Over the years since I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, I have received many accommodations from the school system. In my next few entries, I am going to talk about some of the accommodations that have helped me to succeed in school. While many of these "helping hands" have indeed been helpful, others have been a bit of a hindrance. I speak only for myself on this matter, because other individuals with autism will respond differently to treatments.
One of the accommodations I received was the benefit of a special education classroom. These special ed classes served a distinct purpose for me as I progressed through middle school and high school. While in these classrooms, I discovered that I could indeed perform well in academic settings. I found, however, that I did not need to put forward a lot of effort to succeed in special ed classrooms. After I steadily progressed back into the mainstream classrooms, I continued to succeed and receive the A's and B's I had received in special ed classrooms. In special ed classrooms, due to the small class size, I was not as quiet as I had been in mainstream classrooms. I was more comfortable communicating with classmates and the teachers.
These benefits did come with a hindrance because students in mainstream classes did not look favorably on special ed classrooms, calling them "retard classes." While my self esteem was improving academically attending these classes, I still felt socially inferior due to the barrier between mainstream classes and special ed classes. For this reason, I did not disclose to my new high school band friends that I was taking special ed classes. I still don't know if they would have treated me the same if they had known. Keep in mind that these are my own experiences and do not reflect this accommodation as a whole.
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