978-1572305441

164 A MIND APART
because a child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) does not
mean that the school has the expertise or willingness to take these
learning styles into account. A child can have the best individualized
program in his educational folder, but if the plan is not implemented
with the assistance of experts it is unlikely that the plan will be used effectively.
Willingness to learn and to accept new challenges are the most
important predictors of success. These schools see parents as an important
part of the education team, not as potential critics to be held at a
distance. They use reports sent home to tell good stories about the
child’s day at school, not all the bad things that happened. I remember
one school where the teacher wrote things like “Teresa should learn not
to pass gas in class.” This is an example of a school unwilling to work
with parents in a constructive fashion. If parents have a choice about
what school their child may attend, it is worthwhile to compare and
contrast several schools and choose the one with the most experience
with children with ASD or the one most willing to be flexible and accommodating
and one that treats parents as part of the team.
* * *
We had a school conference for Frankie that turned out quite well,
in fact. The principal and teacher were genuinely interested in learning
how to help Frankie and were willing to listen to their special education
consultants—a psychologist, a special education teacher, and a speech
pathologist—all of whom had experience with children with ASD and
were aware of the latest research on learning styles in this population.
The special education teacher, who attended Frankie’s conference, had
many helpful things to say. She understood that the key was not to
make Frankie follow the standard curriculum, not to focus on what he
could not do, but rather to capitalize on his particular strengths and
talents—his memory for details, his ability to see patterns and to decode
complex visual figures (like letters and numbers) into simpler parts. Focusing
on the ways in which these children can learn is much more effective
than focusing on what they cannot do.
The consultant suggested that Frankie’s teacher use his interest in
flags as a vehicle for learning about math; if you have two flags and you
multiply by another five, how many flags will you have? Frankie could
picture this scenario in his mind without difficulty, and it turned out to
be much easier to teach Frankie math this way, rather than using the
traditional examples in the books. She also suggested that Frankie