Thank You Autism
Ever since the age of 7, when I got the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” my response has always been “A teacher!”.
I was one of the lucky ones who never had a single doubt about what I wanted to be, I went to college with a plan, in four years I would be in a classroom full of 20 or so little smiling faces that I would get to call my class!
It only took me one semester to figure out that being an elementary teacher was not going to be my thing. My family was shocked.
Their child who since kindergarten had been wanting to be an elementary teacher was changing her plan?! I didn’t see it coming either.
All it took was one little boy, who happened to have severe nonverbal autism, to make me realize that I did not belong in your typical classroom.
He opened my eyes even more to the beautiful world of autism, that little blonde haired blue eyed preschooler, showed me that I was meant to become a special education teacher.
This is something that previously wasn’t even on my radar and now I could not imagine my life differently!
I did go to college, and some time later (seriously, I admire those that can get their stuff together and get done in 4 years!). I do have my own classroom but it looks much different than what I envisioned.
Today, I have a classroom full of ten wonderful, funny, smart, and joyous students who teach me something new every single day.
They have taught me more than I could have imagined, but most importantly that having autism (or any disability) may present challenges but it certainly does not define someone.
Autism has taught me that every day is a new day.
There are those big behavioral days where the students leave and I feel like I was just the worst teacher, that I’m not doing what I should be for them. But every single day these students come to school, with a smile on their face, and they move on, they do not hold on to what happen yesterday, or even hours ago!
So, thank you autism, thank for you giving me the most perfect classroom, where we celebrate every victory big and small, where we have spontaneous dance breaks, where we script our favorite movies all day long, and where we learn to accept to everyone no matter what.
Thank you for giving me the chance to challenge myself every day.
Thank you for giving me the students who make me laugh every day.
Thank you for giving the opportunity to witness a parent who heard their child say their first word.
Thank you autism.
This beautiful article was shared with me by an amazing teacher.
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