This week I am leaving my lovely spring dappled little town on the outskirts of Vancouver, Canada – and heading down to the icy cold of Northern Arizona. Yes! You read that correctly!
In my little town, spring is no longer perched tentatively on its edge; it is coming on strong. The crocuses are done along with the pussy willows. The magnolia tree is now its dropping petals on the driveway. The camellias are opening their heavy pink blooms along with the quince. This past weekend Craig mowed our lawn, and the pesky snails are bravely emerging from the carpet of last year’s leaves to terrorize the fresh new green.
I am leaving the spring in the NorthWest to head to the winter in the south. It goes against what I would expect, and it belies my preconceived notion that Arizona should be hot.
Sadly enough, it has just been pointed out to me by my wonderful friends, Laura Nagle and Susan, that I had been reading the Fahrenheit temperatures as though they were Celsius! OH Crap!! I guess I had better unpack all of those cute little tank tops!! I had more summery climes in mind! Silly Canadian!
Anyway, regardless of the weather, and my very temporary disappointment over the lack of sun and heat, I am thrilled to be headed south to present at the Northern Arizona Autism Conference which is sponsored by their fabulous Autism Society (NAzASA). http://www.nazasa.org/Conference2012.html
I am presenting on two topics.
The first is an examination of some of the challenges faced by those with autism and looking at how we can make ourselves a better fit for supporting those who process differently, both in our classrooms and in our lives. I use stories about my son – and photos as well – partly because it is so easy to get his mom’s permission (insert hearty laughter), and partly too because I believe people learn very well through the medium of story. My premise is that our mostly-NT-world could really use the opportunity to consider the world from a different perspective. It is all about considering perspectives!! Oooohhhhhh, I love considering perspectives.
The second is a presentation on literacy strategies designed to increase social understanding and perspective-taking ability. I have created these strategies over the past few years to enable teachers to support students with social understanding challenges within the regular education classroom. I am excited about this because these strategies are universally designed (UDL) – to be used with the entire class… to support the development of social understanding… in an inclusive setting!
I absolutely love presenting…
I get to talk about my topic of interest; I can talk about autism and education and social understanding to a captivated (and somewhat captured) audience!! LOL! C’mon, what’s not to love?!?
Oh my! I suppose… my autistic shadow traits are showing…
Yay!!
________________________________________________________
For those of you who might want a bit more info about the weather in Northern Arizona: Susan was kind enough to point me to this posting from the National Weather service:
Prior to this, I had been perusing this from the site Weather Underground:
Somehow, it didn’t look as cold in Celsius… It’s all about perspective!
___________________________________________________
30 Days of Autism is a project designed to fight stigma, promote civil rights, and increase understanding and acceptance for those who process and experience the world differently.
© Leah Kelley, Thirty Days of Autism, (2012)
Thirty Days of Autism 