Day 1: Enlightening Individuals

Presume competency. See the person, not just the label.

I watched Sue Rubin's story as filmed in "Autism Is a World" today for the first time. It was an unexpected and deeply personal glimpse into the mind of another. Such an overwhelmingly intimate experience! As I watched the 40 minute documentary film, I found myself filling with emotions. Just last night, I wrote in my own paper journal that I am looking for my voice, too. It's that shared experience that brought that connection, I guess. SO many of us, looking for our voice.

But how much more challenging for Sue! Towards the end of the film she said that her dream was to advocate and write for a newspaper. Well, the power of her advocacy was shown as other autistic young people attending a conference asked for her help finding their way, too. And I later found her website here.

If you want to view the film as a series of five clips, click here for the YouTube link.

To view the first segment of this Academy Award nominated documentary, click the "Play" button.


As a classroom teacher taking her first elective from the list of inclusionary speciality courses, there are so many new terms for me. I guess my communications skills are too new in this field, but that IS why I signed on for the courses in the first place. I don't know anything, and I'm here to learn. So, a listing of new vocabulary terms from today (or at least my understandings of these terms are only vague):

• iTalk with iPhone (more info here)
  
• iPod Touch (read Chris Web's blog)
  
• Clicker 5 eBooks (read research article here)
  
• Kurzweil scanner (listen to Ray Kurzweil talk about how technology will transform by 2020)
• Move 'n Sit cushion (I bum tested one today for the first time)

Finally, I also discovered another presentation from another enlightening person. Like Sue, Temple Grandin was also diagnosed with autism as a child. In this video

"She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids."

On Monday, I didn't know how to embed a video, but I learned how to do it on Tuesday. This morning I didn't know that the HTML coding I'd forgotten ten years ago might have some use again in centering a quote. It IS a strange day when you don't learn something. But, by golly, the list of what I need/want to learn is growing exponentially!

(image found at http://prosecure.netgear.com)