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Autistic Children
Although certain people have some very set preconceptions about them, autistic children are actually a very diverse group of people. When most people think about autism children, they picture what is known as low-functioning autism. Most low function artistic kids can barely do anything. Many of them cannot speak, few of them can read, and even fewer of them can develop solid social skills. Autism, however, is a pretty diverse condition. As a matter of fact, many doctors think of it as a range of different issues, rather than just one. Not every autistic child will face the same problems. My first experience with autistic children was as a tutor. I was extremely surprised with the autistic child I got to work with. In some ways, she resembled the typical images that I had come to associate with autism. She had a lot of trouble making eye contact, felt very uncomfortable whenever someone else was in the room, and needed constant routine to keep her from getting upset. She would get extremely stressed out by even the slightest variation in her day-to-day living situation. What surprised me, however, was how intelligent and insightful she was. Although she could not communicate very well with her peers, she understood exactly what the characters in the book were going through. Her reading comprehension was incredible, and she could write great essays as well. When, a few years later, I got involved with an autistic children's charity, I wasn't quite prepared for what I was about to see. The child I used to tutor had a pretty good life as far as things went. She had a caring and supportive family, and great prospects for the future. It turns out that this is far from universal among autistic children. Most of them receive inadequate care, many of them have trouble developing even the most basic skills, and so the future is often bleak. The schools tend to provide as little support as they are legally required to, so some of the most disadvantage autistic children out there are routinely left out by the system. That doesn't mean that teaching artistic children is impossible. Even the most low-functioning autistic kids can benefit from consistent attention. The key is to find the right services and establish a comfortable routine with a caring adult mentor. All kids need routines and good role models, but with autistic children that need is much greater than normal.
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