“Train up a child in the way he should go …”

– The Story of an Exceptionally Good Teacher,

Getting This Job Done -

The first time I REALLY became aware of Carrie Newton, she had come to work dressed as a Crayon. If, like me, you’ve spent most of your working life in the business community, you may be thinking that I’m talking about a colleague who ended up in serious conversation with her boss and/or HR regarding proper attire for the workplace. However, I should point out that, this past September, I started working in an Elementary School. Knowing that and knowing that Carrie is the Kindergarten Teacher whose classroom is next-door to the classroom where I work, should make her being dressed as a Crayon sound a bit more appropriate. Actually, I had noticed Carrie wearing costumes on two or three previous occasions. I’m not sure what it was but there was something about seeing her dressed as a Crayon that made me realize she is a person who is very enthusiastic about her work and it made me think that, if more Americans were as passionate about their work as Carrie is, the American workplace would be greatly improved.

Thanksgiving marked the next significant step in my interest being piqued by Carrie. Although this, too, involved Carrie wearing a costume, giving you more details than I did about her day dressed as a Crayon is in order. First, providing details about the costume, itself, are important. You may not be surprised to learn that Carrie was dressed as a Turkey for Thanksgiving but you can’t really appreciate it without experiencing it first-hand. Hopefully, the photo provided here will help. More important, though, are details about the Thanksgiving Program that Carrie led while in her Turkey costume. Since Carrie has responsibility for both a morning and an afternoon Kindergarten class, there were two Thanksgiving Program presentations. I got to attend them both. Again, you can’t really appreciate this without experiencing it first-hand but here’s an overview that I hope will be helpful:

- Carrie led each class into the school gym, wearing her Turkey costume.

- The backdrop of the stage in the gym was adorned with Thanksgiving decorations that looked like they could have come from my time in Elementary School … in the middle of the 20th Century. The decorations depicted adult and children Pilgrims as well as adult and children Indians. The centerpiece was a very identifiable Christian Church, complete with a cross on its steeple. Later, I learned that these decorations had been found at a garage sale, by Carrie’s Mother.

- Each of the kids was in a Thanksgiving costume that they had made from construction paper. The kids were grouped according to one of six costume types. Each group had specific lines that went along with the program that Carrie led. The groups and the lines they delivered, when Carrie pointed to them, included:

o Pilgrim Men – “Bang! Bang! Bang!” – With hands holding make-believe muskets.

o Pilgrim Women – “Mercy me.” – With tilted heads resting on folded hands.

o Pilgrim Ministers – “Praise the Lord!” – With up-raised right fists.

o Indian Men – “Big and brave!” – Accompanied with a “pumping up with Hans & Franz” sort of macho pose.

o Indian Women – “Hush, hush, hush.” – While cradling doll babies in their arms.

o Turkeys – Of course, “Gobble, gobble, gobble.”

o All – “Pop! Pop! Pop!” Whenever the word “corn” was used in the program.

It was obvious that the audience (Kindergarten kids’ family members, along with other classes) thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. At the conclusion of the program, Carrie led her students and the audience in singing the American Folk Song, This Land is Your Land. I have to admit that I was grinning from ear to ear and that I had tears in my eyes throughout both program presentations. Although I recognized that there were parts of the program that some might question for “political correctness”, in the end, I don’t think there was anything that could be pointed to as inappropriate. My thoughts along these lines were, “When you pour yourself into your work the way Carrie does and you develop the sort of following she has, minor points of ‘political correctness’ are unlikely to attract much scrutiny.” Moreover, I recognized that “The Story of Carrie Newton” is something I wanted to become more familiar with and to do my part in sharing that story, for the benefit of others.

