How it went:
Somebody Tell Me Who I AmJust like my last project, my second project started off reading a novel. This time, the novel was fictional. The novel was about a boy born with no disability, and when he went into the military he came out with a TBI. This caused him to be on the autism spectrum. His girlfriend was very affected by his choices, and the outcome, so I decided to write letters from her before and after his departure.
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Wounded Warrior Project: The Affect on AutismSince the novel discussed the topic of a TBI, the military route was the way to go for Social Studies. I researched what the military would do for a TBI and made an article in regards to the statistics. My main focus was the TBI because a lot of military service men live with one, and they can result in forming autism.
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Art TherapyI started off wanting to research how art helps autistic students, and it took a little turn. The thought wasn't a total bust, but the outcome was much different than I expected. The students didn't cooperate as much, and it was very hard to expand my work from there. So, I decided to research art therapy and the effects it has on some autistic students compared to my students, and how different activities compare as well. This was a good learning experience for me because I got to really focus on my students and look at what helps them and what doesn't.
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The Students
Alexander loves to paint and be artistic, but on this particular day he wasn't quite in the mood to do so. I prompted him many times to keep painting and maybe use some different colors, but he continued to only use green and didn't paint much. This activity also seemed to put him in a bad mood, and he doesn't color or do focused activities, so I stopped my observations there.
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Dejah is not very artistic and likes a more structured piece, like coloring a coloring book, but she did a great job. She did only paint words, but she used different colors and didn't need as much prompting. She was also in a work area, so she was around other students she didn't know. Also, unlike Alexander it seemed to put her in a good mood.
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I then further observed Dejah. Since she can do a lot, and is willing to do a lot had her do a coloring page for me instead. This coloring page told you what color to put where, and she followed it most of the time. She was sitting with a few friends, and was having a good time. This seemed to be a better outcome then the painting.
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The next morning I had her do her independent work (which she does almost daily) so I could observe her while doing a focused activity. She was cutting and gluing paper, matching words with pictures, and doing math. This made her quiet and communicate better when she needed to.
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