Who’s Mentoring Who?
July 15, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
I aired some of my worries about what will happen for autistic kids as they get older in the previous post. Three New Jersey school districts (Bergenfield, Dumont, and New Milford) are opening an alternative middle school and an alternative high school for autistic high school students and for alnertive high school students. Today’s Bergen Record notes that “the hope is that they will intersect eventually so the alternative high school students can become mentors to adolescents with autism.” Bergenfield Schools Superintendent Michael Kuchar is quoted as saying that
“These children with autism lack a lot of social skills…..If we could train our high school students to work with them, it could give them that peer relationship that they so sorely lack.”
My son does lack plenty of “social skills”—while he does have something to learn from other high school students, I also think that they have a lot to learn from him and from autistic kids.
I agree Kristina.
When properly supported inclusion was in place for my child, everyone seemed to benefit. The teenage boys in the school were great with my child, and they thought my child was ‘cool’. When my child did well in a school choir concert, the whole town was delighted. It gave my child a lot of confidence. The casual, calm, laid back approach of teenage boys and young ‘Mannies’ is often wonderful for children with ‘issues’ of any kind.
I think the new walk you mentioned in an earlier post is confidence!
Do you mean the “swagger”? A friend who has not seen Charlie in a year thought he was also exhibiting the “droopy drawers” look with his not-quite-pulled up cargo shorts……..
I’ve been wondering what the diagnoses of the “alternative high school and middle school students” are.
Hi Kristina,
I think every teenage boy could be given a ‘diagnosis’ or a label by school administrators! I have certainly seen them try – especially with the ever popular ADHD. Public school curriculums are designed for girls it seems.
I thought the ‘alternative’ in the article most likely meant Catholic school? I did not think it actually meant alternative kids!
The boys that were so great with my child often were considered to be trouble makers by other parents but they were just very kind and empathetic boys to me. Maybe it was because they could remember how hard it was to be a little kid in elementary school.
I mean it about the Manny phenomenon being especially ‘theraputic’ for children and ‘tweens’ with special needs.
However, on the current-hopefully on its way out fad of ‘droopy drawers’, my child’s young male therapist (who did all the ‘outside stuff’ with great success) taught my child to wear the shirt untucked, the baseball cap backwards, etc.much to my horror.
“…while he does have something to learn from other high school students, I also think that they have a lot to learn from him and from autistic kids.”
I absolutely agree, especially after a year of watching my son’s second-grade class interacting with his classmate, who is autistic, and with my son, whose diagnosis is selective mutism.
Fortunately for all these kids, their teacher is a man who believes that every one of us has some areas where we’re strong and some we’re still working on. If only I could clone him!
Charlie had two male aides in his classroom this year—it was the name of one who he always called for! And he has had a male ABA therapist for the first time and it’s made a huge difference—-his class is all boys. Who says our kids are not aware of what other people are like?