Call Me Different,A noted author and entrepreneur with autismshares strategies teachers can use to help their

students on the autism spectrum grow.

John Elder Robison

w

When I was asked to

write an article for this

issue about teachingkids with autism, I

thought, who betterto tell that tale than me? I grew up withundiagnosed autism in the 1960s, so1have a first-person understanding ofwhat it's like. I've also raised a child

with Asperger syndrome, so I've seenautism from the parent's point of view. Ijumped at the chance to offer my ideasin the hope that tomorrow's teachersmay have more success than the oneswho tried to educate me and my son.

A Special Kind of TeacherThe first step toward connecting andsucceeding with kids with autism is toaccept that we are different, not "difficult." Frankly, if you cannot get pastthis hurdle, one or the other of us needs

to be in a different school. It is a rare

autistic child who sets his mind on beingdifficult. However, if you are neuro-typical, every autistic person sees theworld very differentlyfrom you. Thatneurological difference may make itharder to teach us, but it's the situation

that's challenging,not the person.Not everyone can accept that.

Although both my son and I attended"progressive" schools,most of ourteachers were not supportive. In my case,they had some excuse because Aspergersyndrome was not recognized when Iwas in school. With my son (who is now22), the situation should have been different. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Ratherthan embrace or accept his difference,the school fought tooth and nail to resistany sort of education accommodation.

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Not DifficuThey told me he was lazy and impliedhe just wasn't smart. Likemany parents,1simply gave up on school because wecouldn't afford private education andit took too much energy to fight theseeducators' smiling, steadfast, deliberateobstructionism.

Today, I understand that some peoplejust are not accepting of folkswho aredifferent. Any parent who has foughtwith a school over a child's special needshas experienced this lack of acceptancefirsthand. If this fact surprises you, Iinvite you to take a tour of the variousspecialneeds parenting forums on theInternet. The rage parents express towardschools is palpable. If those forums areany indication, the special educationsystem in the United States is notworking to many parents' satisfaction.

Autistic kids say and do some prettypeculiar things, and it takes an exceptional teacher to roll with our twists and

turns and keep things moving with asmile and a bounce. If you're not oneof those people, it's OK! Your skills aresurely needed elsewhere in the world ofeducation. If I've learned one thing inmy 50-some years, it is this: Don't try tobe something you are not.

Begin with UnderstandingI know all too well how challengingeducating autistic kids can be. Teachersask us questions, and we ignore them.They spell out our assignment, andwe do something totally different.When the time comes for class discus

sions, our questions have nothing todo with the topic at hand. It's enoughto drive anyone crazy—even me,a fellow autistic person!

The thing is, as strange as ourresponses may seem to others, theyoften make perfect sense to us. Kidswith autism will often tend to getdrawn into minutiae, losing sight of theoriginal task.

For example, in junior high school,I was supposed to write a report onPanama. Being a geek, I became fascinated by the canal and its locks, whichare a great triumph of engineering.I discovered that the tallest gates, atMiraflores, are 65 feet wide and 82 feet

tall, and weigh more than 700 tonseach. Yet the gates are so well mountedand balanced that two electric motors

are able to swing them open and shut.

Because we have a hard

time reading unspoken

messages from other

people, we often can't

tell if you are happy,

sad, or even angry.

ASCD / WWW.ASCD.ORG 41

Naturally, I wrote my report aboutthe lock gates because it took two pagesto tell their story and anyone could seethey were the most interesting thingabout Panama. My teacher disagreed:"This is a report on gates, and I askedfor a report on Panama."Although I feltthat I had the best paper in the class, Igot an F—and I had no idea why.

Autism is a com

munication disorder.

Researchers say that60-80 percent of thecontent in any con

versation is expressednonverbally. Those messages include most ofthe emotion and a fair

part of the logical directions as well. People withautism may be obliviousto some or even all of that

unspoken material. Sometimes we miss so much,

and seem to ignore you socompletely, that you thinkwe're deaf. But our ears

work, just not the wayyou expect them to.

Because we have a hard

time reading nonverbalmessagesfrom otherpeople, we often can't tellif they are happy, sad, oreven angry. Disabling asthat can be for us, it can also be hurtfulto others. If you approach me feelingsad and I continue playing a videogame with seeming indifference, youmight understandably be upset. Yet wedon't mean to ignore you; we are justoblivious to your state of mind.

