Reflective Exercise
Reflecting on a real situation
Nature of Learning Event:
Helping an autistic child find their voice.
Kayleigh Carina prides itself on being suitable for all ages and abilities and before the end of last term, I met a girl with autism who wanted to try out the mini performers class I ran. She would only come in with her mum and do the classes, which I of course, allowed, as I knew it would make her much more comfortable. However, throughout the sessions I could see that for someone who barely talks, she was joining in with the other children shouting, 'what's the time Mr Wolf?!'
This gave myself and Kayleigh an idea which I discussed with her mum. What would happen if she was put amongst older ones, perhaps in the main theatre school? I also met another autistic girl, who found it very hard to socialise but was thrown in with the older ones during Joseph and appeared to be enjoying her time there so much...that she ran onto the stage and started joining the older ones!!
Her mum said that her daughter often learns through watching the older children and I was therefore interested to see how these two girls would be after combining the mini group and main theatre school together.
What we my expectations and what actually happened?
It was the first week trialing the two groups together and I started off with the Name Game, a game that I do in all my classes where the children say their name, do a dramatic action and say one thing about themselves. This week I asked them to talk about what they had done during the holidays. I expected the girls to sit out or refuse to say anything or share with the group due to their autism making it incredibly hard for them to interact and express what they would like to in the group. I certainly didn't think one of the girls would leave her mum and join the group all at once and assumed that if she did join the circle, her mum would have to accompany her as she took part.
She saw the group dynamic and before I knew it, she had wandered into a space in the ciricle. I eventually got to her and rather than leave her on the spot, kneeled along side her and asked her what her name was. She said her name and when I asked her what she had done during the holidays she said, 'I went swimming.' This was an incredible for her and her mum who was totally gobsmacked! She had shared something with the group and wasn't phased by the people surrounding her. It may have been small...but it was MASSIVE.
When the Name Game reached the other girl, she took a moment and then burst out into a star shape shouting out her name! She was so lively and having so much fun. It was completely out of character and it was amazing to see her loving being in a group situation. It was lovely to tell her mum what she had achieved and I loved how, despite finding it difficult to join in with games like 'Captain's Coming' still wanted to help me judge when I asked her if she would prefer to do that instead.
Explain why the incident developed differently from how you expected.
I could see that both girls were itching to be a part of the group and I quite frankly thought there was a big chance that it would be the complete opposite and that both girls would want to shy away from the group because there were so many people. I think that common interests played a massive role in the girls joining in because other children were mentioning things that the girls also enjoyed doing, such as the swimming. I also think that by seeing other children enjoy themselves without their parents, it showed them that they could survive without her mum being there and therefore could communicate herself.
How will you handle similiar situations differently in the future?
This goes back to what I was saying before about the benefits of group situations and learning through others. The child appears to feel less pressure when in a group and sharing those common interests is something that I will aim to include, because no matter what their disabilities, children are children and love the same or very similar things. I will also make a habit of not dwelling on a child's insecurities, but simply move on and carry on exploring things as a group rather than individually. I will also continue to open interests up to the floor and let the group comment on the discussions.
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