There's nothing like the first day of school.
New clothes, new classes, new friends. This year, a kid named Nick came to our school.
At first, he seemed a little different. Sometimes during class, Nick makes
noises and gets out of his seat. There's a lady that sits in our
classroom and follows Nick around, and even takes him out of
class when he's distracting us. We didn't understand why Nick got to take breaks or why you got to spend all
this time with one teacher. My friends and I thought,
"What's up
with Nick?" It turns out Nick has autism. Nick has had autism since he was little. Autism
happens inside the brain. This doesn't mean Nick is sick with something like the flu.You can't
catch autism, it just means that he understands some things differently than most of us. Once
we learned a little more about Nick and autism and we understood why he gets extra attention.
He just needs a little more help than the rest of us sometimes. The lady following him around is
his aide. Sh
e's there to help in the classroom. Sometimes small things bother Nick
because his senses (hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste) all work differently
than ours, like when we work on projects, we try to keep our voices down because Nick has
trouble focusing if it gets too loud. As we got to know him, we learned what we can do to
make it better for Nick so we can stay in class with us. Other kids with autism in your school
might have similar challenges. The best way to help them is by getti
ng to know them autism.
Affects each person differently. No two kids with autism are the same. Some kids will talk with
you but not look at you. Others won't talk much, but will try to use other ways to tell you what
they want to say. Some kids with autism may flap their arms or even rock back forth. It may seem
strange at first, but it's just something that makes them comfortable. Nick really likes building
and talking about model airplanes. He even brought one in to show us how the propel
ler works! It was
pretty cool. Sometimes though, Nick doesn't stop talking about model airplanes. We listen because
it's polite, but learn that it's okay to suggest new activities too. Some of us from class join
the art club together and we invited Nick. He mostly draws pictures of planes but we still have
fun during the projects together. Remember that you can always include your friend with autism
in activities even if he or she does it in a different way. Don't be afraid to ask your teac
her
or an adult for ideas that can work for everyone now that we know more about autism. It's no big
deal. Nick is just a kid and a part of our class like everyone else, so just remember that all
of us are different in our own ways. Accepting the differences of kids with autism is the first
step to becoming friends and having fun together!
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