Media Monday: Exploring neurodiversity in pop culture

We actually don’t understand the landscape that younger people have to navigate. And that’s why it’s so important not to tell kids how it’s going to be, but to listen to them as they try to find words to tell us how it is for them. And that’s sort of the struggle of autism.

—Hannah Gadsby, The Ezra Klein Podcast, August 17, 2020*

*Please note that Hannah Gadsby’s interview and her shows are more appropriate for mature teens and adults, while Speed Cubers, the film recommended below, is accessible for kids 8 and up.

In the past few years, people on the autism spectrum have shared their perspectives with the world in new and compelling ways, including books, films, TV shows, and even stand-up comedy. In the past couple of weeks I’ve stumbled upon a couple of new entries to the mix that I enjoyed, so I’d like to share them here. I hope any parents and kids out there with other favorites to share will do that in the comments, and we can follow up with another blog post soon.

The Speed Cubers (Netflix) is a short documentary about Max Park, a rock star in the world of competitive Rubik’s cube solvers. Max’s world opens up to new friends and experiences when he takes his skills and determination to new heights at the 2019 Rubik’s Cube World Championship.

The film is really about the power of friendship and parental support. As a kid, Max is able to overcome some of his isolation and improve his motor skills by playing with cubes with his parents. In the wider world, his admiration for a champion “cuber” from Australia, Feliks Zemdegs, leads Max to learn to interpret social cues and to deal with both success and failure with grace. The connection and mutual support of the two young men is inspiring, and the joyful spirit of the competitions is an antidote to any pandemic-inspired malaise you might be feeling right now.

I’m a fan of the Ezra Klein podcast and was thrilled last week to discover an hour-long interview with Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby. Gadsby’s first Netflix special, Nanette, caused a sensation in 2018 when she used her incredible power as a storyteller to talk about trauma, misogyny, queerness, and her struggles to find her place in a deeply homophobic culture—all within the framework of a comedy performance.

Klein’s conversation with Gadsby was one of the most enlightening I’ve ever heard on the topic of living with autism in a world that can’t or won’t understand or accommodate differences. It’s also a somewhat rare look at the female experience. Gadsby was only identified as neurodiverse a few years ago in her late 30s. That revelation is the subject of her most recent Netflix special, Douglas (named after her beloved dog). Much of the podcast conversation revolves around how the education system at all levels failed to pick up on Gadsby’s neurodiversity, leading to years of struggle when she simply couldn’t navigate the world as others expected and ended up homeless and vulnerable. Her intelligence and wit shines through in the conversation as it does in her work, much of which is also inspired by her love of art history. And as Klein says, it makes the experience of autism “emotionally legible.”

A few other recent additions to cultural representations of autism are listed below; these are mainly for teens. The PBS show Reading Rockets has a full list of recommended books for younger kids featuring autistic characters. Please add your own favorites to the comments!

• There are several recent TV series centered on neurodiverse characters right now, and one of the most unique features Harlan, a young character on The Umbrella Academy who is autistic and nonverbal and has a variety of supernatural powers, including telekinesis. (Suitable for kids 15 and up.)

• Madeleine Ryan’s A Room Called Earth is a novel that draws on its author’s experiences on the spectrum, especially the way she processes feelings. Ryan says of her main character: “It felt like she’d chosen me. And in a sense, from that point on, she really helped me to embrace autism.” (For kids who read adult fiction.)

• Paige Lyle, a TikTok video star, takes on a wide range of topics, including debunking myths about her life with autism: “You should listen to disabled people on disabled issues. You should always listen to the person it affects.” (Suitable for kids 15 and up.)

Shelley Sperry | Sperry Editorial

Sudbury silver linings

Today we’re pleased to share an important update from Bruce Smith, a longtime staff member of Clearview Sudbury School, about the Clearview community’s democratic decision-making around reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a time when so many are stressed and scrambling, when good options seem rare, gratitude for the silver linings becomes that much richer. As schools and unschoolers alike approach the end of summer, I am very fortunate to be part of a community that just made our own hard, but healthy, decision.

At a special (and, of course, virtual) meeting in late July, the staff, students, and parents of Clearview Sudbury School voted to push the first day of our 2020–2021 school year to 2021— January 6th, to be precise. Our schedule the rest of the year will also see reduced hours and four-day weeks. This vote followed two rounds of surveys and informal discussions, as we worked over several weeks to assess everyone’s preferences and concerns, along with crunching all the numbers we could get our hands on.

