Proposal

__**Project Proposal**__ For my senior sem I plan on working in the Springfield Township School District, in a class room and one on one with, Carol Irwin, a special needs teacher, who works with autistic kids. I plan on doing the same thing as before, different case studies, different levels of autism, discovering what its like for a child who has it. I also believe I will be working with children with learning disabilities, they might not all be autistic, so it will be helpful to differentiate the two.

I hope to be working with one child with who is actually diagnosed with Asberger syndrom, which is a very serious form of autism. It will be interesting to be able to compare this case with others that I plan on learning about. I will observe in a classroom enviroment which will help me to get a better understanding of what an OT actually does and what my future might look like. I also plan on doing other information that will help support my observation in the classroom enviroment. I would love to interview Ms. Irwin, a teacher, to find out what keeps her motivated. Also, I was informed I might be able to work with an OT in the district, so that would be really great to get some insight into why they became an OT. I would also be interested in interviewing some of the children and parents if at all possible, I do realize however, that this is a very private matter and I do not wish to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

My goal is to get my classmates to understand that autism is not an excuse. Autism is an actual diagnosis, that there is no cure and that the process that the children have to go through is long, even to make a little bit of progress. These children and their parents are truely extraordinary people, they struggles that they endure and the process they go through never ends. I would love to shine a light on how amazing the OTs that work with them are, to open my classmates eyes to how lucky they are to just be "normal."

I want anyone whos reading this to understand that I will not be exploiting the children or their families. That I will do my best to portray autism in the most truthful way possible. I also understand that it is a very private thing between a family what goes on in their lives as well as how to properly educate their child, I do not want to over stay my welcome, and any information that I can get from families, children and teachers is greatly appreciated. All I wish to do is explore the world of autism through different perspectives and to possibly enlighten a few people who might not have fully understood what it is.

__**Research**__ Autism is always growing, the amount of children being born with it is increasing yearly. I think that alot of people don't truely understand what Autism is or how difficult it is to live with Autism. More remarkable than the children is the people that work with them, it is really important if a child is Autistic, that they find someone who they can connect with, and who possibly understands them more than the adverage person. That is what an OT does, they make little differences in a childs life and build on them.

I want to learn more about the Autism spectrum, the scale and levels of autism. Every child is different and so is their way of learning, they also develope at different levels. I plan on doing specific case studies and back up my observation by research on the web. So far I have been to a few different websites and it seems like the best information about autism, is on homepages and different tabs on a "cause" page. I think that once I read into the information with more depth, I will be able to channel it better towards my classmates, and narrow down my essential question.

I have had the great pleasure of working in a school where the children were disabled socialy and mentaly, it was really enlightening. It opened my eyes to what at OT actually does and why I might want to become one myself. The OTs were amazing, the way the remembered and were able to focus on a specific need of a child, not every child, but really focus in on main pin pointed areas of one. I thought it was really inspiring how intune and comfortable they were with the kids, and how they didn't approach teaching like the child had a problem, but instead like they were extremely gifted and able to do every task they were given.

I hope my classmates will benefit from my research and project because I think that not many truely understand what autism is. I also think that as teenagers, we don't think that our word choice effects others, but we should. Austim is very serious, although not an illness that can cause death, it can cause serious hardships on the child and their parents. These children and extraordinary. The fact that they are autistic just makes them more of who they are, we are normal under our circumstances, but I would love to teach my classmates what we are like through an autistic childs eyes.

1.) What is Autism, how does it effect children and, who are the people that work with Autistic children? 2.) How has Autism in children grown within the last 10 years? 3.) What is the process of development for autistic children? what teaching methods/techniques?
 * __Essential Question:__**