The Teaching Journey

One dimension to my life is teaching. Don't get me wrong; I love what I do but it is crazy. I've spent most of my teaching career working with students who fall somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. For the last two years I have been working at an alternate school for students who have either emotional handicaps or have a handicap that relates to Autism. These students have been sent to us because they have had major problems in public school. Not all of their problems are of their own making. On a typical day I help students who don't fully understand the social variables of the world around them. It is interesting and challenging. It is also a little nuts. I get called nasty names, get told exactly what size I am, get threatened with violence, and am frequently told just what a horrible job I am doing. Some people tell me thats nuts. Have I mentioned that I love my job. I love helping students who have never had positive experiences with school learn that not all adults choose to not understand. I love knowing that at the end of the day I've accomplished something good even if I'll never see the results. For all the names I get called, for all the threats I deal with, for all the insults and "reality information" that gets thrown at me; in the end they get that I am trying to help them. They might not like admitting this but they know its true. It is a good feeling even if some days I go home feeling rather battered and frustrated. Despite the students level of difficulty, what is more difficult is knowing that many of my students go home to very dysfunctional situations. I can't fix that, I can only give them 6 good hours a day.