Final Course Post

With the semester coming to an end, I have taken some time to look over my notes and the papers I have written for this class. I realized that I have a much better understanding in diverse children's literature across many different cultures. It was great to read so many different books about different cultures and ethnic groups. By doing the Questioning the Text papers, it really made me look critically into the novels we read and see what stereotypes or generalizations were present, as well as trying to understand what the author may have been saying throughout the book.

I loved having the insider/outsider debate and really questioning my own beliefs as to who should write diverse literature. Although I still have mixed feelings about, it made me realize how underrepresented some groups are by having an 'insider' write about that group, such as Native Americans. I also learned that although a book may be given a specific award, it doesn't necessarily mean that that book is the best to be represented in a classroom. I always had the judgment before that a book must be good if it was given an award, yet one must read through the book critically and get an accurate review or research as to how that culture was represented. As a future teacher, I'm definitely going to read through books beforehand and make sure that it's being used in the appropriate ways.

Not only have I learned about books in this class, I also have learned how to use blogs:) I'm not very tech savvy and get frustrated at times, yet this class has definitely helped me to understand the use of blogs and has given me an opportunity to share my ideas and hear from other people. It's a great way to get more information on important topics, as well as seeing other's perspectives on certain books. I loved that this class had a very safe and open environment where we all could express our thoughts on the books we read. I'm definitely going to continue using blogs and hopefully communicate with authors of books I come across when I have my own classroom one day.

Thanks for a great semester!

Autism Insurance in Michigan

Hi,
I have worked with some children with autism and have seen many families who don't get insurance covered for diagnosis and treatments for those on the Autism Spectrum. There was a press conference scheduled today at the Capitol in Lansing. There is a hearing on December 13 at 9am in front of the Health Policy Committee at the Capitol to get the bills about the insurance coverage for families passed. You can find more information on their website: http://autisminsurancemichigan.blogspot.com/.
On this website there's an email address that you can send a letter about your experiences with families who have children with autism and let them know how a lack of access to Autism Services has impacted these families. This website also provides the address, time, and more information about the bill.

Please attend this hearing on the December 13, 2007 to support these families and to get the bills passed!! We need as much support as possible!

Thanks for reading.

Reflection of Texts as a Set

Reflecting on the three books I chose, I think they bring up different issues and situations of children with autism. I found it interesting, however, Looking after Louis and Andy and His Yellow Frisbee had notes about autism in the back of the book, and Ian's Walk: A Story about Autism had a reference note at the very beginning of the book. The notes in the back for Looking after Louis mentioned mainstreaming children with disabilities into the classroom, and Andy and His Yellow Frisbee discussed the symptoms of autism and Ian's Walk discussed the the importance that families play (particularly siblings) and the challenges that family members face. Both Louis and Ian's Walk had professionals write about the note on autism, whereas in Andy it was written by the author.

While searching for books on autism, it was difficult to find many picture books on this topic. There were several novels written for adolescents, yet when looking for picture books at the library, there wasn't much of a selection. I understand that this is a difficult topic to discuss and explain, yet with these three books together, I feel it will help students grasp the understanding better and get an accurate representation of autism. Even though Looking after Louis isn't as highly recommended by me as the other two, it still can add to the classroom library and help children understand about acceptance. The teacher will just have to be careful as to how they use and read that book.

I also noticed that within all three books, the person who was autistic was a boy and drawn as if they were "normal." It's good that they were all drawn similar to other children because they don't have physical characteristics that make them autistic. It's also interesting that these characters were all boys, yet it could be because autism is found more with boys than girls.


Overall, I would recommend this text set because it brings up various topics and from different perspectives of people. Although not included in the text set, yet mentioned in the review post, I also highly recommend the book, Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism by, Sharon Rosenbloom. It gives a beautiful and powerful insight into the lives of those who are related or interacted with children with autism. It's mainly from a parent's perspective, yet adds to having another view point on the topic, in which other adults and parents can relate to.

Here's the website to view Dolly Gray Awards given to different books:
http://www.dddcec.org/secondarypages/dollygray/Dolly_Gray_Children

Review of a Professional Resource

Sayers, Bonnie. "Looking After Louis Review." 2006. <http://www.epinions.com/content_220221509252>

Bonnie Sayers is the editor for Autism Spectrum Disorder site and mother of two sons with autism. The full review can be found on this site.

