The Top 10 Things that Teachers Did that Helped Me the Most

Thank the teachers with me.

I would not be where I am in AutismWorks without the help of my teachers. They gave so much to help their students. Every teacher is different and that same goes for the students too when learning; Teaching differently and learning differently from each other. Here are ten things that have helped me the most from elementary to high school.

• Extremely patient

Admittingly, I was not an easy student in the classroom. Standing on top of desks, making a mess, having an attitude, etcetera, etcetera; Lots of patience coming from the teachers. The thing that became the game changer was that most of the things I have done were unintentional and didn’t know I was not supposed to do what I was doing. I really did want to improve and to learn.

• Wouldn’t let any of my improper behavior slide

“He’s just being himself, he doesn’t know better” is one of the worst things I have heard; The teachers I have had would not allow improper behavior just slide like that, so when I did the bad, they called me out on it; What I knew about my teachers was that they all wanted the best out of me and wanted to improve and become better than before.

• Willing to learn new ways of teaching

Some new strategies in teaching can be so out of the ordinary that they work! The IEP (Individualized Education Program) works in with these unique strategies of teacher for the student, and my teachers gave these strategies a try and ended up working for all of us as a result; making school much more workable and enjoyable!

• Didn’t make things feel intimidating during academics

School can be fun! The thing that made school enjoyable was how the teachers made learning fun! I was very color coordinated and even today I enjoy a lot of vibrant colors; Elementary was fun! I Wish it stayed like elementary school for all fourteen years, counting preschool and kindergarten. Jokes aside, even high school felt like a lot of fun when learning; Challenges are fun for me.

• Encouraged play

This was extremely important to me! Playtime may feel a lot easier for the majority of people on Earth, but for me, I had a tough time learning how to properly play and have fun. There’s a balance between being serious and having fun, and to my amazement, fun works! I want more of it; Would not have happened without my teachers

• Gave me challenges

We did not believe in staying in one place, we wanted to move forward and push to new limits. I accomplished something, the teachers give me the opportunity to try something new; try something harder! That really was a lot of fun for me because after accomplishing so many challenges, I have welcomed all kinds of challenges today; even if I were to fail, it is all in the power of tries. It's fun discovering what I can and cannot do.

• Parapro teachers helped all of the other students besides me

Talk about equality! It did not feel right to have the parapro all to myself, so to my satisfaction, I watched her spend time with the other students; Helping them, talking to them, and getting to know them. It felt amazing! Made me feel much more comfortable around my parapro after seeing examples of other students being helped other than me.

• Treat me like every other student

That is what separates the girls from the women, the boys from the men; or whatever clever saying it is these days. I did not feel that different from the other students while at school; Only difference was when I needed extra help, they provided me with the extra needed support.

• Listens

I had a lot to say, even if speaking it out was challenging, they still listened to other alternative ways of “talking” that I was providing.

• Did not give up on me; on all of us

They want to do their jobs. Giving up was never an option for my teachers. They didn’t give up on me, they didn’t give up on us the students, and I chose not to give up on them.

Thank the teachers with me.