While the outcome was relatively difficult and frustrating, there is also a degree of comfort and gratitude. I know I feel better putting off reopening to a date when more of us will feel safer returning. Neither opening while Texas remains a hotspot nor spinning the revolving door of opening and reclosing held any appeal for me. Nor was I interested in returning to the week-to-week uncertainty of this past spring, not knowing if we’d be closed for a week, a month, or the entire semester.

There have been many times over the years when I’ve appreciated the democratic processes of Sudbury schools, but this is the first time it’s hit home quite like this. There’s still plenty of uncertainty, of course, and it isn’t getting any easier to support our families, to keep everyone feeling connected at a distance. However, in comparison to so many other schools, I feel incredibly lucky to be part of one where everyone has a voice and a vote, where we get to decide for ourselves, together, what approach feels safest and best for us.

In a perfect world, every family would have this much of a say in the decisions affecting their children’s learning. And who knows? If this crisis leads more people to find the educational option that works best for them, well, maybe that will be a silver lining on a grand scale.

Thanks for reading, and my best wishes for health and strength to all of you.

Bruce Smith

So, you want to start a pandemic pod? There may be some pitfalls.

Meagan Welch is an AMI Montessori trained guide with a master’s degree in education who serves as the director of Julia’s Garden Montessori Family Learning Center. She has a passion for sharing the insights of Dr. Maria Montessori’s profound discoveries into human development with children and families. Below, she shares her candid thoughts and concerns on the emerging phenomenon of pandemic learning pods.

The “pandemic pod” phenomenon has exploded with an immediacy never seen before in education, and things are getting strange. There are pods hiring lawyers to write up contracts with Covid-19 infection contingency plans. People are ponying up serious cash to hire teachers directly. Freelance teaching is now “a thing.” There are internet forums and websites functioning as ad hoc HR departments to help connect families with similar exposure levels. Strangers are attempting to create very intimate learning environments for children run by parents with no educational background at all. What could go wrong?

Just to be fair, I would want a pod, too. If my children were still young, I would be trying to find a small group of families with children of similar age to make a little network that would allow the children to learn and play safely with friends and give parents time to do important adult things, like take showers, or make a living. As a school leader, I receive regular requests that go like this: “We are looking for a 5-year-old girl for our pod. We are being very careful. My husband works from home, and we only receive curbside groceries. Do you know anyone?” I want to help, but . . . I mean . . . really? Let’s do some unpacking.

COVID Careful?

Can I just say that my teenage daughter’s version of being “careful” and my version of being “careful” regarding exposure to the virus are really different? If she wears a mask in the car with her friend for 10 minutes she was being “like, sooo careful.” No more explanation needed for this one, really. People are hiring lawyers. There is the pesky life-or-death risk to every single thing we do right now. Pandemic pods included.

Personality Dynamics

Have you ever tried to have dinner with another family? How many times have I met another mom whom I badly wanted to befriend, but our daughters were like oil and water and our husbands ambivalent? Or the children loved each other, and we adults were miles apart politically. Personality dynamics are no joke in an average-size classroom, and in a very small group they are even more intense. I worry that parents have this idea of the perfect child to complement their own child’s needs—someone to be their best friend and inspire them to learn in just the right ways. In reality, children are complicated, just like adults are, and they come with their own conditions.

Parents are naturally tolerant and protective of their own children. To say it mildly, we are irrationally biased toward our offspring. I often find that parents are lost when guiding their children in a typical playground conflict. Negativity bias influences how children process healthy conflicts, and parents are particularly vulnerable to their own child’s struggles. How many times have I listened to an irate parent convinced another student is “bullying” their child, when in reality the two children are best friends? Parents’ anger comes from love for our children, but bias can cloud our judgment and make us ineffective. Teachers are experts at using personality dynamics as opportunities for social-emotional learning. They know how to teach important conflict resolution skills on the fly. Parents will need to skill up and check their bias if they are going to create an emotionally safe environment conducive to learning.

Safety (not just from COVID-19)

Childcare centers and schools go to great lengths to create a safe environment. Are people doing safety risk assessments in their homes? What’s safe to do in your backyard when your Dad is watching is not necessarily safe for your friend because they may not have the same skill set. Is the backyard playscape age-appropriate for all the children in the pod? Setting limits on playing safely with other people’s children will take some practice, and preparing the home to prevent accidents is a good idea. What about first aid and CPR certification? Is there an emergency action plan?

