AEE: Autistic Unit
- Details
- Category: My Mary I
- Published on Thursday, 01 December 2011 15:55
Eoin O' Neill
B.Ed: 2006 - 2009
AEE Placement: Autistic Unit
In my first semester of third year of the B.Ed I was required to spend two weeks receiving an Aternative Education Experience (AEE). As part of the B. Ed course we received a Special Educational Neds cert in second year and this was an area which I was really interested in so I decided to get more 'hands on' experience by doing my AEE in an Autistic Unit which had been recently set up adjacent to my local primary school. The Autistic Unit (Cairdeas) looked after two children with Autism which is on the Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
The first week I had to observe the children and the different methods which the teacher and the Special Needs Assistants used for each child. Both the children were boys and Autistic Spectrum Disorder affects more boys than girls (4:1). Although we spent ten weeks as part of the B.Ed. course attending the Special Educational Needs Seminar I feel I learned alot more about Autism from my two weeks spent in the unit. Children with Autism are very visual so the two boys (aged six and seven) both had a visual timetable every day and when they completed a task they took it off the timetable. One of the children was non-verbal and it was amazing to see the way he worked. He would go to the timetable and take the card he needed to do and then et about his work and when it was all completed he would return to the timetable to see what was next.
I admired the hard work of the teachers and SNA's as it can be very challenging especially if there are any changes to the childrens routine they become very upset. I thoroughly enjoyed my AEE experience a it gave me more hands on experience in this area and a a result was a very beneficial area in the B.Ed course.
Eoin