In getting better acquainted with Carrie, one of the first things I wanted to learn about was what she saw as her overall objective, with the enthusiastic approach she takes to her job. Generally, I wasn’t surprised with her responses to my questions along these lines. She said she wants her students “to love school”, “to be enthusiastic about school” and for their experience with her to be “memorable.” What did surprise me was that, to exemplify this, Carrie referenced the book Made to Stick. I was familiar with Made to Stick, as a business philosophy aimed at helping companies to make their products/services more interesting/memorable. I, also, was aware that the Made to Stick philosophy has application to teaching, both within and outside of business. But, I have to admit that I was a bit surprised at it being applied by a Kindergarten Teacher. I have to; further, admit that this revealed a prejudice on my part about the qualities of “a good Kindergarten Teacher.” Maybe, like me, you tend to think of “a good Kindergarten Teacher” as a good-hearted person who is naturally skilled with young kids, who has fun getting them started in school. If so, like me, you’re seriously underestimating the depth of “a good Kindergarten Teacher.”

By now, it should be obvious that I’ve come to think very highly of Carrie Newton. And, I’ve quickly discovered that telling “The Story of Carrie Newton” can’t realistically be done in one sitting. Her story seems to have far too much depth and texture for that. No doubt, she is much more than “a good Kindergarten Teacher.” “Exceptionally good” seems like a more fitting label. With these things in mind, it seems appropriate to begin by considering the path that has brought her to this point and to take a look at some of the facets of her classroom that further indicate her depth, “beyond the costumes.”

The beginning of Carrie’s career in Education doesn’t sound a lot different from many who work in this field … as a young woman who grew up in Washington State’s Tri-Cities, who was entering college at Gonzaga University, she knew she “wanted to help people.” At Gonzaga, she discovered a love for Special Education. Upon graduating from Gonzaga, she was given offers from three different school systems. Southwest Washington is blessed that she picked the offer from Vancouver. Though Carrie truly loved Special Education, after 10 years working in that field, her two Daughters were born and she simply found these compounded responsibilities to be too hard. However, finances didn’t allow Carrie to work only as a stay-at-home Mom. Although she did leave her position in Special Ed, in addition to her Mom-duties, she worked at providing Home-Daycare and she worked part-time in ELL (English Language Learners) classes. Eventually, as Carrie’s daughters were reaching school-age themselves, this led to opportunities to work in Kindergarten, where she discovered another love. Thus, for the past seven years, she’s been working as a Kindergarten Teacher.

When it comes to aspects of Carrie’s classroom that show what I referred to earlier as her depth, “beyond the costumes”, I discovered a revealing example one day while waiting to talk to her in her classroom. I noticed, among the many things adhered to the windows of her classroom, a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. That led to me reflecting on my thoughts and feelings about MLK, as well as considering what a challenge it must be to convey the lessons embodied by that historic figure, if you didn’t come from his time yourself. Since Dr. King was assassinated in 1968 and Carrie Newton is an Educator who was born in 1969, she is among those who must deal with the aforementioned challenge. When Carrie arrived, I pointed to the picture of Dr. King and I talked about how different things were in the days when I was a student in a Kindergarten class. I talked about the three “colored kids” who were in that class, who continued in my class through High School, with at least one going on into college with me. I, also, shared that, as a “white kid” from that time, though I now recognize that what MLK represented resulted in some much needed seeds of change being planted in my heart, it wasn’t welcomed by me initially. I went on to disclose that I will always look back with deep regret for the painful experience it must have been, growing up as one of those three “colored kids.” Without my prompting, Carrie told me that one of the methods she uses to convey these “lessons of the heart” is to have a time in her classroom when only girls are given gummy-bears, as rewards and that she lets the boys know that it’s just because the girls are girls, like her. Of course, there’s no way to fully convey what our culture was like when I was in Kindergarten. Even I couldn’t do that with today’s kids. But it’s comforting to know of the intentionality of an exceptional Educator like Carrie to teach these “lessons of the heart” and to assure that our culture continues to strive to be one that “judges people by the content of their character and not by the color of (or shape of) their skin.”