Shared Values

A school is a community of families with some level of shared values. Whether you choose traditional or alternative, the school your child will attend says a great deal about your values. Pods that have a connection to a larger community network, like a school, may be more successful because they will have an educational philosophy to help them create agreed-upon parameters. A shared vision will carry communities through conflict and struggle. Families will need a philosophical backbone to lean on when the going gets tough.

City and State Regulations

It may surprise some families to know every state and city already has a set of guidelines and minimum standards for in-home childcare. The State of Texas has three categories—Licensed Child-Care Home, Registered Child-Care Home, and Listed Family Home—each with specific minimum standards, reporting expectations, and possible inspections. Most of these regulations are lowest-common-denominator type requirements meant to protect children from the worst of the worst scenarios, but it may be worth noting that some pandemic pods may already fall into the state’s categories and need to follow specific guidelines. If the pandemic continues on for a protracted period of time—very likely—and schools remain closed or remote, more people will turn to these smaller learning models, and state regulators may play a bigger role than ever before, for better or for worse. Find Texas in-home child-care regulations here and Covid-19 opening guidance here.

Parents are being asked to do so much with so little knowledge in child development theory. I feel compelled to help them. At my little Montessori school, we have decided it’s just not safe to bring teachers and children back to campus until the virus is under control. Who knows how long that will be? In the meantime, we are offering the parents as much support as we can. If you are interested in getting support for yourself, your child, or your learning pod, we are here to help. Find us at juliasgardenmontessori.com or e-mail me at meagan@juliasgardenmontessori.com.

Meagan Welch

The pros and cons of beginning college virtually for students with learning challenges

Janet Price of College Living Experience

Guest contributor Janet Price is the National Director of Admissions and Outreach at College Living Experience. She has 10 years previous experience as an educational advocate and has co-authored two books, Take Control of Asperger’s Syndrome, winner of the 2010 Legacy Book Award, and Take Control of Dyslexia, as well as numerous articles. Janet has been a guest lecturer for graduate programs at Towson University and American University and frequently presents at national conferences. 

By now we have run out of superlatives to express the unprecedented sense of sadness and loss experienced by our Class of 2020 high school seniors. In addition to navigating the fear of a pandemic and disruption of life at every level, our young adults have had to do without the milestones that typically mark their transition to college. No graduation. No prom. None of the typical rituals of closure marking the end of their secondary school experience.

For students with special needs, transitions can be challenging under the best of circumstances. So, is it a good idea to continue with plans to attend college if that college is going to be all virtual this fall? There are pros, there are cons, and most importantly, there are options!

First, the pros. There are a lot of good reasons not to put the future on hold and to continue with post-secondary plans.

• Maintaining forward momentum. Beginning college classes, even virtually, feels like a natural progression forward. Waiting until campus life returns to what it was pre-COVID-19 means that the next step toward independence and adulthood is indefinitely on hold.

• Maintaining routines and good study habits. Once a student, especially a student who has challenges with executive functioning, gets out of the routine of studying and following a schedule, it can be very hard to re-establish good study habits.

• Learning about college expectations. Exposure to the rigors of college, even virtually, provides an opportunity for practice so that the student will be more prepared when life on campus does resume.

Of course, there are cons as well. Many of these concerns are the same types of challenges that we all experienced with distance learning over the last semester.

• Motivation. If my high school senior was not motivated to tune into his Zoom classes or complete assignments, how do I know that they will be motivated to do their college classes online?

• Family harmony. Many families experienced significant tension trying to balance distance learning for their kids and working from home. How much support will your college freshman need to stay on track? Can you use the same strategies to hold a young adult accountable for homework that you did when they were in high school? Should you?

• Accommodations. How will the college provide classroom accommodations in a virtual model? Will this be sufficient?

Virtual independent living skills ‘cooking group’ session

Fortunately, the decision is not a zero-sum game. There are options that lie between taking the risk to try virtual college classes without support and postponing college until things reopen safely. Some colleges offer additional fee-for-service supports that go beyond the limited accommodations available to students with special needs. Enrolling in a program like this can help your student to build a rapport and have someone to rely on to navigate supports on campus once in-person classes resume.

If your college does not offer such a program, there is also the option of hiring an executive function coach who can meet with your student virtually or socially distanced in-person a set number of times per week.  An executive function coach can teach students to prioritize assignments and plan their study time, as well as help them maintain their effort. If neither of these options offers enough support to address all the concerns listed above, you can also consider looking into a more robust post-secondary support program with wrap-around services.

