Kathy Hoopmann's new book for teachers

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Hi Everyone. My name is Kathy Hoopmann and I am the author of ‘Inside Asperger’s Looking Out’, ‘All Cats have Asperger Syndrome’ and the Asperger Adventure series. Once again I am writing a new book; this time it is a book for teachers on how to manage and support students with Asperger’s in the classroom. If you have the time, I would really appreciate feedback on any of these questions.
1) Generally speaking, how would you describe your time at school or university?
2) What do you wish that your teachers understood about you?
3) What do you wish your teachers would do differently in the classroom to help or support you?
4) What are some things that a teacher did do to show you understanding and support and made you feel good about yourself?
5) What are some things that a teacher did that made you feel terrible?
Please don’t feel limited to these questions. If you can think of anything else a teacher should know, then please tell me.
Thanks!
Kathy

There are probably more appropriate examples/events I can't think of right now... but off the top of my head...
One event that describes a few others, happened to me in college. What it came down to was that I was mimicking the teacher's movements - It was a kinetic lesson (how to graft a bud to a tree - horticulture) and obviously (in retrospect) the teacher thought I was insulting him or something - I was just trying to be sure I remembered the lesson (you can't take written notes when watching a physical demonstration, so I was taking "muscle notes").

I got kicked out of the class. There, then, on the spot. In front of all the others. It was college, I had paid for the courses (or my father had) and in my mind I was doing nothing wrong. Event so confounded and upset me that I never went back to that classroom, and eventually "trickled out" of the course entirely and never told anyone about it until now.

Teachers need to understand that odd behaviour isn't always intended to be disruptive. That it should not immediately be assumed to be mocking or insulting, etc. That unless there is serious extremes to it, the problem should be addressed in a personal and private fashion after the rest of the class has left. I would not have minded if the teacher had pulled me aside and asked me "what the H I thought I was doing" or whatever his thought was - give me a chance to tell you what I'm doing! If you tell me it's disruptive / bothering you that much, in a personal, direct way, and why, then I can set my mind to finding a way to solutioning the situation. But if you yell and scream at me, and send me out of class, it will be remembered. And never forgot.

And in my case, that one mistake in the teacher's misunderstanding of my actions, had quite a bit of trickle down in my life.
And he probably doesn't remember it from the guy who blew his nose yesterday.

Wow, OddFiction. That is so sad. I can understand the incident well enough, a teacher overreacting to suspected cheek, but the trickle effect is truly what teachers need to know. Thank you for sharing that. I will definitely stress that in my book.

My experience in college has been sort of a mix of good and bad. I thought once I got there I would sort of magically become "normal," but, I didn't. I spent the first couple years feeling very isolated and lonely, but I felt like I had to stay alone because people were unpredictable, uncontrollable, and they'd only drop me as a friend eventually because I was always the "weird" third wheel when it came to large groups of people. I do better in small groups of maybe two or three, or even larger groups, provided that we're all focused on a common goal like a project or something.

I've also struggled with a math-related LD my whole school career, and when I tried to get accommodations for it at my school, I barely got any except for a pep talk from one of the ladies at the Disability Resource Center and a suggestion to take similar math courses at the local community college. I failed one of the developmental Algebra courses like 3 or 4 times, and I've only managed to pass the required developmental course this past semester. Prior to passing, I was almost contemplating suicide because I felt like I was completely worthless to everyone and would never get anywhere in life if I couldn't do algebra.

It hasn't been all bad, though - I've made a few friends, one of whom is in her 30's and seems to want to look after me like an older sister would. I also made friends with someone in her 40's a couple years ago in my Spanish class. I tend to make friends more easily with the older students.

I've also always brought all my plushies and my collection of die cast Cars to college with me, every year - they help me feel safe. After a bad day, it's reassuring to know that I can come home to a bed full of cute plushies and Cars 2 and Where the Wild Things Are stickers on the walls. I also have a bunch of small plushies that I carry around with me to keep my anxiety from getting too bad. They also help me with sensory issues, too. I have a small stuffed dolphin and two stones I carry to classes with me so I don't bite and pick at my fingernails (one of my OCD rituals).