Especially, considering some details of the Thanksgiving Program described above, I was surprised to visit Carrie’s Facebook page and learn that she defines her Religious Views as “Christian - still searching”. However, I really appreciated her candor and humor about her “still searching”, as expressed in her Favorite Quotation: “What if the Hokey Pokey is what it’s all about?!” When I asked Carrie about what might seem to be a contradiction between the things expressed in the Thanksgiving program and her Religious Views, she let me know that she is certain enough about her views that she strives to teach her students to have a “basic Christian attitude” and particularly, “to be kind”. In fact, “Be kind!” is a class slogan, as she teaches her students to view themselves as part of their “classroom family” and beyond that, as part of the community. Underneath this, of course, is Carrie’s understanding that a key to her effectiveness as a Teacher is her ability to establish a relationship with each of her students. Without inappropriately sharing any personal information, Carrie told me about her relationship with one student, that illustrates this well. According to Carrie, this was a student who “came in naughty” and that this seemed to stem from some very negative circumstances in the student’s personal life. As a result of Carrie’s kind and caring attention (my words, not hers), this student learned to express himself about these circumstances in a productive way and this has led to significant positive changes that have made this student fit in well with his “classroom family.”

Based on what I’ve told you about Carrie so far, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that her interests in the field of Education don’t stop at her classroom door. She is deeply concerned for our Education system. Her first concern is for colleagues who are “losing the joy of teaching”, as a result of current pressures on those working in Education. Beyond that, she shares the concerns of many of her colleagues that, in looking for ways to improve our Education system, the public and elected officials may be in a position where they “can’t see the forest for the trees” and as a result, in looking for ways to reduce expenditures, they may end up cutting “muscle” instead of “fat”. Frankly, this is the basis for a more politically-oriented article I plan to write but I know that Carrie agrees with me that the best approach to resolving the challenges faced by our Education system is to do so from the ground up, rather from the top down. In other words, the folks who are in the best position to know the needs of the elementary school where we work are the folks who work there, not folks who work in Washington D.C. or in Olympia, WA. With that said, if you are one of those top-down folks, I heartily recommend that you do all you can to seek out those like Carrie Newton, who can benefit you with the wealth of their “where the rubber meets the road” understanding.

In closing, I want to touch on the topic of whether or not a Kindergarten Teacher like Carrie Newton can “make a difference”. Just from watching Carrie with her students, as well as with her colleagues around our elementary school, you can tell that she isn’t among those who may be “losing the joy of teaching”, as a result of current pressures on those working in Education. However, it does seem that these present circumstances have led to Carrie questioning whether or not her enthusiastic work really makes a difference. I was pretty surprised by this. Another book I’ve read for its application to business philosophy is entitled All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. Although its primary focus was on how the world would be improved if adults adhered to the same basic rules as children, I always felt that it provided an implied endorsement of the difference Kindergarten Teachers do make. Maybe I was wrong or maybe, since that book came out in the late 1980s, that understanding has been diminished. Regardless, it’s a shame. I think that the enthusiastic work of an exceptionally good Kindergarten Teacher like Carrie Newton clearly makes a difference and one easy way for our Education system to be improved is for work of this nature to be acknowledged and encouraged. In the absence of this, I felt compelled to encourage Carrie through sharing that Miss Summerlot (my Kindergarten Teacher) and numerous others, including College Professors, are still making a difference in my life. The most significant example I offered was of Laura Fasig, who taught Kindergarten Sunday School for me and before me, for my Mother. Mrs. Fasig was my Grandmother’s age and her teaching still makes a difference in my life … in my mind’s eye, I can still clearly see the scene she created, with felt cut-outs, of Jesus’ encounter with Zacheus. Sixty years from now, when I’ve had the opportunity to say “Thank you!” to my Grandmother and to Laura Fasig for the positive difference they made in my life, a man who “came in naughty”, as a student in Carrie Newton’s Kindergarten class, will be treasuring the positive difference she made in his life and the way that life contributed to our community.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

