In class on Monday, we read through our last two scenes, and the groups each split off with a teacher to begin rehearsing and blocking them. The pair I worked with had one of our highest-functioning students and our lowest-functioning student, which proved quite a challenge. It made me wonder how individuals with autism feel towards others who share their condition, especially since it ranges radically in severity and characteristics. I know that despite being high-functioning, the one student tends to become easily (and sometimes violently) frustrated when there is disorder or lack of focus in the class, so I was a little worried that this would be the case when working with the lower-functioning student. However, the rehearsal went quite well, though I had to read all of the lower-functioning student's lines to her and have her repeat them back to me since she would not read them herself (This is not a case of illiteracy, but rather another example of the "mental blockage" characteristic of autism).
The next class, sadly, will be my last time working with these children, though the class still has three more sessions left. It is quite unfortunate that I will not be able to see the final showcase, as I was looking forward to see how the scenes turn out.
Kathleen
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