I guess in a nutshell, what I've learned is, find friends who want what's best for you and support you, and who like you for who you are and don't try to "make you over" into what they want you to be, It's okay if you don't finish college in the usual four years and need to take a little longer, that having even just one or two close friends can make all the difference, carry your coping items with you if you need to and never mind what anyone says about them (if the tables were turned and there were circumstances in which THEY needed coping items, they'd understand then), and make sure the college you choose can provide you with the help/accommodations you need.

As for advice to college professors/instructors:

- If a student finds it difficult to volunteer discussions in class, and it's affecting their participation grade, maybe take them aside and gently ask them WHY they are having difficulty - are they afraid they won't say the right thing? That they'll sound "stupid?" etc etc It usually isn't the case that they're simply tuning out and don't want to learn.

- Is the student bothered by crowds or the sounds of chairs scraping around, or the bright overhead lights? Try to find them a place in the room where no unwanted sensory stimuli is present.

- If a student gets on a tangent about a favorite topic during a class discussion, and you need to move on, just gently smile and hold up your hand or something, and say graciously, "Thank you, so-and-so, we do like hearing from you, but we must move on now."

- If you notice a student using certain "coping items" during class, and you don't really understand why, maybe ask to speak them after class or during office hours, and say to them with genuine interest, "That's a really nice stuffed dolphin/stones/strip of cloth/keychain, die cast car, etc etc...can you tell me more about why it's so important to you and how it helps you?" Don't make the student feel ashamed about needing a coping item to feel safe/grounded/free of unwanted sensory input - they've probably had to deal with that shame all their lives.

- If the student seems more irritable, distracted, emotional, agitated or more vulnerable to sensory input than usual, ask them if everything's okay, and offer to talk with them after class or during your office hours. Make sure they know they're not in trouble and that you just want to help.

- Make working in groups optional.

- Allow snacks and water if the student needs the energy/blood sugar boost during class time (of course, make sure no one brings any foods in that folks may have severe allergies to).

And, I think that about covers everything. Hope this helps. I wish you all the best with your new book!

Medical professionals seem to view stimming as a symptom of autism. And that may be true as far as it goes, but this idea too easily blurs over to the idea that stimming is part of the problem. Whereas actually, stimming is usually part of the solution.

Now, admittedly some people here have said stimming can be a distraction. Fair enough.

Other times, stimming can help with sensory issues and can help maintain concentration. And stimming can also allow you to really get into an activity and thus adds joy of life.

And most quote-unquote 'normal' people stim, too (no such thing as 'normal' anyway, and how boring a place the world would be if there were! ). For example, a person will fiddle with a pen as he or she talks on the phone. And baseball players and other professional athletes engage in a goodly variety of stims.

As both an Aspie and a K-12 teacher --

Let go of the hype about "21st century learning" and how everyone absolutely must work in groups and collaborate and I don't know what all. The world also needs people who don't do group work, and plenty of people are not made for it. I would rather do twelve times the work if I can do it on my own, and now that I'm teaching and NEVER force group work, I hear quiet comments about this from many students, too.

Standards-based grading is another great thing. SBG gives a grade based on mastery of the course content ONLY -- which theoretically is the whole point in the first place -- as opposed to compliance with requirements. The typical old-style gradebook has categories like "Tests", "Quizzes" and "homework". Executive skill issues can lead to poor compliance on handing in papers and suchlike, but the question then becomes whether to grade a math class or Spanish class based on the level of executive skills a student has versus the level of actual mastery of the material the student can show.

Also, disclosing to your students, if you can, provides a great role model of coping mechanisms and success in holding down a job. It's also nice to be able to be open about your own lack of executive skills, if that's one of your issues, and enlist students to help out with that.

Private Stimming:

I will sometimes twist and squeeze a soft article of clothing as I imagine sports or action movies. Sometimes I will also making grunts, fighting sounds, explosions. Yes, this is embarrassing. It's embarrassing just to put this here. I will also sometimes combine this with a writing session and bouncing back and forth to the bathroom talking to myself in the mirror. And at times, this makes for a very productive writing session (although not always, because like with any artwork sometimes the magic happens and sometimes it doesn't)

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Now, I graduated with a bachelor's degree at age 28. I've had such jobs as copy center manager, and as math teacher for one year. So, in many ways I am quite functional and able to add new skills.

