I Think in Pictures, You Teach in Words

"I Think in Pictures, You Teach in Words" is the title of an article, but I thought it would be a good title for today's entry.

Today, at the very last possible minute, I got called for a job at a high school, a job I couldn't possibly arrive at on time, but one I took nevertheless. I've been on track all week in the work department, so I wanted to stay onboard. So I called the school and let them know I wasn't going to make it on time, but would make it out there about the same time as the kids.

There's nothing like the terrifying thrill and near state of panic of picking up a last minute sub job on the fly...it's a lot like catching a hot freight out of the yard, and hoping you know where it's bound. The loss of equilibrium of having to land on your feet is magnified by prospect of having to locate a completely unfamiliar school in a part of town you've never been to--and fast. Needless to say I try to keep this sort of thing to a bare minimum, and pick up jobs the night before. Better still, is having people request you ahead of time...

The only sane way to deal with this life is to be as prepared as possible ahead of time by having some clothes you can quickly throw on, having your bag of tricks ready to grab and go, scrounging around desperately for anything edible that's lying around, and having a container that you can fill of whatever beverage you're going to drink while driving down the road...trust me you will not have time to get coffee on the way...

While driving down the road, I realize the map I printed off of Mapquest is a bit vague...the names of the streets by and large are missing. Oh no! Fortunately I had the address of the school to go on, but I had to watch all the streets very closely until I found the right one.

I pull up and realize right away that it's a huge school with huge parking lots and multiple entrances. I park in the back with all the late arrivals and run in the rain while simultaneously clutching my bags and trying to button up the blouse I was wearing. I veer towards the side door that I see students entering, and start asking right away for directions to the office when it becomes readily apparent that the office isn't something I'm going to find quickly on my own. I finally locate it, but have a case of mistaken identity--apparently there are two employees with VERY similar names. Finally, I'm on my way to the classroom...

Fortunately after I get there, things settle down immensely. The other paras show me where to settle in, and once circle time is over, I start getting to know the kids. It's a pretty small group of kids with ASDs, who are on the higher end of the functional spectrum. I spend the rest of the day assisting and hanging out with a fun group of kids.

I'll admit that I had a pretty good time, but then again, I tend to enjoy kids with autism. I enjoy their individual eccentricities, don't get overly concerned about/bothered by quirky behavior and odd personal traits, and am always fascinated by how they see the world. Many of the students in this group were very artistic and liked to draw and paint, and today's title, "I Think in Words" is my reflection on that fact that many children and teens with ASDs are obsessed with anime or comics.

I can relate to that because I grew up watching anime, and reading manga/graphic novels. As an adult, I still enjoy these things...I don't watch much TV, but do tend more towards the Simpsons, and Southpark. And I too, tend to be a visually-oriented type of learner. In fact, I am always looking for ways to demonstrate things visually to students. At one point, we got to talking about languages and how difficult Japanese is...I think part of the reason I can handle learning Japanese and Chinese is because Kanji/Hanzi is a visual/conceptual sort of writing system, as opposed to most other phonetic scripts used by other langauges. It's definitely harder to learn, but it's easier to look at a completely unfamiliar word or group of words and "see" the meaning of it.