Barb Rentenbach and Autism Video Response

These videos have completely changed my views of people with autism. I never realized how intelligent people with autism can be—the things Larry, Tracy, and the others were thinking and typing at the 2008 conference were amazing and I don’t think I could come up with sentences as beautiful or inspiring or ever be that funny! It amazes me that without FC, people with autism would not be able to communicate their thoughts. I can’t imagine thinking of ideas and not being able to express them. Larry said that he would have never been able to live the life he wanted to had it not been for FC, and it makes me grateful we have technology that can foster his dream.

It was also inspiring to see that some of the people at the conference were in school. This is very motivating to me as a future teacher. I know that if/when I have students in my classroom with autism that they are capable of attaining the knowledge and doing the work, I just need to figure out the best ways for the student(s) to show it. Just because they cannot express themselves and communicate in the same manner as others does not mean that nothing is going on in their minds.

I had the same reaction to the video on Barb Rentenbach. She says that she is labeled as a poor thinker, but that she actually has many thoughts, and this is evident in her book, I Might Be You. Some of the excerpts really stood out to me, such as: “My world, my change, the world continues to orbit the sun”—she is talking about objects and how she began holding a water bottle instead of a box of screws or tools (one or the other) but this line is so powerful and I feel like the greatest writers and poets of the world couldn’t come up with such a beautiful line.

Barn Rentenbach seems to have figured out the basics of life, which is: “peaceful, human companionship is priceless.” She says if we were to go on a walk with her, that we should clear our minds of the business world and just be. 

She also talks about students, and this was very educational for me. She says not to shelter students from the anxiety of learning—don’t be overprotective. Students with autism are capable of doing the work in the classroom, and just because they find something challenging doesn’t mean they can’t do it. If our goal as a teacher is to challenge our students, shouldn’t autistic students be challenged as well? Why would be shelter them and not make them try? Barb Rentenbach says to have them do the same work as the other students. I must keep this in mind in my classroom. It is so easy to assume that if a student has a disability that they cannot perform well in the classroom. However, those days are over. These students can perform well—it is up to me as a teacher to differentiate my instruction and materials to fit their needs so they can improve and master material.

One last quote that stood out me…

Labels don’t matter, the source is the source is the source…

(I am SO bummed I was working the Friday night she came to UT and that I have another class after Ed Psych so I cannot see her.)