Okay, so it was the social and intellectual stuff that first got me interested in the Asperger's-Autism Spectrum (my term). It was more that I long for worthwhile social interaction and friendship and often have difficulty finding it and building friendships, and also that I have intense intellectual interests, which in my case tend to change over time. It was only later that I found out about sensory issues, stimming, meltdowns, etc. And I used to view the episodes of squeezing and twisting soft articles of clothing and imagining, to the extent I thought about them at all, as just breaks from studying and work, and didn't really pay that much attention to them. And as signs that I was tired. And yes, this is something I do in private, always have, because I do realize it looks weird.

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Public Stimming:

I also do things with my hands in public which look more 'normal,' or I might bounce a leg. Sometimes when walking through a neighborhood where everyone is inside and no one really there to watch me, I might find myself lightly mumbling to myself although I wish I didn't do this. And I will do such things as rotate and slowly shuffle two poker chips during games in my prize-only, no-cash poker league, which I think is so close to 'normal' that it's hardly worth my including it.

1) Generally speaking, how would you describe your time at school or university?

My outlook was completely dependent on the teacher. I had a few outstanding teachers along the way, one who tried hard but missed the mark, but mostly I had teachers who saw me as mischievous or acting from ill-intent when I was not. That alone, has greatly shaped my personal outlook on life. I turned it into something positive, if naive, but not every student will.

I dropped out of college after attending full-time for 4 years (with 2 years successfully completed) in despair that I simply did not have what it takes. I went back recently and some things have been easier, particularly the use of technology enabling a significant increase in visual aids.

2) What do you wish that your teachers understood about you?

That I have major sensory issues. The one teacher who acknowledged this right away put me in a cardboard box for the entire school year. It was humiliating. Worse than that, I had no control over it and at times began to hallucinate a little (a phenomenon I have always blamed on the box).

3) What do you wish your teachers would do differently in the classroom to help or support you?

A better way to handle it would be a non-humiliating isolated area that the student has a choice over when to enter and when to rejoin the class. I cannot overstress the choice factor enough--sensory relief=good, sensory deprivation=traumatic. The child is the only one capable of distinguishing when the line is crossed and should be the one in control.

4) What are some things that a teacher did do to show you understanding and support and made you feel good about yourself?

My 5th grade teacher let me sit with other children and was the first time I was not isolated from my peers.

One of my middle school teachers bought me a book that taught me build some executive functioning skills.

My mother encouraged me to color during church, even though other kids were not allowed to.

A college writing instructor I had left me with the feeling that after the class I was more of myself--only more refined, rather than that I had acquired a new set of facts.

5) What are some things that a teacher did that made you feel terrible?

Put me in a cardboard box.

Thought I was being "smart" (how is that a bad thing at a school anyway??) when I was not intentionally trying to he mean.

Thank you all for your honest and deeply personal replies. They are enormously helpful.

What age students will your book focus on?

I skimmed through Working with Asperger Syndrome in the Classroom: An Insider's Guide yesterday, it had some sound advice but mostly focused on primary school children.

My book will give advice and suggestions that I hope can be used by all teachers for lower, middle and upper grades.

Don't know how similar our schools are. I'm Australian. And my last year of school was in 83. However, some of the things I remember are negative. I've been hit and yelled at by teachers (though far more by school bullies). When I was seven yo (2nd grade), I remember a teacher, that I'd apparently annoyed, got the rest of the class to modify the lyrics to a song to place my name in it, to embarrass me. Must have worked. Forty years later and I still remember it.

If teachers were to learn three lessons, I'd advise
1. Flexibility to meet the needs of different learning styles.
2. Don't be quick to punish.
3. Embarrassment isn't an acceptable form of correction.

I have to say though, I miss school. I miss the Asterix comics in the French language. I miss the science lab, the sports days, the school library, the woodworking class. The ambiance. I'd love to be in school again. Ah well.

Here's the philosopher Jeremy Bentham. I'm not quite sure how to take this humorous passage from newspaper, because for starters, the “Panopticon” is Bentham's earnest attempt at prison reform, and is anything but light and amusing. And we are looking across almost two centuries.

But all the same, this sure looks a lot like stimming.