Friendship is a great mystery to manyof us. I recall being on the playgroundas a small child, hearing teachers say,"Just leaveJohn alone. He prefers to beby himself." Nothing could have beenmore wrong. I wanted friends morethan anything; I just didn't know howto make them. I played next to the samekid in the sandbox every day for three

months. I thought of him as my friend,even though we never had a conversation. However, he didn't see me the

same way, and hearing him say that Iwasn't his friend hurt me deeply.

Peoplewith autism often have challenges with spoken words, writtenwords, or both. Just as we can hear butnot understand, we can read without

comprehending. When it comes tolanguage, we may be delayed when wehave trouble making sense of words.However, once we figure them out, orsort out our minds, we are often quickstudies. The secret lies in helping usfind the keys to unlock the riddles ofwritten and spoken language.

That's what happened with my son.At age 7, he could barely read; five yearslater, he read at a post-college level. Itwas Harry Potter that precipitated thatchange. My son wanted so much to readthat huge, daunting book that he staredand concentrated, and some switch

flipped in his mind. At the beginning

42 Educational Leadership / October 2012

of summer vacation, he had an unread

book and plenty of time. By the end,he'd mastered every book in the HarryPotter series. That fall, we sent him toan intensive tutoring center to solidifyhis gains. He never had a readingproblem again.

One thing you and your students cantake hope from is this: Autism is a con

dition that gets better withage. The older we get, themore strategies we learn tominimize our disabilities,

and the better we can

blend in.

Six Rules for Helping

As a teacher, you can playa big part in helping yourstudents discover them

selves and learn those all-

important adaptations. I'veassembled a few rules that

may help. When you consider how to apply theserules, however, remember

that every autistic kid isdifferent. If you have fivekids in a class with autism

diagnoses, they may wellhave five totally different

] sets ofchallenges and gifts.| Those differences com-; plicate the task of teaching

because the things thatsucceed with one kid may fall flat foranother.

Rule 1: Tell students exactly what youwant, and say exactly what you mean.Our autism makes it hard for us to

understand things that seem self-evidentto you. For example, you might pointto one side of the room, and every otherkid gets the messageand goes and sitsover there. We don't understand non

verbal cues, so we're left standing in themiddle of the room, alone and scaredbecause all the kids went somewhere

else and we don't know why.When giving directions, first make

sure you have our attention. Then,speak slowlyand logically. If you usebody language, combine it with words."Go stand over there, by Marcie's desk,"as you point to the right, is very clearand understandable.

We have great difficulty discerningsarcasm, and witty turns of phrase areoften lost on us. Comedy often goesright over our heads. Don't say, "That'sgreat" unless you mean it. Kids withautism will not understand why thosewords convey praise one moment andsarcastic criticism the next.

Rule 2: Be consistent and predictable.Remember that we have great difficulty understanding social dynamics.Therefore, we feel most comfortable and

safe when things happen in a smooth,predictable way so that we can anticipate the flow of events. Most kids likevariety, especially in school, where itbreaks up boredom. Not us! We want toknow that art class will always happenat 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday or that wewill always sit in a certain spot in thelunchroom at 12:15.

You comfort a kid with autism the

same way you make friends with askittish pet. Move slowly, speak kindlyand gently, and don't do anythingunpredictable. (Actually, that strategyworks with most kids, but it's particularly effective for us.)

Rule3: Beflexible in yourconversational responses.When a kid says something totally offthe wall, follow his lead. Sometimes our

responses seem disconnected becauseour mind really is somewhere else.Other times, we say unexpected thingsbecause we see the world differently.

In a typical conversation, you mightsay, "I went to a really good movielast night" and expect me to ask aboutthe actors or the story. But if moviesare not on my mind, I might answerwith a monologue about my currentscienceproject. This usually leads to

failed interactions with other kids, who

ridicule us when we don't follow their

social lead. When they laugh or turnaway, we're sad and confused.

Adults, however, usually have themental agility to follow our unexpectedresponses. Adults can stay connected,and that can mean a great deal. But evenmore important, adults can help uslearn how to give appropriate responsesin different social settings and canexplain why we need to do so.

Rule 4: Expect good manners.All too often, I visit schools where the

kids in special ed are bouncing off thewalls, a pack of ill-behaved beasts.When I ask why, the teachers tell me thekids have autism, as if that excuses their

Recent scientific studies have shown

how wrong that idea is. Often, autisticpeople have sharply heightened sensescompared with their neurotypical peers.We may have the ability to distinguishindividual cars from the roar of the

freeway. We might see a million shadesof color where others see a red wall.