An “Off-Duty” Grandpa’s Perspective On Autism

Just after the beginning of the current School-Year, I started working, as a Para-Educator, with 10 little guys in a Special Program (Structured Communication Center) Class. The “Special Program” is for kids, ranging in age from six to 11, who have challenges, primarily, stemming from Autism. Other contributing factors include some retardation in mental and/or physical development. Those closest to me know how this came about. If you’re surprised to learn that I’ve been working in this capacity, I’ll provide some explanation later. But, first, I want to tell you about what a wonderful unexpected and unplanned (by me) blessing this has been.

When I say “unexpected”, one aspect of this is that I have to admit, if a basic job description for this position had been given to me before I started, it’s likely that my reaction would have been, “Whoa, that’s not for me!” That, in fact, has been a common reaction I’ve gotten when I’ve told others what I’ve been doing. It has seemed that their summary view of the job is as a babysitter for some really hard-to-be-with kids. With that in mind, I want to share some details about my experience.

The Guys

Each of my “10 little guys” has a unique story. I’d love to share their stories with you, in complete detail, in order to share the blessing I’ve received through my experience with them. However, doing that would inappropriately compromise their privacy. Hopefully, without improperly disclosing private details, the following summaries of my experience with each of these “little guys” will help you connect with my sense of being blessed through this:

- A seven-year-old whose challenges include a soft pallet – The first time I heard him speak, I had no clue what he said. Later, I learned that he is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) and that his IQ is higher than anyone else in the class, including the adults. Corrective surgery (for the soft pallet) has been a consideration but, presently, it appears that this will self-correct, with growth. It’s great to hear him speak more clearly, daily, while seeing him progress with his curriculum and to be able to move to taking more of his subjects in Gen Ed classes.

- An 11-year-old, who is probably the most challenged kid in the class … probably more like what I and others have in mind when we say, “Whoa, that’s not for me!” Trying to work with him can be very frustrating. I’ve had more than one occasion where my sessions with him involved him slumped on the floor, while I waited for him to become compliant. On the other hand, I’ve had him go through multiple exercises for simple rewards and a high-five. My favorite times with this “little guy”, so far, have been when he just looks me in the eye and smiles or laughs or when he walks over to put his head on my chest or when his exercises are done and he can sit in his rocker while we listen to a James Taylor CD. Although I do nothing to violate the school district’s policy relative to “the separation of Church and State”, I’ve found that my silently praying for my “little guys” is acceptable and I know it’s good. As you might guess, this is how I spend much of my time with this particular “little guy”.

- Another seven-year-old, whose biggest challenge is the need for routines and dealing with any changes to those routines - Sometimes it’s possible to reason him through this and some times he just “melts down” and ends up in the Quiet Room, which is available for helping to deal with “melt downs”. My most notable experience with this involved Recess. I had marveled at the complexity of a routine that this “little guy” would follow, repeatedly, on the playground. One day, as he was running this routine, he looked at me and said, “Wap, Wap.” I asked him what he meant and again, he said, “Wap, Wap.” I, then, said, “What is that? Is it a sound?” He said, “Yes.” So, I asked what makes that sound?” and he answered, “Two Waps.” This “little guy” can be quite amusing so, at first, I sort of thought he was making a joke. Eventually, I figured out that he was telling me he was running laps (Waps) and he was keeping count. When I mentioned this to the Teacher, I discovered that this is a behavior known as “Stemming” and that it is to be discouraged. As you might expect, the first time I had to deal with discouraging this on the playground, this “little guy” ended up in the Quiet Room. Thankfully, we discovered that by taking a soccer ball out to the playground and kicking it around with him, encouraged him to use the soccer ball to interact with the other students and since then, no more “Waps”.

