I thought about the film we watched all day after class and told so many people about it. I was amazed and blown away with how much Sue could do. I was most amazed with the fact that she wanted to know why she did the certain out bursts or different hand gestures that she couldn't control. I kept wondering all day if other people with Autism think the same way? I baby-sat a boy, my age, who is Autistic through all through high school, and I kept thinking about him throughout the documentary about Sue, because I wonder if he knows that when he does certain things they aren't social "norm" things to do. I think it would be very interesting to find out if other individuals who are Autistic had the same kind of thinking and knowledge as Sue.
I thought it was so cool that she talked through the text to speech board and how she was able to even write very well written speeches. I think that Sue is super lucky to have such good and support family and friends. I think that without that aspect in her life she would not be even close to as successful as she is. I thought it was very interesting watching her use her spoons in the faucet and how she said that is when she doesn't think about anything and just is fully engaged in the water and her spoons. Her spoons were also her comfort which she liked to have at all times and I found it interesting that she said that she knows the spoons add to her "differences" but she can't control or explain how much she likes and feels comfort by them. This made me once again think about the boy who I baby-sat for because he had certain squishy comfort objects that he carried around with him as well.
Lastly, I thought it was amazing that Sue could sit through a two hour college lecture. She said, "Autism is a constant struggle, it takes so much energy to sit and be quiet during lecture." I thought it was cool that she gave a little knuckle pound with her friend who helped her in class, since she was doing a good job. I know for myself how hard it is at times to try and make myself pay attention in all of my classes... but i cannot imagine having to use so much energy on trying to control outbreaks or things of that matter that Sue had to deal with as well as paying attention in class. I thought it was very touching when Sue was doing her speech and another Autistic boy asked into the microphone if she will be available to help others like himself who have autism and will be starting college soon. Sue replied using her text to speech machine, "You can count on me Tyler" and it literally gave me the chills. I think Sue is an amazing lady who works extra hard to be able to do whatever she may want out of life and works super hard to not let her having autism take over her life.
2 comments:
I really liked this movie as well. I thought that it was a wonderful way to truly understand Sue, by listening to her. I think so often we get caught up in reading what textbooks define as a culture or type of individual that we miss actually hearing from an individual who is part of that community or has that type of disability. I understand that not all individuals such as Sue may be open to talking about how they feel, but I think many individuals would rather have others who are interested ask questions, respectfully, rather than assume things. Although this is slightly off subject, the movie also made me think of how important personal communication is. Although communication is being more and more part of our daily lives, I think we need to remember that the best way to learn about someone is to talk with them and listen. I also work with a young boy who is Autistic. Unlike Sue, he communicates by talking aloud. He came every week to a camp that I worked at and every morning greeted me with a hug and said "I love you Miss Brianna". The first week I was quite surprised because in my Special Education class I had read about how individuals with Autism sometimes had a hard time showing emotion or communicating. Overall I think it is important to understand that everyone is different :) and hearing from Sue was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to learn!
I think Sue is a great example of what people with disabilities can do when we don't focus on their deficits - instead what they can do. Her documentary shows the insider's perspective from a positive point of view that I think is valuable for us all to partake in - especially since society historically has seen disabilities as such a deficit. It was refreshing to see this view, and I hope you continue to think this way about children in your future classrooms.
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