After reading her review on "Looking after Louis," it confirmed some of the beliefs I had before I read the book. I did question whether or not Louis was necessarily autistic because he seemed to only repeat things. Sayers wrote, "Louis is the new boy at school, who sits and stares often at the wall. It seems from the text that Louis might have echolalia. According to Wikipedia, 'Echolalia is the repetition or echoing of verbal utterances made by another person. Up to 75% of autistics exhibit echolalia in some form.'" She also went on to say, "Louis would repeat portions of the conversation other children would participate in, when he was addressed by the teacher or another child he would repeat it. There was never any mention of a speech issue or echolalia from the teacher. The children often laughed finding this funny, without really benefiting from an explanation to the behavior." I agreed with this as well. I wasn't quite sure how I to take this information, yet when I saw that this book was considered for the Dolly Gray Award, I almost forgot my thoughts. That just goes to show the importance of looking critically at texts and how they represent their data, and not base a book "good" because they were offered an award.

Sayers goes on to point out, "The recess page spread lacks utilizing support for the children and Louis during the outside break. There is no one watching over Louis or helping to facilitate socialization among the students," and it's not even until later that it mentions that Louis has an aide to help him, yet she's also misrepresented as well. Another good point in which Sayers mentions is, "The data listed at the back of the book on autism includes, 'Louis is able to watch and learn from his peers and to practice social skills, while his classmates learn empathy and respect for individual differences.' As a reader of Looking After Louis I did not find that to be true since the children were laughing and not given any assistance during recess with the end result being Louis got to play outside another time that they could only sit in the classroom and peer out the window." When I first read the book, there were parts of it that bothered me, yet I couldn't think of what bothered me. After reading Sayer's review, it helped me to look at the book much more critically and how the other two books I chose do a much better representation of children with autism. Although I did like the message of acceptance and of that being different is ok, I didn't really think of the children laughing and making fun. Yet, children in classrooms can and do make fun of others, but in this book, it could've been handled and written differently to promote good behavior and true acceptance.

Sayers also has a book review of Ian's Walk: A Story About Autism and highly recommends that book. Review can be found on: http://www.epinions.com/content_60247608964

Another great source for reading about families with children with autism is Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism by, Sharon Rosenbloom, photographs by Thomas Balsamo. This book has excellent pictures of autistic children with family members, as well as content as to how families handle the struggles and challenges, as well as the responsibilities and love they have with their children with autism. Rosenbloom is a speech and language pathologist and parent of a teenage son with autism. She writes about the thoughts of parents and finding out about the diagnosis, as well as living with their child and the hopes they have. I highly recommend this book, which gives a powerful, yet beautiful and honest description of children with autism.

Autism: "Ian's Walk: A Story about Autism"

Lears, Laurie. Ian's Walk: A Story About Autism. Morton Grove: Albert Whitman & Company, 1998.

This book won the Dolly Gray Award for Children's Literature in Developmental Disabilities in 2000. This book is about a boy, Ian, who has autism and goes for a walk with his two older sisters, Julie and Tara. Julie narrates the story and expresses her frustration and embarrassment with Ian when he reacts differently to situations, such as sniffing the bricks or staring at a ceiling fan. Ian does get lost for a little bit, but is then found. In the end, Julie walks home with Ian the way 'he likes,' such as allowing him to sniff the bricks. She accepts his routines by the time they walk back home.

This is a wonderful story that describes many different things. For instance, it helps students who read this book to get a better insight and understanding of autism. It also helps students to see from a siblings perspective of what it may be like living with a sibling who has autism. I really liked how this book "acknowledge the negative feelings of brothers and sisters" with autism, mentioned in the "Note about Autism" at the beginning of the book (Rolland). This note also mentions that Julie is "mixed with these negative feelings, [as well as] strong feelings of loyalty, responsibility, and love" (Rolland). Because this book expressed the hardships that families may deal with it, it made it more realistic and makes the reader aware that although it can be difficult at times, it's important to be accepting, as well as try to be understanding. It also brushes on the point that responsibility and love play a role with siblings with autism.

