Lily (Teacher)
Years before I attended my first professional training session in how to recognise and interact with children diagnosed or presumed to be on the autism spectrum, I received sound, unwitting, solid instruction in this by mothers of autistic children. This occurred in the children’s homes, where I was present as a tutor. I would listen carefully and fascinated by mothers’ explanations of the ability, skills set, particular quirks and customary attention spans to expect from their child. I would observe the time, patience, caring and gentleness they dispensed consistently to their autistic child. I was always impressed by the level of academic support and encouragement they gave their child so it was always easy for me to pick up where they had stopped, to practice the nurturing behaviour they had modelled and thus to extend their child further (often to their mother’s surprise) until … lockdowns started. This new era has ushered in even more affirmatively the dominance of the phone in just about all students’ lives, irrespective of whether they are autistic or mentally or behaviourally unusual in any additional ways.
As a tutor, I have had to compete with the increased seduction by technology of all of my home tutored pupils during the months when the opportunities to leave the house and to socialise had been so curtailed. The impact of this on my autistic secondary as well as primary home students was in most, a marked increase in their reluctance to engage with me in online learning sessions. Yet recently, due to the nature of the games they play and media content they watch, to my surprise, they have become more articulate. I have learnt to show interest in and tap into their virtual worlds which has led me to new and rewarding dialogues with them. I have adapted their learning content to make it more led by them as the online fantastical and sometimes real places they are leading me into within their internet world can often easily be built upon and adapted for study. I feel that my dialogue with them has improved and our sessions are more productive, despite this currently being the summer holiday break when normally, the pace and rapport I have built up with them during term time is greatly diluted by their immersion in entertainment media.
