John Elder Robison Inspires

I had the pleasure of listening to the Live Stream of John Elder Robison's interview with ABC Sydney. He is the author of the fascinating book Look Me in the Eye. After hearing him speak in Concord a few months ago, I am even more interested in what he has to say about his life with Aspergers. As an educator, it has been an invaluable book for me. The interview was just as eye opening! He was asked what I would consider some tough questions. He was not phased by them at all. When I commented on this on Facebook, he said that he was not phased because he didn't perceive them as difficult questions due to his Aspergers. There are some advantages I guess! HA!

I have worked with a few high functioning Aspergers students in my 18 years of teaching. Most had executive functioning disorders on top of Aspergers. All had a flair for drama and enjoyed participating in my drama clubs/musicals. Many were analytical and had interests in science and technology (creating video games for instance) especially. One was quite a historian! On their own time they pursued their interests, and I encouraged them to share those interests with their peers.

The biggest challenge, which is no surprise if you know about Aspergers, is that it is very hard for children with Aspergers to have a conversation. Kids are friendly to them and try to talk to them, the conversation goes nowhere...it is too hard...and eventually the kids don't go over to them anymore. It is no one's fault, but I think teachers could do a better job of educating all children about Aspergers. We have an understanding disabilities program, but I don't think it covers this type of disability. Is it a disability? Hmmm...

I know some very successful people who have Aspergers...John Elder Robison is certainly one of them! They are EXTREMELY intelligent and can specialize! It is a disability that can be overcome, dealt with, and embraced really.

Thank you John Elder Robison for inspiring me to look into how we can educate students about Aspergers and Autism. Reading some excerpts from his book would be a possible start along with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night.