Nourishment

Many people pass off autistic children as odd, having little or no potential of living any sort of ordinary, let alone extraordinary, life. When it comes to education, these people seem to think that only the most primordial needs should be met. Those that are educators make sure the children are “happy,” and “pass” from grade to grade with their peers, simply so that they might not feel different or, more often than not, so they can get them “out of their hair.”
I have worked as a teacher’s assistant at two different schools with autistic children.
I have worked with autistic children at a school where the educators, like those described above, did not care much for their jobs or their students, and have seen the first-hand result of a creative and wonderful child being deprived of the education she needed, her unmotivated teachers giving just enough of themselves for her to be pacified, “to pass.”
I have also worked at a school for children with autism, but also with potential; potential that was nourished by their engaged teachers. These educators genuinely cared for the students and their place in the world. The reciprocal relationship between teacher and child was visible throughout the school. Like rain and sun feeding seeds in a garden, these children blossomed and grew until what was once just potential, a seed, became realized in the numerous successes throughout the school. And though a seed, when nourished, may grow into a beautiful flower, it will never compare to the brilliance and splendor of any of these children.
"A skilled and imaginative teacher prepared to enjoy and be challenged by the child seems repeatedly to have been a deciding factor in the success and educational placement of high-functioning, autistic children.” Newson, E., Dawson, M., & Everard, P. (1982). The natural history of able autistic people: Their management and functioning in a social context. Nottingham, England: University of Nottingham Child Development Unit.