Children with high functioning Autism are more than capable of performing in a mainstream classroom environment, given the proper understanding of their abilities to process information on a slightly different level than normal children.
When we hear the name Steve Jobs, most think computer genus billionaire. But, did you know that Steve Jobs had high functioning Autism? Not many people can wrap that thought around mind as he is considered to be the master mind of the tops selling computer in the world. In fact, most people who hear autism, think of someone who is slow in learning, not quick to catch on or cannot function on a day to day bases without the help of a normal functioning person, this is simply untrue as Steve Jobs has proven.
It seems almost cruel to place a child with a high IQ, in a class with children who test on a lower level. By doing so, children who have the knowledge to excel in an education, end up being left behind. My experience as a mother with a son who has high functioning autism, has been very disappointing when it comes to my son’s education. When he was diagnosed with his disorder, his current school insisted I remove him from a main stream class and place him a special education class. Their recommendation did not take into account that he was a year ahead of himself in school, that he scored on the advance level for all his SOL testing, or that he could build a Lego structure consisting of 600 pieces in less than hour, with no instruction’s, but, only by looking at a picture. Their decision was based solely on daily assignment grades, which were slightly below average, and an official diagnosis of Autism.
During the course of my own research, I learned that a normal person’s brain takes in information in a normal fashion. It uses touch, sight and smell to help remember events and information. It also process information in a verity of ways, on an equal level. These are things that a normal brain learns it grows. An autism...