A special "thank  you" goes out to Emma McClendon for sending me some of  her original artwork. Emma is a student at Fairland West Elementary School in Rome Ohio.

I just ran across this article in our local paper:

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x983707081/Authors-to-appear-at-West-Virginia-Book-Festival-in-Charleston

Award count up to NINE!! 
There Are No Words has now earned nine literary awards.

They are:

Mom's Choice Award (Gold)
Moonbeam Children's Book Award (Bronze)
Creative Child Magazine's Seal of Approval
Parent-Tested, Parent-Approved Media Award
Eric Hoffer Award
International Book Award
IBBY's "Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities"
Hollywood Book Festival Honorable Mention
Nashville Book Festival Runner-up

The West Virginia Book Festival



Signing at the West Virginia Book Festival.



I DO love me some Dr. Seuss!



A blast from the past. Valorie and Monica stopped by to say hello.

This week I received a very interesting question about forcing an autistic child to participate in art class. I'd love to hear your take on it.

Mary


Q:
I'm new to this. I was shadowing a 11 yr severely autistic
student for the second time, the teacher was using fruit in
art class. The student didn't want to participate. He kept
shaking his head no, and turning around. I didn't see the
point of forcing him to partake in the lesson. I said, why
force, this is for fun. The teacher said, "He never wants
to do anything." She then proceeded to force him. He was so
sad, shaking his head, saying no. I shadowed him before, and
he cooperated with me.
My take on it is, why couldn't he just sit there. I now
students have to learn daily routines, and it's great for
them to participate, but sometimes it's just more important,
to let the child be happy. Am I wrong?

A:
 One of the women I most respect with regard to education of students on the Autism spectrum is Paula Kluth. She maintains that autistic behavior is human behavior. The issues that bother a child with Autism, bother many of us to a lesser extent. The difference is... we have the social skills to make light of our OCD or our interest in collecting spoons or whatever.

 Here's how I see the situation you observed. The Autistic student may have had an issue with fruit in general. The color yellow may grate on his eyes the same way fingernails on a chalk board can grate on our ears. Just looking at the texture of the skin of a pear may gross him out in the same way that watching someone throw up may cause a neurotypical. Apples may remind him that he has to take medicine in a spoonful of applesauce every morning or maybe kids throw fallen apples at him on his way to school.

 What's my point?

 If the Autistic student is balking at the choice of objects for a still life, what's the harm in setting up a separate still life?

 Perhaps the class is working with charcoal... something I don't like to have on my hands... and he is reluctant to get his hands dirty... isn't the concept to learn to love art and to create something out of nothing? Give the kid a pencil or a pen to do the drawing.

 Or you know what? This student may need to use the restroom very badly. He can't "go" in between classes because other kids make fun of him in there. It sounds like he's included in the classroom, so he doesn't have an aide to help him.

 The bottom line is this... we absolutely need to treat Autistic behavior as human behavior. Whatever was troubling this young man was real. His needs are real, and no matter how we wish he were like the other kids in the class (trust me... his mother wishes this more than anyone else), he was born differently.

 Let's treat him with respect.

 

Here is the link to a recent guest blog post I created for Iste Connects:

http://www.isteconnects.org/2010/08/23/keeping-students-engaged-using-cell-phones-and-other-tech-in-the-classroom/

Here is the text of the blog:

Student Engagement: Using Cell Phones and Other Tech in Classrooms

Last night I sat in the auditorium of my sons’ high school for orientation. The students had been dismissed to a scavenger hunt to learn their way around the building, and parents were left behind to visit with the principal. After a long day at work, my mind was beginning to wander, and every time I blinked my eyes, they opened a little more reluctantly. I was in one of those situations where folks asked questions that  you couldn’t hear, and the principal gave an answer that no one really cares about except the asker.

Then, I heard him say this, “Each class has a textbook, but if a teacher is only working from the text, she’s not doing it right. The text should be considered a resource, but the teacher is there to engage the students, use technology and even cell phones to teach the students.”

I sat up straight and considered the possibilities.

As educators, we are reluctant to change our ways. Honestly, if you’ve been teaching the same subject for 15 years, why would you rock the boat? But if we stop learning and trying new things, we become stagnant and obsolete. The children we teach today are fundamentally better at understanding technology than we are. They’ve been immersed in electronics every day of their lives. They eat it up. How can a textbook possibly compete with Youtube? And how can you and your chalkboard possibly compete with the text message buzzing wordlessly in their pocket?

We must embrace the technology that excites our students. The Tomorrow Group has recently conducted some research that may surprise you.

98% of high school students have a cell phone.
83% of middle school students have a cell phone
43% of 3rd through 5th graders have a cell phone
28% of K-2nd graders have a cell phone.

More than one-fourth of middle and high school students have mobile internet on their cell phones, but what can teachers DO with this technology in the classroom? Do your students have trouble with organization? They can begin to use a calendar to remind them of projects and assignments due, organize their school work, be reminded of school activities, communicate with the teacher, create and share documents, take notes, look up information on the internet, access classroom blogs, create their own blog about the work they are doing, work together with other students on projects, coordinate calendars with other students, share favorite web sites with you and other students and even take videos for class presentations.

Teachers can also use cell phone technology to better communicate with parents. There’s a really cool site called SendGM that lets you send out group messages to cell phones and email all at once. Teachers can sign up for a free account and include all your parents’ and students’ contact information…. there will be no escape from your reminders!

Aside from using cellphones, today’s teacher needs to be sure to integrate technology in their classrooms in other ways, as well. There is simply no excuse for today’s educator to not have a web cam and a free Skype account. There are professionals, like me, who visit classrooms AT NO CHARGE on a daily basis using Skype. How would your students benefit from asking questions of an expert or having an author teach them techniques for better creative writing? Skype with me and find out. There is no way I could possibly go into all the uses for web cams in the classroom. If you don’t have one, go to Walmart right now and shell out $20 to get one. You won’t regret it.
Another unusual technology for the classroom is the I-Pod. Most of your students study with music. It helps them focus and can help calm test anxiety. Allowing students to listen to I-Pods during tests or using them for audio books or podcasts can be effective strategies to meet your goals.

This blog is just the tip of the iceberg. The number of uses for technology in the classroom is only limited by your imagination. Below are a few web sites that might help. Good luck!

www.techsavvyed.net
www.ateachersguidetohappiness.com
www.edutopia.org
www.cellphonesinlearning.com

Read more from Mary Calhoun Brown at her blog: http://blog.marycalhounbrown.com

Also, check out her recent book, there are no words, available at http://www.amazon.com:

There Are No Words book trailer

How does a mom of three boys... one of them autistic... end up writing an award-winning book? The story behind the story is now featured on fReado at this link:  http://www.freado.com/featured.php

The photo above is my son, William, outside his dorm at Harvard University. He is 15 and a constant source of inspiration.

Recently some friends of mine on Teachers.net asked me to share the songs I used to teach my autistic son his multiplication tables. After some arm twisting, my 11 year old agreed to sing the songs for a Youtube video. Then he showed up dressed like a gangster with his shorts hanging low and a Memphis Grizzlies t-shirt on that he had slept in. When I asked him to please go change shirts, he politely told me I could sing the songs myself. Below please find a link to my public singing debut. Don't laugh!! I hope it helps you teach your students their multiplication tables in a different kind of way.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig8OiIXqEBo href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig8OiIXqEBo">