- One other seven-year-old is easily the most natural athlete in the class. I’ve said he is like “a Cirque du Soleil performer, in training.” Most of his time on the playground, he spends by himself on a swing. I’ve seen him swing high enough that, on the back-swing, he is looking at me over the top bar of the swing set. On one occasion, at the height of his forward-swing, I saw him dismount. As you might expect, this nearly caused heart failure in me but he perfectly “stuck” the landing. Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for a gym program where he could fit in and fully develop his athletic gifts. The flipside of this is that getting him to do anything that isn’t athletic can be very difficult and since he is “easily the most natural athlete in the class”, getting him to be compliant is a challenge … dealing with his aggression can require more than one adult. The fact that he is completely non-verbal makes dealing with this even more difficult. With all this said, when you do get him to sign a new word and he gives you an ear-to-ear smile, as you give him a reward and a high-five, you truly relish that small progress.

- The six other “little guys” in the class have their unique stories too. The biggest and oldest is still quite innocent and he knows more about dinosaurs and the eras they lived in than anyone else I know. Another 11-year-old has some genetic defects that have significantly weakened him physically and mentally. You couldn’t ask for a sweeter little guy, though. Some place along the way, he must have really enjoyed Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Almost anytime he is asked about a name, you can hear him softly say, almost under his breath, “Gaston!” Another “little guy” has the attention span of a puppy but his graceful athleticism, his flair for the dramatic and his tendency to find anything he can find to wear as a mustache could lead him to Hollywood. A 10-year-old is one of the most difficult personalities to deal with because, when given a behavior choice, he will consistently go with the most annoying. Though it requires extreme patience, underneath that you find an ability to be quite tender with others. One other seven-year-old can be unresponsive or very slow to respond and his verbalization is very little and very subdued. When he does pay attention, though, you can tell that he has much more intelligence than you might give him credit for. Last but not least is the smallest “little guy” in the class. Although he has some challenges with socialization, communication and learning; his biggest challenge is his need for eating therapy. He’s a lovable little character and if the eating therapy can be successful, his growth and development should improve.

As I’m sure you can tell by now, these “10 little guys” had me by the heart in no time flat. By the end of my first week, I found myself thinking about things like how much I’d like to be present to see two of them (who currently do work at about the same level) walk across a stage to get their High School Diplomas. Much of this may come from the fact that I consider myself an “Off-Duty Grandpa.” I have three grandchildren who are close to being grown up, who live about 2500 miles away. Though I’ve wanted them to be a part of my life and vice versa, that hasn’t happened. I, also, have a 2 3/4–year-old Grandson who lives about 1000 miles away. We’re more a part of each other’s lives but the 1000 miles keeps that relationship from being all we would like for it to be. I guess the Net result of this is that there was a pretty good sized empty spot in this “Off-Duty” Grandpa’s heart that these “10 little guys” fit right in to.

Keys To The Lock

Although I can’t give you specifics about my “10 little guys”, without inappropriately compromising their privacy, I want to encourage you to check out some related stories that are publicly available. One of these stories can be found in a book entitled Unlocked. Coincidentally, during my first couple of weeks working with my “10 little guys”, this book was released by, a local Christian Writer, named Karen Kingsbury. A local newspaper article says that Unlocked is about “kindness that unlocked a soul” by helping a boy “… break through the barriers of Autism.”

Among the great blessings for me, working in this Special Program, has been getting to witness six other adults working tirelessly to do all that they can to help my “10 little guys” find the “keys to the locks” of their individual “barriers.” The Special Program Class that I’ve been working in is part of an, otherwise, General Education K-5 Elementary School. The class is headed up by a Certificated Special Education Teacher, who is assisted by six Para-Educators. Two of these folks are Moms who have “little guys” of their own at home who are dealing with the challenges of Autism. Another is a woman who has raised 10 kids of her own plus she has worked in Special Ed for over 12 years. These are truly amazing people that I’ve been honored to work alongside.