College Living Experience in Austin, Texas (additional locations in Washington, DC; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Nashville, TN; Denver, CO; and Costa Mesa and Monterey in CA), is one such program. CLE offers support to young adults 18 and over in the areas of academics, career development, social skills, and independent living skills. Students live in apartments close to the CLE center. They have support in the apartments, from a Resident Advisor who is available after hours to Independent Living Skills instructors who help them manage their space, meal plan and cook, and even pay their own bills. The center itself consists of individual tutoring rooms where students receive daily academic support both in content and executive function. Students also receive support in career development and participate in supervised social activities.

Socially distant and masked CLE student advising session

Because students are living in apartments and not in dormitories, they are able to continue with the program and continue receiving supports virtually if necessary, even if campuses need to close. At the college level, that means that students are following a set schedule, taking their online classes independently, and receiving support from professional tutors, whether that is virtual in their apartments, or whether they are permitted to come to the center and use an individual tutoring room to replicate the experience of going to a classroom. This also removes many potential sources of conflict from the home, from arguments over chores to parents feeling responsible for making students do their homework.

As challenges continue to mount for now, remember that other options exist besides the extremes of continuing a distance learning model that may not have been successful last semester at home and doing nothing. Whether through exploring additional supports on campus, utilizing executive function coaches socially distanced or virtual, or moving to a post-secondary program geared toward supporting all aspects of independence, a new normal calls for a look into new strategies that allow our young adults to progress.

Janet Price

An honest look at the fall

Pam Nicholas is an extraordinary educator who serves as executive director of Huntington-Surrey High School. Below, she shares her candid thoughts and feelings about the challenges and uncertainties of the coming school year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently surging here in Central Texas.

I, like many other parents and people in the education community, have been glued to any news or information about what school district plans are looking like for the fall. As both a teacher and an administrator for our small private high school, I have so many emotions running through me about the idea of returning to school in the fall.  I know that many kids learn best when they are face-to-face. I miss hugging my kids (okay, students) every day. I miss seeing them face-to-face, and I even miss going on my occasional Starbucks runs for them. It was hard to see them only online in the spring and to know that they too were emotionally struggling with so much going on in the world.

On the other hand, having my own personal health issues, I am not one to take my health or anyone else’s for granted. I was proud of the fact that my school managed to both help flatten Austin’s curve in the spring and provide our students with an excellent virtual education with no missed days of school. Now, these summer months are leaving me with time to reflect on what went well, what could be improved, how we can keep our students engaged, and how we can best support our kids, our teachers, and our families in these very disconcerting times. 

With hospitals in Austin getting close to being overwhelmed, it is troubling for me to hear elected officials talk about having schools return to face-to-face classes in the fall. There is so much talk about how the virus is mild in children, but the facts of the matter are that some children do get quite ill and children can transmit the virus between one another, to their families, and to their teachers. There is no way to predict right now which one of us will have a mild case, who will have severe illness or ongoing medical issues to contend with, and who will die. As a private school administrator, could I ever live with the fact that I did have the “luxury” of keeping school virtual but I chose not to, and someone were to get seriously ill or die because of that choice? I know some of my parents are really wanting to return to face-to-face instruction because, of course, it is the best way for their kids to learn and there is nothing like face-to-face social interactions with their friends. However, I’m not one to gamble, and I am certainly not feeling comfortable gambling with the lives of the people in my community. 

As a private high school, we were and are extremely privileged in the sense that our kids are old enough to be home by themselves, if need be, and our kids are already extremely familiar with technology. With our very small student-to-teacher ratios, we could still pay a lot of attention to each student during class times and were able to be available to them outside of regular class times for extra help. I won’t say everything went perfectly transitioning to live, online classes (we were Zoom-bombed only once, thank goodness!), but I know that our kids knew we were there for them, got to have some pretty interesting conversations, still managed to learn new skills, and were able to practice those skills with the live support of their peers and teachers. 

So, what were some lessons learned, and what can we, as parents, educators, or, like me, both, do this coming fall? All of us need to have some positive interaction during the day. Having good, interesting conversations, even virtually, keeps kids engaged. Teaching using Socratic methods also helps to keep them engaged. We’ve learned that some kids are still going to struggle, especially those with ADHD. Our ADHD students can spend hour upon hour on a screen playing Minecraft, but it is quite different from taking an online course. We have found that having them attend class via cell phone in a well-lit room with just a table or desk really helps with mitigating the temptation to use other apps during class time.

Parents helping kids stay organized and on top of their homework as they adjust can help a lot, too. When kids were out and about during the day, it was easier to make sure they were doing their independent work at a regularly scheduled time. Now with them home all day, it is easier to assume they will just get it done. That really isn’t the case. Parents with children of any age can help their kids find success by having them on a consistent routine, including time slotted specifically for homework. Regular sleep times, physical activity times, and homework times can go a long way.

