Asbergers/Autism

I have a student who has Asbergers and Autism. Every time this student raises their hand, we all know it will be interestingly odd but usually off topic. You have to appreciate the way this student says what they think without reserve. This is a little different than what I am used to as I have worked with an Autistic child in the dual enrollment program at WGTC. There, the child was very quiet and secluded, so this is quite a change of pace (Not saying that any are alike, but I thought I'd find a few similar characteristics).

We were doing our transfer in related to MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) and along the way this student raises his hand to share with me that they went to a local Mexican restaurant and how the buffet looked horrible. The explanation continued with how the cheese was dry and black and how the staff were adding food to the buffet and not taking it back to the back. Then, the student explained how they decided to order from the menu because of how awful it looked (very dramatic) and that the family decided to eat the buffet anyway. When the food came out, this student exclaimed with both hands in the air, "OH MY BLACK JESUS, THIS LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER  THAN THE BUFFET"! My class went hysterical! I had to slowly turn around and compose myself. He is Caucasian so I'm not sure if it was that, that we thought he said it to the waitstaff, how it was said or a combination of the whole incidence that took us all off guard.

After a short biblical geography lesson we got back on track (Just that where He lived was in the Middle East and that He is probably not black or white for that matter but that He is Jewish, but that whatever the preferred view was absolutely fine - and I left that alone) . In the end, I had to defend the student in saying to the others that the real world application of the Flow of Foods "holding" step was being shared and that if they looked for opportunities they could also identify things when they are out and about in the industry that they are learning and that they should all bring their experiences to share. I thanked that student for sharing.

That was very surprising....there will be nothing dull about this school year, that is for sure! My husband said one of the Tuskegee Airmen in the movie Red Tails said that over and over in the movie so maybe that is where he got it from. I may ask him has he ever seen the movie...then again, I'm scared to ask. I'll leave that alone too.