Sabine´s way: working with children with autism. First lesson: Ignore

Before I start going once again: Thank you, known and unknown people for your encouraging feed-back on my pages. And if there would be, but there isn´t, negative feed-back, thank you too, I like to learn new things. Anyhow, feed-back is what keeps me going. Just imagine everybody would ignore me?

It is fascinating to realise how every grown-up feels the compulsion to tell a child what it should NOT do. Today even a mail delivery man at school felt the compelling need to say to the pupil I was with - we met him at the maindoor going inn after recess-: "You should not do this."
For you to understand the following argument, I think I should tell you about my work and I am very proud of it, from every point of view. Me, our team and our working conditions.
As I told you somewhere before, I am a special teacher in a special class for autistic children. We got two big and bright rooms with moveable partitions (see photo in my album. Hmm, it got lost in cyberspace, try again later). We can shop nearly everything we need. We got 7 (!) children, age 6 to 16. (And five computers). We have one room for the "little ones" and the other for the 3 teenagers, possible to mix. We have the use of all the school and all the classes as we find it suitable. We are a staff of 6, 3 full time, the rest part time job (I work 70%). Yeahh, we live in Iceland!
So, we have these programms going. Between other fascinating methods one is exstinction. You just ignore the behavoir you don´t want. Yes, it is as easy as that. The child is kicking, spitting, biting, yelling, throwing things: ignore. Believe it, children between 6 and 8 can´t really hurt you. Older ones? I don´t know really, the older ones at our school have learned not to. It is unbelievable, how quickly undesired behavoir dissappears. Like my sweet little pupil. He was really angry, yelling. No reactons. Then he started throwing things, first small, then bigger, then something really big. Looking at me: don´t you see what I am doing? As I kept on looking out of the window and nobody reacted, he shut up, drew a big breath and said: "go to sleep." Laid down on the sofa and listened to music. Next time? No next time yet, in a week. You get it? No comments for a week and I will stop writing this blog. Will I? No, maybe I get one comment in between and it will make me really powerfull to go on once more. And that is the problem.
There are these people I started with. People in and out of school who don´t work in our special class, in the bus, in the shop, wherever, they feel compelled to say: "Oh, stop this." "No, you may not do this." Wow, I got attention! Let´s do it again. What else can I do to get attention???
I got spitting mad the other day. And of course, told the people who ignore, not the other ones. But they do understand what I am talking about. At least, our kids are clever. They do behave, when they have learned, when I am around, or one of our team (most of the time.) And that´s nice for me/us. And, let´s not be unfair. Other people do learn this too. Just give them time (how I hate giving other people time but probably that is what learning in life is all about).
Wonderful to blog... I can go on and on and nobody interrupts me.
Of course we do more than just ignoring. But that´s a good starting point. The next thing you would do is praising until you get blue in your face. And having fun … but that is a new chapter. If you want to hear more about this, I will tell you later. I will, even if you don´t want it, as long as you will not ignore me :).