At the same time, we may not have theability to communicate that exceptionalsensitivity; indeed, we may just assumeit's ordinary.

Sometimes our sensory sensitivities

are a gift. An ability to see into musicmight help one of us to become asuccessful recording engineer or symphony conductor. It was autism thatgave me the intense focus to unravelmusic and create unique tools to shape

You have no idea which of your misfit kids will

grow up to be the next superstar scientist,

literary genius, or software designer.

behavior. Sure, autism makes it hard to

act the way others expect. Sure, we sayand do inappropriate things. We alsopay a high price for those behaviors—people call us names, make fun of us,and leave us isolated and alone.

That hurts. We don't want to be

rejected. No one does.The best way to avoid being rejected

is to stop acting weird. You will neverget into trouble by keeping your mouthshut, nor will you ever be criticizedfor saying please or thank you. Theidea that kids with autism can't learn

manners is ridiculous. The more politeyour students are, the more successfulthey will be.

Rule 5: Pay attention to sensory issues.Years ago, observers assumed thatpeople with autism were essentially deafand blind, not sensing the world aroundus much at all. "He's in his own world,"was a popular refrain.

and process it. That led to success in myfirst career, when I worked as a sound

engineer for KISS and many otherbig bands of the 1970s. But this overpowering stream of sensory data canbe overwhelming for some; what seemslike a gift one moment can become acrushing disability the next.

Then there is the flip side—sensoryoblivion. Even if we have exceptionalhearing, we may concentrate so deeplythat we unconsciously "turn off ourears. We may stand right in front of aflashing red light, and not even noticeit's there. Hard to believe, I know, but

I've done it myself.

Rule 6: Be sensitive to our state ofmind, even if we seem obliviousto yours.

You may be relaxed and cheerful; atpeace with the world. Sadly, few autisticpeople share that feeling, especially inschool.

ASCD / www.ascd.org 43

As strange as our responses may seem to

others, they often make perfect sense to us.

When autistic kids are asked to

describe their feelings, the two mostcommon emotions are anxiety and fear.Neurotypical people send one anothernonverbal signals for reassurance.Autistic people, who don't receive theunspoken messages, may live in a stateof perpetual anxiety as we struggle tofollow an ever-shifting world where anynew person may be a threat. No wonderthat when I watch kids with autism in

school, so many of them have the "waryanimal" look I remember from my ownchildhood.

It's important to remember that aninability to read other people is oneof the key elements of an autism diag

nosis, but we may hide that weaknessvery well. Adults often look at usand say, "He's so serious," when infact we are roiling with emotion. Theknowledge that we can't see what isobvious to others is often humiliating,so you should approach this area withsensitivity.

Beacons of HopeWith all these challenges, it's easy tosee how teachers get discouraged. Justremember that no one saw the promisein me when I was little. You have no

idea which of your misfit kids will growup to be the next superstar scientist, literary genius, or software designer.

When it comes to education,you have your pick.

National top 10 producer of professional educators* - a wise choice.

Autism has always been with us. Itschallenges shape us as a society and asindividuals. Its gifts bring us the technologies and creative works that set usapart. Your job is to help your studentsdiscover those gifts, while minimizingthe pain of disability and helping themfind their way. 0!

Copyright © 2012 John Elder Robison

John Elder Robison (john@johnrobison.com) is a member of the InteragencyAutism Coordinating Committee of theU.S. Department of Health and HumanServices. He is the author of Look Me

in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's(Three Rivers Press, 2008) and Be Different: My Adventures with Asperger'sand My Advice for Fellow Aspergians,Misfits, Families, and Teachers (Crown

Archetype, 2011). His newest book,Raising Cubby, will be published byCrown in January 2013. His website isjohnrobison.com.

Aspirations in Educational Leadership? Doctorate, masters, and specialist At WMUPassionateaboutTeaching? Early Educationor K-12 TakeEager for more? Elementary Education BA or Professional Teacher Certificate Your Pick

With locations in Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Muskegon, Southwest(Benton Harbor/St. Joseph) and online-wherever you are, we'll meet you there.

Visitwww.wmich.edu/offcampus/educator

*Asranked byThe AmericanAssociationof Colleges forTeacher Education

44 Educational Leadership / October 2012

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