Another way to help our kids in an online environment is for teachers to record their classes. Our school will be posting them online so that if a student wasn’t able to focus, for whatever reason, the class is there for them to see at a better time. We are also continuing our study halls during the school days so kids can get their homework done with a teacher live to help them and make sure progress is being made on assignments. It’s important for schools to be able to provide one-on-one help if they can, even if it isn’t academic help. Our teachers will continue to simply check in with each of our students to find out how they are coping. Offering frequent “just for fun” opportunities can help, too. This summer and beyond, we will continue to offer online social opportunities for our kids to virtually get together. Working hand-in-hand with our parents, students, and faculty, we will give our students the best possible educational experience we can provide.

Times are tough right now for most of us, and alt-ed schools have a lot of difficult decisions to make over the coming days and weeks. The balance between the grown-ups having to work, the children needing in-person attention, and everyone wanting to help keep everyone safe is an exceedingly difficult one to find. I know we are all going to try our best, and hopefully working together with a lot of patience and empathy, we will make the best of what seems like an impossible situation.

 
Pam Nicholas

MusicAlly: Bringing musicians and remote learners together

Here at Alt Ed Austin, we always—but especially in these difficult times—find joy in shining a spotlight on educators and artists who are using their time and talents to meet the evolving needs of learners in creative and generous ways. This guest post, from MusicAlly’s Caeli Smith, is music to our ears.

On March 12, 2020, I played what would be my last performance for a very, very long time. I savored the time on stage at Miller Theater at Columbia University, performing with internationally renowned pianist Simone Dinnerstein. It was an all Bach concert, and I luxuriated in the music and the feeling of communicating with my colleagues on stage. With no conductor, we used our bodies and eyes to send signals to each other and play in tandem. The evening had a special gravity. We all knew what was coming.

The next day, wham—my entire performance season was obliterated. I deleted everything from my calendar, too sad to remember what I was supposed to be doing that day. I spent a few days lying glumly in bed. It was obvious I needed a productive, creative project, and quick.

My passion has always been at the intersection of music and education. I’ve been teaching for 15 years, both privately and in New York City schools (and now as an adjunct professor at Juilliard, my alma mater). When Covid-19 hit, teaching was the only part of my life that continued uninterrupted. My students were game to move our work online. To my surprise and delight, I realized that one-on-one instruction with a dedicated student translates rather well to Zoom.

In fact, online teaching has made me a better teacher. I’m more concise with my instruction; more precise with the notes I type up to send to students after the lesson. And my students are better, too: more responsible, focused. There are some things I can’t do for them now. So they do it themselves.

Teaching on Zoom got me thinking about accessibility. In an instant, a student anywhere in the world can be connected to a world-class teacher in New York City or Paris. No waiting for the bus, no getting home too late to finish homework. An hour-long lesson is truly an hour’s investment, for both the teacher and student.

This summer, kids are stuck indoors, in many cases without access to summer camps, school programs, or outdoor play. They desperately need art, structure, and invested mentors. So I founded MusicAlly, which connects kids around the world with online music lessons and peers.

Classical music has a notorious accessibility problem. To break into the circuit, you need an instrument, weekly lessons, maybe summers away at Interlochen. It’s not cheap.

Everyone needs an ally when they’re studying an instrument – whether that comes in the shape of a teacher, a fellow student, or a dedicated parent. I realized that if my program could charge market rate for lessons with the highest-caliber teachers, we could use half of that money to fund a second lesson for another student who wouldn’t otherwise ever have quality private instruction.

All kids who study music know that the best part of playing an instrument is meeting and playing with other musical kids. The first time I played chamber music, at age 11, with three other middle schoolers, a lightbulb went off in my head. (Actually, it was more like fireworks.) This was the stuff. It was what I would do forever.

I designed a PenPal program to match MusicAlly students by age and experience. Our PenPals send weekly “what’s up” emails and twice-weekly practice videos as well as recording duets over Zoom. The correspondence keeps students accountable for their practice and encourages and motivates them in their progress.

MusicAlly has received applications from kids (and adults) in Japan, Romania, and across the United States. My dream is to build a global network of music students who connect with the best caliber of teachers, build relationships with other musical kids, and, most importantly, develop a life-long love of music. Even though live performance is on the shelf for now, music is never postponed.

Caeli Smith  |  MusicAlly