I’ve, also, been blessed to get acquainted with some extraordinary parents. Here too, it’s necessary for me to discuss this in a way that doesn’t inappropriately compromise privacy. So, I’ll just note that I’ve witnessed the difference a family can make, resulting in one “little guy” being among the most high-functioning in our class when his diagnosis might lead you to expect him to be more along the lines of the “hard-to-be-with kids” folks have in mind when they say, “Whoa, (that job is) not for me!”

Beauty From Ashes

As a man of faith, one of the most important related aspects to a topic like this is to address questions like, “Why would a loving God make ‘your little guys’ Autistic?” For me, the answer is pretty simple, “He didn’t.” There was no Autism in the Garden of Eden and there will be no Autism in Heaven. Autism only exists in this Fallen World. What a loving God does about that is the important observation to make. I think this is best expressed in Scripture, in Isaiah 61:3 where it says that God’s aim is “To give them beauty for ashes.”

The adults I’ve mentioned in this article are great examples of this. These are all intelligent, well-educated, attractive people who could be “doing better for themselves” in a number of other pursuits. But, they are following what God put in their hearts to lovingly pour all they can into these “little guys” in order that they can do “better for themselves.”

God has seen to it that my own story falls under this heading too. Earlier, I said, “If you’re surprised to learn that I’ve been working in this capacity, I’ll provide some explanation later.” Well, a full explanation will require another article but here’s a bit about that. When Ruth (my Wife) and I decided to move to this area from Southern California, about 5 ½ years ago, we felt led by the Lord to do so. Our plan and expectation was that, with our changed circumstances, we would be fine financially with me working at a mid-level Sales or Sales Management job, while Ruth wouldn’t have to work, if she didn’t want to. After more than two years of things not going the way we expected for me, we decided it would be prudent for Ruth to go back to work. As you might expect, we were regularly wondering why God had led us here and why things weren’t going the way we had expected them to. My first glimpse of starting to understand this involved the job that Ruth ended up in. Actually, I need to be circumspect about that too. Let me just say that her job involves working with some youngsters whose epitaph, according to me, would surely be “Never Had A Chance!”, if it wasn’t for the work that Ruth and her colleagues are doing. When I started hearing some of the successes coming out of that environment, I started recognizing why God had called Ruth out of Orange County. Eventually, I even recognized that “things not going the way we expected for me” was a circumstance God had used to get Ruth where He wanted her. Since I’m not the “quick-study” in our family, it took me another three years to get where I am. There are numerous details that I could share about what went on with me in those three years but the important thing is that I finally found the door that the Lord had opened for me and on the other side, I found an “Off-Duty” Grandpa and “10 little guys” who really needed each other.

Before moving on from how my story falls under this heading, I want to share an important aspect about how some folks have reacted to my doing this work. My background is primarily in Sales. In recent years, I’ve developed a minor reputation as a Writer. Considering that and how different it is from the work that I’m doing as a Para-Educator, it’s understandable that this has taken some folks by surprise. Beyond that, I’ve sensed that some may think that, in using my time to do the work I’m doing, I’m wasting “greater talents.” This came out most poignantly for me, when I attended an event where a wealthy friend of mine was featured as the Keynote Speaker. One thing I admire most about this friend is the metaphor he uses to express his view of the wealth God has blessed him with. He views himself as “One of God’s UPS Drivers” and he says, “As long as I deliver what He puts on my truck where and how He wants it delivered, He keeps putting more stuff on my truck.” While this friend was speaking, at the event I mentioned, another friend and I were commenting on what a wonderful job the Keynote Speaker was doing of using the talents God has blessed him with. Then, she leaned over and whispered in my ear, “You should be doing the same with your talents.” I didn’t ask but I think she had my writing ability in mind. Anyway, I responded by leaning over and saying, “You’re familiar with the metaphor that (the Keynote Speaker) uses about being one of God’s UPS Drivers?” She nodded “Yes.” Then I said, “Well, He gave me a school bus. It has 10 really important packages on it. It was totally unexpected but that’s what He gave me.”

