A Rose by Any Other Name

There are moments in time when I wonder what’s really important in life. Truth and laughter are two characteristics that give life foundation. Without truth one would live in perpetual uncertainty and fear. The shoe would be waiting to drop, and you would be constantly bracing yourself for the fall. Laughter is what gives the foundation the flexibility to go with the flow, shift with change and undulate with joy. These are important for life to actually be lived with potential.

The last two weeks I have been continuing my research and climbing my learning curve for my RDI consultant in training process. Even though I continue to look for a supervision family, I have been fortunate enough to begin working with two other families. Part of my training is to conduct one full assessment on a neurotypical child to demonstrate a baseline and comparison of the differences between a child on the spectrum and one who isn’t…a typical child. I also have conducted baselines for other children who are not “typical”.

What I have come away with doing these assessments is that neurotypical and autistic children are the same in that there is a truth about them. The truth is that they are all vulnerable to the possibilities that life holds for them, both good and not so good. They are the truth – they are genuine, individual and unique, and deserving of opportunities to reach their potential, and not settle for the potential that may be prescribed.

I know a student who perceives himself as a lousy reader, and very good in mathematics. His perception is deeply rooted, and for years he would struggle with his comprehension, and reading fluency. What he didn’t know was that all testing indicators showed his strengths lay in his comprehension, and that even though he was only in fourth grade, his reading ability was at a 12+-grade level. Reading the actual words was a challenge for him, so he always relied on listening to all his books on tape. He could recite, by memory, more classics - Trumpet of the Swan, Charlotte’s Web, and years later, entire chapters of the Harry Potter series. Yet, he still saw himself as a failure as a reader, and only “good in math.” While, his math scores were never revealed to him, his reading scores were. It was a challenge to convince him of his skills - but once he saw the “results” in black and white, his perception changed….and so did his self esteem, and ultimately - demonstration of performance. What if he had known about his “deficits” in mathematics? Would those “results” have changed his perception, and therefore his performance? Perception is his reality.

At this time of year, I share as much as I can to my previous year’s students successes, challenges, and any intricacies that I believe would help both teacher and child in the following year. I am careful to pass on my perceptions, to hopefully transfer my reality that what we need to expect from these children are their abilities – wherever they are with them. To have an understanding of whom that child is, what is, in actuality, their truth. To know the spots to look forward to the laughter that child will bring into the classroom. These things I share for all my students – because, at the end of the day – they are all the same…just different.

As I watched the tapes of the baseline assessments of both the NT and the NO (“neuraloriginal” – my term) children, they were true, and authentic, and their joy and their personalities made me laugh. They are important, and deserve the same perception of potential.