Underestimated

At the beginning of the year I collaborated with a 6th grade English teacher in order for one of my students to attend her class. We were convinced that this student knew more than we thought, but we honestly had no idea how much she was capable of. Due to sensory needs resulting from autism as well as only recently starting to use a high-tech AAC device to communicate, she had a hard time expressing herself until recently (it's still pretty hard). It almost feels like we are peeling away another layer of an onion each day as we discover more about how she learns and what she already knows.  Here are some highlights. 

• She started writing or defining words we never would have imagined she knew (embrace, entice, reveal, etc.).
• The class is reading Out of my Mind (a book about a girl who gets her first communication device). She enjoys laughing at her general education peers as they try to imagine how it would feel not to have a voice. 
• She wrote that she can relate most to a specific character in a book because the character feels lost.  
• She has started typing (as this will allow her to be more independent).  Although she still pushes down too hard on the keys (each letter is typed multiple times), her sentences are fluid and accurate. 
• When asked what type of book she was reading, she walked to a chart and pointed to autobiographical. 
• She got extremely frustrated when she didn't understand similes and other similar terms. She was mad at herself for not knowing, despite having never been taught. After a short tutorial (5-10 minutes), she was able to apply the information she learned. 
• We have realized she has a photographic memory.  She will glance at a page and then look away and read the text in her mind. This makes it easy to think she is not paying attention. As a result, she can read much faster than I can read. 
• The other day she was learning what connotations and denotations are .. I honestly don't remember what either of these terms refer to. I may need to attend 6th grade English again. 
• She answered social studies related questions - like info related to the Grand Canyon. 
• Our realization of how much she understands, allowed us to ask her questions related to a health issue she was experiencing and pass that information on to her mother.  

It hasn't all been easy. With the realization, for her, that there are higher levels of classes available, she is less willing to do work in my class. Additionally, she has had some major meltdowns in stores when we have gone into the community.  She has gotten extremely frustrated with herself when she doesn't understand a concept and has wanted to give up as a result. She doesn't grasp how to make friends. One girl who wanted to be her friend, started bossing her around (treating her like a small child), so she is no longer interested in that friendship.  It is a learning process. As a teacher, I am definitely being challenged in how to best provide for her education in the best possible way. She has come so far in just a few short months and I look forward to seeing how much she will learn by the end of this school year.