Do you know what autism is? Did you know that boys are nearly five times more likely than girls to have autism? I chose to write about autism awareness month because I don’t think it is recognized enough. I am going to interview a teacher (Angie Cowen) here at Emporia Middle School that works with kids that have autism.

“Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disability; signs typically appear during early childhood and affect a person’s ability to communicate, and interact with others. ASD is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a ‘spectrum condition’ that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees” (Autism Society). There is no medical detection or cure for autism.

Living with autism can be challenging because of loud noises. If people speak too fast, their words can get jumbled up and be hard to understand. It’s hard to speak because you can get words mixed up, causing social problems. People that have autism get overwhelmed a lot. You might see a kid that has autism rock back and forth in their chair or flap their arms. Look at this story: https://emssound.net/851/news/life-with-someone-who-has-autism/

Angie Cowen has been working with kids that have autism for many of years so I decided to ask her some questions.

Q: What are some of the struggles of working with kids that have autism?

A: “Communication is the most difficult thing because they don’t know what they are trying to say, they are always wanting computers and that makes me mad, to understand what they want they sometimes have to lead you to what they want or need.

Q: What is your favorite part about working with kids that have autism?

A: “All of it, I love coming to work every day it’s never boring, we also teach different skills on top of the other things like life skills, and safety.

Q: Do you have to have any special training to work in the classroom?

A: “Yes I have been teaching for 20 years, and I have a degree for regular teaching but I don’t like it I always knew that I wanted to work with kids that have autism”.

I think Autism Awareness Month is important because nobody pays attention to people that may have a disorder. There is no medical cure for this so they have to deal with it. “Sixty years ago autism was nothing more than an unrecognized developmental delay generally lumped in with mental retardation. Today it is recognized as an independent neurologically based disorder of significance, a major public health problem, and a topic of much research” (Health).