Last week, I was asked by my kid’s school to be a sub Para in the morning kindergarten class the usual Para was sick. I normally don’t help out in the classrooms but the office manager knew I had an autistic child and was desperate for help because there are four kids in this class with autism. I thought it would be a great experience so I said I would help out.

The teacher had already begun her class routine, the kids were sitting in front of her rocking chair and she was going over the words for the day. The teacher started calling on kids to read or sound out a word, most of the kids did a great job of paying attention for the short lesson. About 5 minutes later she asked the kids to stand up for a song. Then she came over and introduced herself to me. I asked her to point out the four autistic kids so I could help them if need be. Two of the kids she identified were ones she specifically called on in the morning meeting. I was impressed by how she made them feel like one of the other kids in the class. Next we had to move our bodies and sing I noticed one of the autistic kids was wandering from the group so I went over to him and motioned him back with a big smile and a pat on the back. The teacher gave me a scared look and mouthed “Don’t touch him he has touch issues!”

When the kids were at music the teacher started to share with me the boy’s condition about touch and mentioned she had gotten reprimanded by the boys mother that very morning for rearranging the classroom with out letting her or her son know about the change ahead of time. Apparently the boy struggled with the transition of entering the classroom that morning. As the teacher was talking to me she was rolling her eyes in a disrespectful way. I sympathized with her but understood how that may have been a problem for the child. Then I let her know who I was, that I was a parent in the school with an autistic child. Her face went white, thank goodness the kids came back in because she didn’t know what to say. After realizing that the boy was the son of one of the moms I knew from the autism support group I attended, I told the teacher that I knew his mother and mentioned that she struggles a lot with the boy at home. She didn’t say much.

At snack time one of the other autistic kids had juice brought from home instead of milk like all the other kids. Apparently this family was following the GF CF diet, so again I understood the situation. The teacher had to explain (and says she has to do this each day), why Mike got juice from home. I sympathized with her having to treat this boy in a special way.

Be sure you understand what your teachers are going through with your child with special needs there is added pressure from the other kids perspective. If we (parents of kids with autism) treat the staff and teachers with respect they will learn to respect us too it is so important to work as a TEAM. I would also recommend helping out in a class with some autistic kids just to see for yourself what it’s like you will learn a lot!