educate every student that comes into our classroom. Yet, at what point does the extra time and effort being dedicated to one student start to rob other students of the attention and energy that they too deserve from their teacher? That is why I believe that in cases where exceptional students with more severe disabilities are in an inclusive classroom there should be an aid there to give the one-on-one attention needed by said student so that the teacher can focus on all students fairly. The teacher should still be making curriculum adjustments to accomodate the student with special needs, but matter of behavior modification and one-on-one attention should be the responsibility of the personal aid. This way, the teacher and the aid work in collaboration to give the student with special needs what they need, while the teacher is able to focus equal attention to all other students in the classroom.