Another great story that falls under this heading involves a well-known man who I admire … Chuck Colson. Again, “coincidentally”, during my first couple of weeks, working with my “10 little guys”, I heard Colson and his Daughter, Emily, on Focus On The Family’s radio broadcast. The Colsons were on to talk about Emily’s book Dancing With Max, the story of Emily and her Son, Max, who is Autistic. As you may know, Chuck Colson had a career as a Marine and he served in the Nixon Administration. He, also, served time in prison for his role in Watergate and coming out of prison, he founded the now overwhelmingly successful Prison Fellowship Ministries. With all that understood, Colson said that the two most daunting circumstances in his life were facing going to prison and watching his Daughter, as a single-parent, raise a child, who is Autistic . Out of this, though, came a man whose life had been too busy to spend much time with his Daughter when she was growing up, who now spends time with Max as his only “agenda item” and when he does this, of course, he is spending time with that Daughter, Max’s Mom. Now there is some really great “Beauty from ashes”!

Your Turn!

When working with these “little guys”, especially the non-verbal ones, it’s not uncommon to show them how the task before them is done and then to say, “Your turn!” In closing, I want to encourage as many as I can to consider how you can take “Your turn!” and be the source of kindness that can “unlock” souls by helping our children break through their individual barriers.

In case you haven’t noticed, my “10 little guys” are all guys. I think it was my second day on the job when I asked the Teacher, “Where are the girls?” The answer is that Autism is mostly found in boys. Not long after that, I thought about the staff and the opposite question struck me, “Where are the guys?” Aside from me, the rest of the staff is female. In fact, there are 51 employees at our school and only seven are male. Sadly, it’s all too common to hear stories like that of Emily Colson ... a child is born, who is Autistic and the Dad disappears. Hopefully, something I’ve said about my “10 little guys” and how working with them has blessed me will inspire others to do likewise. But, I really want to encourage more guys to do so. Seeing a good example of an adult guy being an adult guy can make a world of difference to these “little guys.”

If you’d like to learn more about Autism and start getting a better idea where you might fit in and help, a couple of good places to start are Autism Speaks and the Autism Society of America.

Especially For My Pro-Life Friends

The Pro-Life organizations I’m familiar with do all they can to provide the help needed for babies who have challenges that some would use as justification for their abortion. Babies born with Down Syndrome may be the most common example here. However, I don’t know how active Pro-Life organizations are in helping to provide for the needs of babies born with Autism. Perhaps that’s because the cause for Autism is, as yet, unknown. But, it’s being worked on and once it is known, I fear, prenatal testing will be developed for Autism. Joni Eareckson Tada recently released a book, entitled Life in the Balance, that broadly addresses this. A thumbnail description of Life in the Balance says:

“Life in the Balance helps readers discover answers to the difficult issues covered by the evening news (street violence, abortion, autism, genocide and stem-cell research).”

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Chuck Colson wrote the Foreword for Life in the Balance. In that, Colson says:

“Joni will teach you how to fight on behalf of those who are quietly being targeted for extermination.”

My encouragement to my Pro-Life friends is, if you’re already involved in helping to provide for the needs of babies born with Autism, remain diligent and be alert to the mounting threat alluded to in Life in the Balance. And, obviously, if this is a topic that has eluded your attention to some degree, I want to encourage your awareness and your activism.

Late Breaking News!

One detail I’ve left out here is that I actually came into this role as a Substitute Para-Educator. The woman who was doing this job moved, with her Husband, to another part of the country. After my first week on the job, the Teacher asked me to continue as a Sub, until the job was filled permanently and she asked me to apply for the job. I did but a person who is already a full-time employee in the school district also applied and of course, she had seniority. So, it looked like my sixth week would be my last week with my “10 little guys.” Surprisingly, the other applicant decided to stay in her current job. The job was formally offered to me, I accepted and since then, I’ve been working as a full-time Special Program Para-Educator. Yay!!!!!!!