I would definitely recommend this book for a classroom. The illustrations by Karen Ritz are beautifully done and expresses the emotions of all the characters in the book. The note at the beginning tells the readers that understanding and explaining autism can be difficult, yet this book does a great job in reflecting on a siblings perspective, as well as how Ian may feel about things. It shows that challenges, as well as the responsibilities and love that "siblings of children with disabilities such as autism " face in their daily lives (Rolland).

Autism: "Andy and His Yellow Frisbee"

Thompson, Mary. Andy and His Yellow Frisbee. Bethesda: Woodbine House, 1996.

This book is about a boy with autism, Andy. A new girl at school, Sarah, is very interested in Andy and how he spins his yellow Frisbee "around and around and around" and seems to be in "his own world" (Thompson). When she tries to confront him, Andy's protective sister, Rosie, becomes worried that Andy will be upset with Sarah trying to interact with him. It turns out that Sarah brings her own Frisbee to let Andy spin. Although he doesn't spin it, Rosie is surprised that he allowed Sarah to be so close to him.

In this book, it was helpful that Thompson mentioned near the beginning of the book that Andy has autism. It allows children who read this book to see how some children with autism can act, and that some of these children repeat actions over and over again (such as spinning a Frisbee). What I appreciated about this book was that it gave an insight into Andy's world and why he may act to specific things and people. It also showed Andy having the capability of having different emotions. Although not all children with autism can express their feelings verbally, Andy can express them through actions, such as screaming when upset or uncomfortable.

Thompson was the author and illustrator for this book. The illustrations show that Andy doesn't look any different from other children, and it even says that in the story. The pictures do a good job of showing the emotions of others, as well as how Andy really does seem to be "in his own world" and not interacting with anyone. The story definitely focuses on Andy and how it shows he's autistic. There's an end note at the back of the book describing what autism is and some symptoms of it. It's also mentioned how Thompson has four children and one who has disabilities, yet it doesn't specify if her child is autistic. Overall, I would recommend this book for a classroom because it allows students to better understand what this disability is and how they may act within certain situations. It also allows the students to see how they can also try and interact with them by being very patient, like how Sarah was with Andy. Lastly, it allows students to see how a sibling may feel and what they may do when having a younger or older brother/sister who's autistic.

Autism: "Looking after Louis"

Ely, Lesley. Looking After Louis. Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company, 2004.

This book was considered for the Dolly Gray Award for Children's Literature in Developmental Disabilities. This book is about a boy with autism, Louis, who is a new student in a regular classroom (inclusion). The children begin to understand Louis and include him in their activities. Once Louis shows making a connection with one of the students, the teacher allows Louis and him to go outside and play soccer, telling students that it's okay to make exceptions sometimes.

I liked that this book brought the message about acceptance and how it's okay to be different, yet no where in the book did it mention that Louis was autistic, until you read the end note in the back of the book. The note at the end described how mainstreaming children with disabilities into a classroom is "tailored to their needs" (Skidmore). Louis also had an individual aide, which many children with disabilities have when mainstreaming into a regular classroom and helping them be a part of the class. This can help children understand why others sometimes have aides.

Although it's a good message for children to understand acceptance and that it's okay to be different, it would have been better if they specifically mentioned that Louis had autism or a disability. Also, at the end of the book a student said to the teacher, "I think we're allowed to break rules for special people" and the teacher nodded when she allowed Louis to play soccer outside with another student when it wasn't recess (Ely). This statement could be misleading and make it seem as if all children with disabilities are special and need rules to be broken for them to fit in.

Overall, I think it was a good book with an important message, and had appropriate and creative illustrations, by Polly Dunbar. I liked how she made Louis look like every other child because children with autism don't look any different to any other child. It would be a good book to read in a classroom because it allows students to see the importance of acceptance and that they may have other classmates in their classes one day who may have disabilities. Coming from a child's perspective, it also can help students who read this relate to it. Yet, when including it in the classroom, one has to look at how they are going to address what autism is and how some children may act, only because it doesn't specifically explain autism, but that Louis was "different."