Working well with others

So I think I'm getting past the honeymoon phase here at the different sites I'm working with. This is a good thing. The staff seems to be getting more comfortable with me and aren't afraid to ask for where they need supports in their class. I like this kind of relationship as it helps give me more direction.

I've also started to see bits of American Sign Language being used over here. Today I caught the ASL versions of "Thank you & your welcome" being used by some of the students. What was really nice was that these children were not all deaf, but they were using sign language in class to be considerate of those who were deaf, or needed a more visual way of communicating.

What's still hard is the children who have Autism. There is such a huge range within the autistic spectrum and some of the children here are hitting themselves for stimulation. We have children who do this at my school in the states too, and it's always daunting to hear the slap of a child's hand against their own face, or even worse the crack of their knuckles on their cheek or forehead. At my school back home I've only seen some head banging, and often helmets are given to these children until a substitute can be found for the stimulation. But here I've seen mostly face hitting which is just terrible to watch. I know that all of the staff here are working as hard and as quickly as they can to find a substitute for this kind of behavior and I hope I can be a part of that process.